OT: Ultimate revenge of the nerds?

[Buccaneer]

http://www.uwm.edu/People/hubbardj/tk421net/gallery/pictures/microsoft.jpg

I know it's a link and it is safe (it's a view of the Microsoft staff in 1978).

The question is accurate, would you have invested in this motley bunch and if so, would you be still be wasting your time here? :)

[Buccaneer]

dola

As best I can tell, the original trio is Bill Gates (lower left), Paul Allen (lower right, I believe) and Steve Ballmer (upper left).

[mrskippy]

Bill Gates was easy to pick out. The guy in the upper right looks familiar though.

And knowing what I know now, I'd have invested. I'd probably have invested back than too, just on the premise. Those who joined up with Microsoft on day one, even the original secretaries, are wealthy.

I think that is true of any new product. You have to be willing to believe in it, take a risk and hope for the best. In the case of Microsoft it work.

It didn't work for most of the dot-com companies. But had you invested in eBay when it was a simple little Web site (I was an original member and remembered e-mailing the founder a suggestion), you'd be doing pretty good right now.

[tucker342]

Have you guys ever seen a bigger group of nerds in your life?:D

[daedalus]

Originally posted by tucker342
Have you guys ever seen a bigger group of nerds in your life?:DYou should see pictures of the old Bells Lab crew that did Unix. Not as high on the dollar bills-scale but very high on sheer geek-value.

[Ksyrup]

Originally posted by tucker342
Have you guys ever seen a bigger group of nerds in your life?:D

Not since the "What the hell do you look like?" thread!

[Hurst2112]

i bet the yearly company softball game was a blast to watch

[ice4277]

At first I thought it was a pick of the top 11 posters here.

[Subby]

Is there a better geek-accessory than glasses with transitions lenses? I mean, will they ever get those to work correctly?

[Dutch]

So I asked the wife, "Which one of these people is Charles Manson?"

She says, "The guy on the left in the red?"

HAHA!

[Glengoyne]

I used to work for a guy who was on the very edge of computing back in the 70s and early 80s. He was one of the top few guys designing, building, and selling Personal Computers prior to the IBM/Intel combo hit the market. He had a story about going to a convention where he got to meet and extensively talk with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. Afterward,He and all of his other hardware buddies talked it up about these 'idiots' trying to make money selling software. They were all convinced that hardware was where the money was.

[Senator]

See the guy with reddish hair, beard, and glasses in the middle right?

Wait to you hear his story. Sometime around this time Microsoft was having trouble paying payroll, so they asked these guys if they would take stock instead. This guy and one of the women I think said they needed money, so they left and found other jobs.

This guy now goes around teaching computer classes for CompuMaster. I don't think he makes much, and boy is he just a little bitter even though he says he is not.

[Buccaneer]

What was his name? I knew some in the business in the early 1980s.