i've always been an optimist and i suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intel*ce can make the world a better place. for as long as i can remember, i've loved learning new things and solvingproblems. so when i sat down at a com*r for the first time in s*nth grade, i was hooked. it was a clunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the com*rs we have today. but it changed my life. when my friend paul allen and i started microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a com*r on *ry desk and in *ry home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most com*rs were the size of refrigerators. but we beli*d that personal com*rs would change the world. and they have. and after 30 years, i'm still as inspired by com*rs as i was back in s*nth grade. i beli* that com*rs are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness —— to * us solve problems that *n the smartest people couldn't solve on their own.
com*rs have tran*ormed how we learn, giving kids *rywhere a window into all of the world's knowledge. they're *ing us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are. like my friend warren buffett, i feel particularly lucky to do something *ry day that i love to do. he calls it "tap-dancing to work." my job at microsoft is as challenging as *r, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a com*r that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime's worth of photos, and they say, "i didn't know you could do that with a pc!" but for all the cool things that a person can do with a pc, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intel*ce to work to improve our world. there are still far too many people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet. *ry year, for example, millions of people die from diseases that are easy to pr*nt or treat in the d*loped world. i beli* that my own good fortune brings with it a responsi*lity to give back to the world. my wife, melinda, and i have committed to improving health and education in a way that can * as many people as possible. as a father, i beli* that the death of a child in africa is no less poignant or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else. and that it doesn't take much to make an immense difference in these children's lives. i'm still very much an optimist, and i beli* that progress on *n the world's toughest problems is possible —— and it's happening *ry day. we're seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the d*loping world.
i'm excited by the possi*lities i see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. and i beli* that through our natural inventiveness,creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we're going to make some amazing achi*ments in all these areas in my lifetime.
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