Who are two of the most powerful men in the personal computer industryl?

Answer 1

Actually, broadly speaking, there are three:

- Steve Jobs (now deceased), the founder of Apple Computer and the "father" of the Macintosh (Mac) computer system and its operating system (and many peripherals like the iPhone, iPod and iPad), and

- Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft and the "father" of the Microsoft Windows operating system,

- Linus Thorvalds, the creator of Linux and the Linux movement - the free, open-source operating system and toolset.

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They also represent three basic ideas that apply to interacting with computers and using them, and the general 'user experience':

- Apple computers use proprietary parts and software almost exclusively, or in proprietary configurations. Apple believes in delivering the best user experience, at the cost of freedom of choice (which means, for example, not allowing the user to use non-certified parts, because they may behave in an unpredictable way); choices are limited to what Apple deems "proper". Think: taking a cab.

- the Windows operating system is designed to run on many different hardware components, and provides tools to expand that set, but it also assumes certain choices to be standard and acts accordingly (this is why most PC games are released on the Windows platform); choices are abundant, but standard answers are encouraged (and sometimes assumed). Think: buying and driving a car.

- the Linux operating system holds the freedom of choice at its core - it will run on pretty much anything (including embed devices and even your wristwatch and pocket calculator if it can be configured/compiled for it), but is the most troublesome to use and set up precisely because of the wide array of possibilities it offers; it makes no assumptions on behalf of the user, instead expecting the user to make all of the choices. Think: building and driving a car.