How does an article celebrating the life of a great technologist and (far more importantly) philanthropist wind up having the comments section sound like an argument over mouse buttons? Not to mention conjecture over his sexuality! Come on people we can do better than this! Let’s just celebrate the life of a man who saw a way to use his enormous wealth and intelligence for the better of all humankind. It’s rarer than it ought to be. I hope those who knew him and were close to him are proud of all he achieved and attempted in his life. May he now find peace.
RIP Paul Allen. I went on to Microsoft website and no mention of one of their founders, how strange. I dont know much about Paul, but you dont start a multi billion dollar company unless you have talent.
Some people marry and don't have kids. Some people have kids and don't marry. I never married, and don't have kids (that I know of). What's your point?
If as I think baconstang is trying to say, I know gay people with kids and that are married (Elton John). So what is your point really.
Some people marry and don't have kids. Some people have kids and don't marry. I never married, and don't have kids (that I know of). What's your point?
If as I think baconstang is trying to say, I know gay people with kids and that are married (Elton John). So what is your point really.
From what I can tell, Paul was not married, nor had kids. Though I do know people that are gay with and without kids. My point was that hentaiboy appeared to be implying that people that were not married are gay. As if no one that was married (to whomever) was gay.
RIP Paul Allen. I went on to Microsoft website and no mention of one of their founders, how strange. I dont know much about Paul, but you dont start a multi billion dollar company unless you have talent.
Some people marry and don't have kids. Some people have kids and don't marry. I never married, and don't have kids (that I know of). What's your point?
RIP Paul Allen. I went on to Microsoft website and no mention of one of their founders, how strange. I dont know much about Paul, but you dont start a multi billion dollar company unless you have talent.
Gary.
His autobiography 'Idea Man' is worth a read ... very interesting.
I read he claimed to creating a two button mouse, I think Steve stole the idea Xerox and they had a two button mouse, but Steve knew it could be done with one button. What an accomplishment.
It *could* be done with one button. And a modifier key. That modifier key was *already on the mouse*. So instead, you have to locate the modifier key on the keyboard. Two devices required to perform a single action.
Why get rid of it?
dont get me wrong. He got a lot of things right. In my view the single button mouse was not one of them.
Didn't the original STAR mouse have three buttons? Less is more. As things got more advanced and complicated, the second button became useful. Once people were familiar with the mouse as a tool, the second button wasn't confusing. One was the right number in 1984.
Yup... use them and Smalltalk in the 70's and 80's... left button (the "red" button, though they weren't colored) was for object/text selection and movement, the middle ("yellow") button for a context menu on the object or view area (pane) you're in and the right ("blue") button for the window menu (move/close/resize... they didn't have a window bar yet... I remember copying that from the Mac/X Windows to Smalltalk window tab being one of my contributions to the environment).
To bring the mouse to the masses one button was the right choice... from a IxD perspective I think it's agreed by most that 2-buttons is the "right" number.
And to the topic... RIP Paul Allen... I guess one could consider him the "Woz" of Microsoft. Hope with all the fortune and success he achieved he was able to have a happy life (I can imagine it can be tough with the hassles that much wealth can bring into one's personal relationships)
I'm sort of vaguely aware that Microsoft was something of an innovator in early operating systems. DOS, Winders, that sort of thing. But honestly, I have no idea what Paul Allen's contribution was in all that. Was he a programmer (Like Woz?) Or more like a business guy (like Steve?) I use products every hour of the day that I know came from Steve and Woz, but no idea what Paul's connection was to the government provided winders computer I am forced to use every day. What is his claim to fame? Other than getting uber-rich?
I've wondered that myself. Microsoft never actually created anything of value (except Office -- but that was much later). They bought a second rate OS and sold it effectively. They then copied a better one from Steve.
Microsoft's genius was in sales and marketing rather than technology.
From a technical standpoint they were con artists -- foisting a 2nd or 3rd rate OS on the world. CPM was better DOS and both MacOS and OS2 were better than Windows. But, technical reviews of the period gushed over the MS products and trashed its competitors. And that, combined with the MS strategy of pretty much giving it away to OEM's insured its success.
It goes to show that you don't actually have to create a better mouse trap -- you just have to be able to convince people that you did.
Currently, we have to ask ourselves: How many would be using Windows today if it had not become so pervasive?
"Allen never married and had no children. He was, at times, considered reclusive.”
What century do you live in? There are many reasons someone may choose not to have children, both medical and emotional. My wife’s aunt never married and had no children. What exactly are you trying to imply with your comment?
Always admired Paul Allen and his passion for discovery and exploration. Saw him once with Richard Branson and Burt Rutan at the EAA in Oshkosh. Most people don’t have a true sense of how rediculously brief one’s life truly is. People who get an early warning of their mortality seem to maximize their remaining time on earth and not fritter it away with things that do not matter or do not make a difference. Paul Allen made an impact on the world beyond computers and influenced those around him to do the same.
I read he claimed to creating a two button mouse, I think Steve stole the idea Xerox and they had a two button mouse, but Steve knew it could be done with one button. What an accomplishment.
The mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart. In 1984, I had the pleasure, with about ten others, of having lunch with him in Toronto. When he first created the mouse, it had only two buttons. By the time of his “Mother of all Demos”, his mouse had three buttons. We asked him “why two or three”. He said, he would have had more, but he could only fit two, then only three, of the bulky potentiometers into his mouse box.
