I had known about Kildall’s predicament with Gates since secondary school, but I was completely unaware of the animosity that existed between them. I won’t delve into specifics about system programming because it is superfluous to my abilities as a biological researcher aspirant, but I will be analyzing the strife between the two, and DRI’s beef with the rest of the world. 

It is indeed a shame that Kildall was vilified, so to speak, by the rest of the world, especially when his intellectual output appeared to exceed those of Microsoft and IBM combined, because both of the latter failed to create a suitable program while Kildall succeeded. But every generation has a Mozart of its age, and musical historians will be satisfied to draw a parallel between Kildall and Mozart. Both of them were genii in their respective fields, but as the world moved on, they enclosed themselves in a shell of paranoia, but behind the facade lay a world of infinite possibilities, though nobody recognized the potential. Both died extremely young for their respective eras; Mozart passed away on December 21, 1791 in a hospital bed, and Kildall encountered an unfortunate accident in a bar; Mozart was 36, which was quite young and Kildall lived until his early fifties, also a young age for such an advanced generation. 

Gates was a jerk, bluntly speaking. “The winner rewrite history” is the most lucid declaration of this chapter. Indeed, historical analyses reveal numerous “winners” bending the sympathy, victory, and uphill battles towards the victor. WWI, WWII, the French Revolution, 7 Years’ War, Hundred Years’ War, and the American Revolution were all twisted on their heads and shoved down our throats as the truth, instead of revealing what the losers had to say. After all, who wants to read about their country getting their asses handed to them? Germany has done extremely well in humbling itself with its historical textbooks, and I’m willing to bet my laptop (old one!) that Japan hasn’t done so, because after all, they’re a bunch of pompous, bombastic, presumptuous bigots who can’t stand to lose. I guess it’s a shame that they are. Japan is declining, and cutting off ties with China (or weakening them!) stands to gain nothing. Losers.