LONDON: Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has described his bizarre working relationship with Chairman Bill Gates, and claims it was him, not Gates, who had visionary ideas for the company.
Allen, in his autobiography titled 'Idea Man', has claimed that Gates took credit for his innovative ideas. According to Allen it was he who came up with the groundbreaking idea that they could write a BASIC software that would unlock the holy grail of the personal computer -- to make computers cheap and user-friendly.
He claims Gates at first tried to reject the idea, insisting on waiting until more powerful hardware came on the market.
Later, it was Allen, not Gates, who created the SoftCard, allowing a popular operating system to be run on Apple computers. Allen also claims that he is the one, not Gates, who came up with the name Microsoft, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Allen said he would come up with great innovations that Gates would make happen. "During the founding the first eight, years my ideas were definitely key to the company. Bill would test my ideas. I would come to him with another ten ideas that never went anywhere -- he was the sanity check on the flow of ideas," said Allen.
"When it came to selling and marketing and staffing and all those kinds of things, he was much more excited on the business side, so we became very complementary," he added.
In some of the US reviews of Idea Man, critics have accused Allen of being driven by bitterness. But Allen claims that his book is not at all bitter or any form of revenge against Gates.
"I don't think the book is bitter at all. I think it's a direct telling of what happened, and tries to give you a real feel of the personalities involved," said Allen.
Allen also claims that he is the one, not Gates, who came up with the name Microsoft
Allen, in his autobiography titled 'Idea Man', has claimed that Gates took credit for his innovative ideas. According to Allen it was he who came up with the groundbreaking idea that they could write a BASIC software that would unlock the holy grail of the personal computer -- to make computers cheap and user-friendly.
He claims Gates at first tried to reject the idea, insisting on waiting until more powerful hardware came on the market.
Later, it was Allen, not Gates, who created the SoftCard, allowing a popular operating system to be run on Apple computers. Allen also claims that he is the one, not Gates, who came up with the name Microsoft, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Allen said he would come up with great innovations that Gates would make happen. "During the founding the first eight, years my ideas were definitely key to the company. Bill would test my ideas. I would come to him with another ten ideas that never went anywhere -- he was the sanity check on the flow of ideas," said Allen.
"When it came to selling and marketing and staffing and all those kinds of things, he was much more excited on the business side, so we became very complementary," he added.
In some of the US reviews of Idea Man, critics have accused Allen of being driven by bitterness. But Allen claims that his book is not at all bitter or any form of revenge against Gates.
"I don't think the book is bitter at all. I think it's a direct telling of what happened, and tries to give you a real feel of the personalities involved," said Allen.
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