CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
April 1996, Vol. 38, No. 4
CONNECTICUT LIBRARIES
April 1996, Vol. 38, No. 4
Bill's Book
The Road Ahead by Bill Gates
A Review by Vince Juliano
I picked up Bill's book to find out what was in store for public libraries on The Road Ahead (Bill Gates, Viking, 1995). As I have done with other information superhighway books, I checked the index for "public library" and "library." There was no listing in the book index and only one in the CD-ROM index, so I figured the road ahead might be a rocky one.
My suspicions seemed to be confirmed when Bill described how holographic memory would soon allow you to hold the contents of the Library of Congress in your hand. Don't get me wrong. I don't see terabytes of cheap computer storage as a bad thing. It's just that I've been hearing this sort of thing since the Apple II Plus Era. Usually, it comes from a neophyte computer enthusiast who's become overly impressed with the size of his hard disk. I thought Supernerd Bill was above such stale futurology.
Good news! On page 86, Bill uses the words "information," highway," and "libraries" in the same paragraph. People will use the highway to get information that is in libraries. On the very next page he gives libraries credit for helping people deal with "information overload." By page 113, he even thinks books, magazines, and newspapers have a future! He points out that a book is "small, lightweight, high-resolution, and inexpensive compared to ... a computer." Bill's plans for his ultra tech house (see the CD-ROM tour) even include a rather large library. What a visionary!
I really admire this guy. He foresaw the vital role that software would play in the personal computer industry's future when almost everyone else was trying to cash in on hardware. He created Microsoft from his vision. He turned it into a billion dollar outfit by outsmarting venerable monoliths like IBM and nimble geniuses like Steve Jobs. Heck, he is smart enough to convince the federal government that his company competes fairly with other software makers, even though everyone knows that his people are writing the operating system on which the software applications will run! What a visionary!
Bill has a job for public libraries. They are "places where anyone can sit down and use high-quality equipment to gain access to the information highway's resources." By page 256, Bill is counting on public libraries (as well as schools, post offices, and "kiosks") to make the superhighway a success by providing access to those who cannot afford their own information appliances.
Bill has NOT declared war on libraries. Rather, he's recognized their traditional role in the world of information and made them partners in the future. Although it's not in his book, most CL readers will know that he is giving ALA $3 million to help make libraries on-ramps to the superhighway. What a visionary! Still, I'm not comfortable.
Bill is about computers and information, but Bill is more about money. That $3 million he is committing to libraries pales next to the $700 million (!!) he spent just on promoting Windows 95 (Advertising Age, 8/28/95). Bill refers to anything that stands between Microsoft and the customer's money as "friction." He has devoted his business life to reducing friction. Bill once had an excellent relationship with Apple. Then he developed Windows to compete with the Macintosh. He was partners with IBM in the joint development of Windows and the OS/2 operating system. Now, Apple and IBM, along with Motorola, have an alliance of their own to compete with you know who. How long can a relationship with Bill last?
The information superhighway, according to Bill, is a long way from being a sure thing. As he puts it, the superhighway "is a mass phenomenon or it is nothing." He's counting on public libraries and other public institutions to help deliver the superhighway to the masses. While that sounds like a noble role to nonprofit, public good, information-to-the-people types like public librarians, it may mean something else to Bill. For I suspect that Bill thinks he needs us only in the short run, similar to the way he once needed Apple and IBM to deliver Microsoft software to the masses.
Ultimately, Bill sees the information superhighway as a "friction-free" marketplace that he intends to dominate by selling information directly to the public better and cheaper than anyone else can. No more information middle man. No more friction. Bill plans to sell what public libraries give away.
Let's not look back from Bill's future with only fond, sweet holographic memories of our public libraries. Let's give Bill a run for his money.
Return to Looking at Books Online