If you ever want to learn about Microsoft, Apple, MS-DOS and the Macintosh computer
Then check out, Pirates of Silicon Valley. It's a really good movie that explains the story of both companies.
What I've always found interesting is how MS-DOS started out. Bill Gates bought it from Seattle Computer, but back then it was known as QDOS. Quick and Dirty Operating System. Now I'm not sure how correct and precise the movie story is to real life, Steve Wozniak has come out and said that this movie is the closest thing to what actually happened. According to the movie, Bill Gates walks in to IBM with Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, and tells IBM "I've got this great OS called DOS"
In fact Gates had no such thing. It was all hearsay from Allen who said he "sort of" knew a guy who had an OS. Thing is, the guy who had QDOS at Seattle Computer, didn't seem to have intentions on releasing it and making it a publicly used thing. This is all according to the movie so some things will be exaggerated.
I'm sure the guy who sold the OS was maybe feeling different about making that sale. But even so, if he had no plans to publicly release it, he was better off selling it, because I don't think he would have made any profit on it.
There's a lot of "if only we knew" that goes on in this movie. Especially with IBM. Bill Gates says to the guy with IBM, "we want to license DOS to you, but we retain ownership" and the IBM guy says, "oh, that's no problem. Besides the profits are in the hardware not this DOS thing" If only they knew how wrong they were about that. Because DOS would come out in many different versions that were always being bought. DOS 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.2, 6.22, and everytime they would charge $99 for it. So the money was definitely in the software and not the hardware. The hardware would last a long time, new software was always being made.
What I've always found interesting is how MS-DOS started out. Bill Gates bought it from Seattle Computer, but back then it was known as QDOS. Quick and Dirty Operating System. Now I'm not sure how correct and precise the movie story is to real life, Steve Wozniak has come out and said that this movie is the closest thing to what actually happened. According to the movie, Bill Gates walks in to IBM with Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer, and tells IBM "I've got this great OS called DOS"
In fact Gates had no such thing. It was all hearsay from Allen who said he "sort of" knew a guy who had an OS. Thing is, the guy who had QDOS at Seattle Computer, didn't seem to have intentions on releasing it and making it a publicly used thing. This is all according to the movie so some things will be exaggerated.
I'm sure the guy who sold the OS was maybe feeling different about making that sale. But even so, if he had no plans to publicly release it, he was better off selling it, because I don't think he would have made any profit on it.
There's a lot of "if only we knew" that goes on in this movie. Especially with IBM. Bill Gates says to the guy with IBM, "we want to license DOS to you, but we retain ownership" and the IBM guy says, "oh, that's no problem. Besides the profits are in the hardware not this DOS thing" If only they knew how wrong they were about that. Because DOS would come out in many different versions that were always being bought. DOS 3, 4, 5, 6, 6.2, 6.22, and everytime they would charge $99 for it. So the money was definitely in the software and not the hardware. The hardware would last a long time, new software was always being made.
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