The book begins with an opening on Bill Gates as a child. He states his apparent love for computers because they did everything that he asked them to albeit with a slow pace. He identifies this as the most interesting aspect of computers because even to this day, years later, the programs he creates perfectly work under instruction. The growth of computers from when Gates was a thirteen-year-old has been tremendous (Domonkos, Donald, Bill, Nathan and Peter, 6). The machines developed in a way that they could communicate with each other through the internet, which is the ticket to the information highway. In this introduction, Gates establishes the origin of his love for computers and introduces the reader to the information highway.
Information highway is cited as something that will lead to new ways of internet use that people have never even thought possible. Gates observe that people do not think of new things because as humans, change, and strange happenings are scary. Bill, however, is intrigued by new things, and that is the reason information highway excites him. The excitement of new things was showcased when his friend Paul introduced him to a microprocessor. The processor does the thinking for the computer, and Bill was elated. Together, they started Microsoft. The next chapter talks about inventions and how Charles Baggage’s idea of a machine that could do as it was told was revolutionized into what people term a computer. Gates wanted to highlight that inventions took a curious and interesting mind. Creativity requires excitement and a level of needing to know everything.
Bill Gates observes that every year will be a step forward in the IT industry because data will be moved, and more will be created. Since the future is surprising, we never know what will be invented. Gates had anticipated a time when the machines will be able to communicate with each other through the data exchange. The scenario is happening today. He further stipulates that people in the past were devoid of any creative works because they were centralized on machines only. In the future, the companies will not lose money because they are premised on software. The software is an important part because the users could do programming. As a result, people who invest in the information highway would not incur any loss.
The problem of software stealing is also identified in the book. The vice has been in existent for a while, with its culmination in the past five years. His software was stolen by its users who then passed it on to others. The existent of such a problem is limiting to companies that manufacture software. Even so, Gates observed that they would still have business. There is a vast market in the international scene. Further, he notes that the technology business is triumphant when the devices that people create are used for different purposes. Ideally, anyone would prefer something that has a broad range of uses when it is compared to one that can only perform one function. The different uses will enable technological companies to grow and sell more. Continuous innovations are what make a something better and make it useful in a lot of ways. As the writer notes, nothing stays the same forever, especially not in the technological arena. The secret to making good business is through continuous change. A company, as he observes, needs to make changes regularly, but at the right time. Change amounts to innovativeness. When people thought about information highway, they were inclined to believe that there would be a lot of information on the internet. However, what actually happens is the same case with the library. When a reader walks in, they do not strive to read everything. They know that for which they came.
Work cited
Domonkos, Donald, Bill Gates, Nathan Myhrvold, and Peter Rinearson. The Road Ahead. Harlow: Pearson Education, 2008. Print.
