

Bill Gates' 1976 Open Letter to Hobbyists: "Most of you steal your software." [JPG] - pius
http://www.digibarn.com/collections/newsletters/homebrew/V2_01/homebrew_V2_01_p2.jpg

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bp
The thing that strikes me most about this letter is that the business was
initially flagging. A few decades later, it is the 800 pound gorilla of the
software industry.

I don't agree with everything Micro-soft has done and they have certainly had
some luck. However, Bill Gates had an impressive perseverance to take the
business from the days of this letter to what it is today.

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Goladus
Thing is-- if it wasn't free then most hobbyists probably wouldn't bother.

Many people, when they aren't able to obtain the tools they need to do what
they really want, settle for what they've got. At least, until they can afford
it, if that ever happens and assuming someone doesn't come along and offer a
free version in the meantime.

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run4yourlives
The interesting thing is that Gates didn't stop at this horrible business
opportunity.

That's clearly a hypocritical stance. I wonder why he took it at the time if
he was so outraged.

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dpapathanasiou
In many ways, it's still an issue today: most users (especially for web
applications) have come to expect software to be free, but not every business
can generate cash from advertising.

