Technology has made our lives quite easy. Inventions and innovations have also significantly changed people’s lives in this era of technology, including the innovations of computers and smartphones. The two most prominent tech gurus, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, have some contrasts between them but what is shared between them too is their abilities to transform their dreams into realities. The vision that Bill Gates had was that he wanted to give back to society since he had been raised in a privileged family setting and also keep his family name going. For Steve Jobs, the desire to prove himself to be to do something great was his desire.  Below are the comparisons between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs about their backgrounds, careers, mindsets and their contributions to the society.

Bill Gates was born in Seattle to a wealthy family of both strict parents and his two siblings who made significant contributions to his success. For instance, he did not have to hire lawyers for his company as his father was a great one, therefore using his information about business law, he was able to keep himself and his company from getting into debts. On the other hand, Steve Jobs was an adopted child into a family of both foster parents and two sisters, one of whom was his biological sister. Their family was not as wealthy but was able to send him to campus. His foster father dealt with vehicles was the one that inspired him into his pursuing his future career. Both of them were learned people but decided to drop out of campus because they realized that staying in college would waste their times, which they needed to start working on their dreams (Buenstorf, Guido, Kristian Nielsen, and Bram Timmermans, 187). Fortunately, their choices to drop out of school paid off.

Bill Gates started programming as young as thirteen. He has navigated through his schooling where he met Paul Allen while he was in high school. It was after dropping out of campus that the two founded Microsoft in 1975. Throughout his career, he had never had to change jobs because he was the C.E.O of his company until his retirement. Steve Job’s life was different because he formed the company, Apple, with his friend in a garage at twenty-one years (Yun, Ji Hyo, Kwangho Jung & Tan Yigitcanlar, 1553). Later on, the company lost most of its funds which got him into trouble with the C.E.O of the company. He then had a meeting with the company’s board of directors to discuss how the problem would be solved, and he ended up being dismissed from his position in the company, so he left. He went on to establish another company called neXT but was also obtained by Apple and him together with his colleagues were back to Apple. Apple had changed the C.E.O.s so many times to the point to almost bankruptcy, and since Steve was the only one who could solve issues that faced the company, he was hired as the boss (Duchek, Stephanie, 444). Using his talent, he was able to recover the company, and in 2000, it was declared one of the most popular companies in the world.

Bill Gates, based on his idea that personal computers would eventually become an essential device in the future, he started programming software at such an early age (McCann, Patrick J, 77). Bill Gates had a realistic approach when he developed Microsoft. He created an operating system, Microsoft Windows which was so easy to use and conveniently work with. Different from Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, had a futuristic approach, therefore while he was making his inventions and innovations, he thought so much about the future. He was driven by the desire to create an invention that impacted people’s lives, and due to this, he cared so much about details. Apple products barely have any imperfections. The company is so concerned with making products that make its customers tick, and for this reason, all Apple products always take the lead after getting into the market.

Bill Gates has made notable contributions in the society through the donations towards the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which they formed together. The foundation provides education sponsorship to poor students as well as funding the research of various diseases (Munar, Wolfgang, et al., 1336). The vision of the foundation is to see the eradication of most of the conditions that are found in Africa (Koch, Rachel, et a, 276). Also, concerning the foundation helping the needy, Bill attended a billionaires’ forum in China where he motivated those in attendance to donate fifty percent of their wealth to foundations all over the world because he believed that with a more magnificent property, came greater responsibility. Steve Jobs, on the other hand, made his donations in private because he felt that charity was not about showing off but for the good of the people in the world. People thought that he didn’t care about social responsibility when he called off the charity department in his company. It was however discovered not to be the case because when he died, it was found out that he had donated a lot of money towards the research on AIDS.

Conclusively, it is clear that the key to success include: endurance, desire, and a dream because it takes more than mere luck to make it in life and those are the elements that made both Bill Gates and Steve Jobs stars in the world of tech. Their family and educational backgrounds, their journeys through their careers, the mindsets in which they used to start their companies and their contributions they have made towards social responsibility should be motivation enough to do and be great in life.

Works cited

Buenstorf, Guido, Kristian Nielsen, and Bram Timmermans. “Steve Jobs or No Jobs? Entrepreneurial activity and performance among Danish college dropouts and graduates.” Small Business Economics 48.1 (2017): 179-197.

Duchek, Stephanie. “Entrepreneurial resilience: a biographical analysis of successful entrepreneurs.” International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal 14.2 (2018): 429-455.

Koch, Rachel, et al. “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: An opportunity to lead innovation in global surgery.” Surgery 165.2 (2019): 273-280.

McCann, Patrick J. “A Conceptual Assessment of the Uncertain Future of the Personal Computer.” (2016).

Munar, Wolfgang, et al. “Gates Open Research.” (2018).

Yun, Ji Hyo, Kwangho Jung, and Tan Yigitcanlar. “Open innovation of James Watt and Steve jobs: Insights for sustainability of economic growth.” (2018): 1553.