Paul Allen, best known as the cofounder of Microsoft, has left his mark on
numerous fields, from aviation and science to rock 'n' roll, professional
sports, and philanthropy. His passions and curiosity have transformed the
way we live. In 2007 and again in 2008, Time named him one of the hundred
most influential people in the world.
It all started on a snowy day in December 1974, when he was twenty-one
years old. After buying the new issue of Popular Electronics in Harvard
Square, Allen ran to show it to his best friend from Seattle, Bill Gates,
then a Harvard undergrad. The magazine's cover story featured the
Altair 8800, the first true personal computer; Allen knew that he and
Gates had the skills to code a programming language for it. When Gates
agreed to collaborate on BASIC for the Altair, one of the most influential
partnerships of the digital era was up and running.
While much has been written about Microsoft's early years, Allen has never
before told the story from his point of view. Nor has he previously talked
about the details of his complex relationship with Gates or his behind-
closed-doors perspective on how a struggling startup became the most
powerful technology company in the world. Idea Man is the candid and long-
awaited memoir of an intensely private person, a tale of triumphant highs
and terrifying lows.
After becoming seriously ill with Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1982, Allen began
scaling back his involvement with Microsoft. He recovered and started using
his fortune.and his ideas.for a life of adventure and discovery, from the
first privately funded spacecraft (SpaceShipOne) to a landmark breakthrough
in neuroscience (the Allen Brain Atlas). His eclectic ventures all start
with the same simple question: What should exist? As Allen has written:
To me, that's the most exciting question imaginable... From technology to
science to music to art, I'm inspired by those who've blurred the boundaries,
who've looked at the possibilities, and said, "What if...?" In my own work,
I've tried to anticipate what's coming over the horizon, to hasten its
arrival, and to apply it to people's lives in a meaningful way... The varied
possibilities of the universe have dazzled me since I was a child, and they
continue to drive my work, my investments, and my philanthropy.
Idea Man is an astonishing true story of ideas made real.
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