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Bill Gates Owes His Career To Steven Spielberg's Dad; You May, Too

Posted by timothy on from the our-fathers'-fathers'-fathers dept.

theodp writes: On the 51st birthday of the BASIC programing language, GE Reports decided it was finally time to give-credit-where-credit-was-long-overdue, reporting that Arnold Spielberg, the 98-year-old father of Hollywood director Steven Spielberg, helped revolutionize computing when he designed the GE-225 mainframe computer. The machine allowed a team of Dartmouth University students and researchers to develop BASIC, which quickly spread and ushered in the era of personal computers. BASIC helped kickstart many computing careers, include those of Bill Gates and Paul Allen, as well as Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs.

4 of 171 comments (clear)

  1. More like to his own parents by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's well-documented that Billy Gates' success is largely due to having rich and well-connected parents.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:More like to his own parents by tomhath · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Lots of people have rich and well connected parents. There's only one Microsoft.

    2. Re:More like to his own parents by phantomfive · · Score: 5, Insightful

      , although he certainly is spending a lot of money to Rockefeller his way into a cushier spot in the history books.

      Which should be encouraged. Few people are all good or all bad, and there are certainly worse things he could do with his money.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  2. Oh Puh-lease! by lophophore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If it had not been a GE machine at Dartmouth, it would have been something else that Kemeny and Kurtz wrote BASIC on.

    What utter claptrap. Ridiculous.

    --
    there are 3 kinds of people:
    * those who can count
    * those who can't