We talk about Bill Gates every night at home. We think about Bill Gates all the time.
Eyes blaze, storm clouds weigh heavily on brows, sunny moods turn stormy.
Bill is like the Rorschach blot of the industry. What people think of him tells you more about them than it does about him. At best, it is harmless hero worship, obscuring a far more interesting story residing between the lines. Some very wealthy little boys are fighting each other, and the rest of us are just their minions. Back in 1993, a halcyon time when it was still possible to read through an entire magazine without coming across the name Bill Gates, Novell CEO Ray Noorda and Gates engaged in one of those public sneering matches that both antagonists might come to regret, but only later, long after the verbal stilettos had done their damage.