I'm sort of vaguely aware that Microsoft was something of an innovator in early operating systems. DOS, Winders, that sort of thing. But honestly, I have no idea what Paul Allen's contribution was in all that. Was he a programmer (Like Woz?) Or more like a business guy (like Steve?) I use products every hour of the day that I know came from Steve and Woz, but no idea what Paul's connection was to the government provided winders computer I am forced to use every day. What is his claim to fame? Other than getting uber-rich?
I've wondered that myself. Microsoft never actually created anything of value (except Office -- but that was much later). They bought a second rate OS and sold it effectively. They then copied a better one from Steve.
Microsoft's genius was in sales and marketing rather than technology.
From a technical standpoint they were con artists -- foisting a 2nd or 3rd rate OS on the world. CPM was better DOS and both MacOS and OS2 were better than Windows. But, technical reviews of the period gushed over the MS products and trashed its competitors. And that, combined with the MS strategy of pretty much giving it away to OEM's insured its success.
It goes to show that you don't actually have to create a better mouse trap -- you just have to be able to convince people that you did.
Currently, we have to ask ourselves: How many would be using Windows today if it had not become so pervasive?
I guess I need to read about him some. A headline today says he was a "true innovator." I've no idea what he made at all. He was a real estate developer. He bought a lot of airplanes. He was making a space launch system. I actually don't know if he had an airman's certificate.
I actually live only a few miles from the Microsoft Redmond campus. One day I got rather lost, and bumbled through it on a bike ride. I had no idea all that was there. I asked a friend who worked there, "what to they actually make there?" He said: "Money."
I suppose this is true of any tech company - the Spaceship thingy in Cuppertino actually makes nothing too - but I'm just not familiar with anything Paul Allen actually made.
The reports saying how much he contributed to modern computing surprise me a little. I think of Microsoft’s relationship to technology like McDonalds’ relationship to cuisine—sure, they have been innovative over the years, but not in terms of coming up with outstanding breakthrough products, just very good at getting a huge number of customers to buy a few standard products over and over again. It would be interesting to see an in-depth DED piece (is that redundant?) covering significant MS innovations over the years, if such an article is possible.
I think this is myopic in many ways. While Microsoft has a horrible design sense (and I found them overly ruthless in some of their theft of ideas), it is hard to underestimate the impact their business model had on the tech industry. Building a "just very good at getting a huge number of customers to buy a few standard products over and over again" is no easy feat and it requires a reasonably solid product available to millions at a price point allowing mass adoption.
I'm sort of vaguely aware that Microsoft was something of an innovator in early operating systems. DOS, Winders, that sort of thing. But honestly, I have no idea what Paul Allen's contribution was in all that. Was he a programmer (Like Woz?) Or more like a business guy (like Steve?) I use products every hour of the day that I know came from Steve and Woz, but no idea what Paul's connection was to the government provided winders computer I am forced to use every day. What is his claim to fame? Other than getting uber-rich?
I've wondered that myself. Microsoft never actually created anything of value (except Office -- but that was much later). They bought a second rate OS and sold it effectively. They then copied a better one from Steve.
Microsoft's genius was in sales and marketing rather than technology.
From a technical standpoint they were con artists -- foisting a 2nd or 3rd rate OS on the world. CPM was better DOS and both MacOS and OS2 were better than Windows. But, technical reviews of the period gushed over the MS products and trashed its competitors. And that, combined with the MS strategy of pretty much giving it away to OEM's insured its success.
It goes to show that you don't actually have to create a better mouse trap -- you just have to be able to convince people that you did.
Currently, we have to ask ourselves: How many would be using Windows today if it had not become so pervasive?
I guess I need to read about him some. A headline today says he was a "true innovator." I've no idea what he made at all. He was a real estate developer. He bought a lot of airplanes. He was making a space launch system. I actually don't know if he had an airman's certificate.
I actually live only a few miles from the Microsoft Redmond campus. One day I got rather lost, and bumbled through it on a bike ride. I had no idea all that was there. I asked a friend who worked there, "what to they actually make there?" He said: "Money."
I suppose this is true of any tech company - the Spaceship thingy in Cuppertino actually makes nothing too - but I'm just not familiar with anything Paul Allen actually made.
The “spaceship thingy” is where the designs and ideas originate, so yes, it’s where inventions are born. China provides the tool shop and manufacturing for those ideas and plans.
Comments
Gary.
My point was that hentaiboy appeared to be implying that people that were not married are gay. As if no one that was married (to whomever) was gay.
To bring the mouse to the masses one button was the right choice... from a IxD perspective I think it's agreed by most that 2-buttons is the "right" number.
And to the topic... RIP Paul Allen... I guess one could consider him the "Woz" of Microsoft. Hope with all the fortune and success he achieved he was able to have a happy life (I can imagine it can be tough with the hassles that much wealth can bring into one's personal relationships)
Microsoft never actually created anything of value (except Office -- but that was much later). They bought a second rate OS and sold it effectively. They then copied a better one from Steve.
Microsoft's genius was in sales and marketing rather than technology.
"Allen never married and had no children. He was, at times, considered reclusive.”
What century do you live in? There are many reasons someone may choose not to have children, both medical and emotional. My wife’s aunt never married and had no children. What exactly are you trying to imply with your comment?
I actually live only a few miles from the Microsoft Redmond campus. One day I got rather lost, and bumbled through it on a bike ride. I had no idea all that was there. I asked a friend who worked there, "what to they actually make there?" He said: "Money."
I suppose this is true of any tech company - the Spaceship thingy in Cuppertino actually makes nothing too - but I'm just not familiar with anything Paul Allen actually made.