Xbox

What happens when the world’s biggest software company falls behind — and then reinvents itself in ways nobody saw coming? The Day the iPhone Changed Everything On January 9, 2007, Steve Jobs walked onto a stage and pulled a small glass rectangle out of his pocket. It was the iPhone. And it changed everything — not just for Apple, but for Microsoft. Almost overnight, the world went mobile. People stopped sitting at desks to use computers. They carried the internet in their pockets. And Microsoft? They had no answer. ...

What if using a computer was as easy as pointing at what you want and clicking? One idea turned Microsoft from successful into unstoppable. The Problem with MS-DOS By the mid-1980s, MS-DOS was everywhere. Almost every personal computer in the world ran on it. Microsoft was growing fast and making lots of money. But MS-DOS had a big problem: it was ugly and confusing. To do anything, you had to type commands — long strings of letters and symbols that you had to memorize. Want to see what files you have? Type DIR. Want to copy a file? You had to type a whole line of code-like stuff. One wrong letter and the computer just ignored you. ...

What if two teenagers promised they could build something nobody had ever built — and then stayed up for weeks to make it real? The Boy Who Couldn’t Stop Asking Questions Bill Gates was the kind of kid who wanted to know everything. While other kids in Seattle played outside, young Bill sat in his room reading the encyclopedia — from A all the way to Z. Not just one article. The entire set. When his family played board games after dinner, Bill would study the rules until he found the smartest strategy. When he didn’t understand something, he’d ask question after question until he figured it out. ...