An Apple a Day Keeps Bill Gates Away

Despite what you may think, the Pirates of Silicon Valley is not the latest edition in the Johnny Depp series. In fact, the movie was made years before its Caribbean counterparts and did not actually feature any pirates.

It did, however, star Anthony Michael Hall as Microsoft founder Bill Gates.

The 1999 made-for-TV film outlines the foundation of today's computer industry by following the lives of the founders of its rival components, Apple and Microsoft. The creation of these two now Fortune-500 companies dates back to these men's collegiate days during the 1970's. Back then, Apple and its Macintosh computers were the bigger name. But Gates soon was able to bring his Windows program to absolute dominance during the 1990's.

Since around the turn of the millennium, Apple has been able to reassert itself back into the picture much thanks to the advent of the iPod and the continued brilliance of its CEO, Steve Jobs. From obscurity during the heyday of the dot com era, Apple has now taken its unique approach to technology and added the practically that it once lacked.

As any one who looks at any products from either corporation can tell, the difference between the two is their appearance and functionality. Apple's primary focus has always been aesthetics. Jobs has continually sought to improve the look and feel of his products. Microsoft's primary focus has always been economy. Gates took a much more business-like approach to the program's software, and forsaken the style of its hardware.

Apple has not shied away from pointing this out. By featuring a human representation of a Microsoft PC in their advertisements along side their Apple Mac, they have directly challenged Windows in claiming that their computers are more in tune with today's youth.

Now that they have a choice in what kind of computer they purchase, the American public has seemed to gravitate towards the more user-friendly Macintosh. Another faction remain loyal to Microsoft, and refuse to listen to any songs on an iPod. Either way, the competition drives these companies to produce new technology at an unsightly rate.

It's times like these that you wonder when IBM will make their big comeback.