The cofounder Microsoft's Paul Allen has died at age 65 of complications from lymphoma. The technology pioneer had been battling cancer for years, had been treated for 2009, but unfortunately the disease returned with metastases.
They co-founded Microsoft with Bill Gates. During his time at the company, he lived through the enviable deal that would make Microsoft a tech giant. He led the company to buy Tim Paterson's Quick and Dirty Operating System in 1980, helping his company strike a deal to supply PC-DOS for IBM's first computers. He was an ordinary employee until 1982, and then remained on the company's board of directors until 2000. Since then he has held the position of executive director.
We read from wikipedia: According to a legend (which has a basis in fact), the biggest computer manufacturer of the time, IBM, decided to build and introduce to the general public a personal computer. For this purpose, an operative was needed system. Απευθύνθηκε, όπως ήταν φυσικό, στον Κίλνταλ και στην εταιρεία του, αλλά, σύμφωνα με το θρύλο, η Ντόροθι ήταν έτοιμη για ένα ταξίδι σε κάποιο εξωτικό νησί μαζί με το σύζυγό της και γνωστοποίησαν στην IBM ότι συνεννοήσεις μεταξύ τους θα μπορούσαν να αρχίσουν μόνο μετά από δεκαπέντε ημέρες. Η IBM, αγανακτισμένη από τη συμπεριφορά των Κίλνταλ, απευθύνεται στην εταιρεία των Gates και Allen (γνωστής τότε ως Micro-Soft) και ζητά την ανάπτυξη λειτουργικού για τον υπολογιστή της. Οι δύο συνέταιροι, μετά από πυρετώδεις προσπάθειες, παραδίδουν στην IBM το λειτουργικό, που η εταιρία ονόμασε PC-DOS. Η επιτυχία του IBM PC υπήρξε τεράστια και, όπως ήταν φυσικό, αυτό έδωσε τεράστια ώθηση στη Microsoft, η οποία, έχοντας το προηγούμενο της αποκλειστικής διάθεσης της BASIC στη MITS, φρόντισε να κρατήσει τα δικαιώματα του DOS, μη εκχωρώντας αποκλειστικότητα στην IBM. Έτσι, όταν εμφανίσθηκαν οι “κλώνοι” του IBM PC, η Microsoft ήταν σε θέση να εφοδιάζει τους κατασκευαστές με λειτουργικό σύστημα (με ορισμένες διαφοροποιήσεις από αυτές του PC-DOS), το οποίο επονόμασε MS-DOS (acronym for MicroSoft Disk Operating System). THE energy this put the company on a path of leapfrog development, which has never been interrupted until today.
He was an inventor with 43 US patents under his name and was one of the most important investors in the world of technology. He individually supported Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne, founded the space transport company Stratolaunch Systems and started Viulcan Aerospace to make space travel more affordable. He owns shares in Charter and Ticketmaster as well as numerous start-ups.
It has also expanded far beyond the normal technological sphere. He founded the Allen Institutes for Artificial Intelligence, Brain Science and Cell Science to Promote Information Technology and Medicine and the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group for cutting-edge biotechnology. He has supported initiatives on the environment and against the ebola virus.
It is too early to say that Allen's death will affect his many organizations. There is no doubt that they will continue to function for a long time. And as said Steve Ballmer in a tribute, Allen was a "wonderful, bright and inspiring person." The technological world will be poorer without it.
