Sources -
The New York Times Bestseller: Bill Gates- The Road Ahead(ISBN 0-14-026040-4)
Michael Dertouzos: What will be. How the new world ofinformation will change our lives. (ISBN 0-06-251540-3)
Bill Gates Net Worth Page(Internet)
General statements & information aboutcomputers
A computer is an electronic device which processes data at an extremelyhigh rate of speed. It can be fed with names, addresses, book titles, lists ofmerchandise, personal data, weather information, figures or mathematicalproblems. It then turns the data to binary bits of information and merely storesthem, or the user can have it alphabetize the names or book titles, solveproblems or make weather forecasts. The most modern computer can processmillions of bits of data or solve complicated problems within seconds.
Businessmen use computers for accounting and bookkeeping, for keeping trackof sales and the amount of stock in the warehouse, for string customers'names as well as for figuring out employees' wages and printing theirpaycheques. Banks could hardly do without computers nowadays to recordcustomers' deposits and withdrawals. Engineers use computers to designbuildings, bridges, dams and motor vehicles as well as to keep spaceships andsatellites on course. Computers are used at all levels of government fortaxation purposes, administrative tasks, controlling traffic, checking airpollution and carrying out population studies.

In industry computers control as well as check machines and robots thatmake products, turning the machines on or off and adjusting their operationswhen necessary. Computers are used to set type for newspapers, magazines andbooks; they help farmers improve their crop yield; they aid doctors by analyzinginformation from diagnostic instruments or lab tests.
To put it into a nutshell, the applications of computers are veritablyunlimited.
Because of the widespread use of computers, the computer industry hasbecome a leading business not only in the USA and Japan but world-wide. Itconsists of thousands of companies all over the globe which manufacture, selland/or lease computer equipment. Moreover, it also includes innumerable firms,both large and small, which provide users with hardware, software as well aswith consulting and repair services.