The Road Ahead

by Bill Gates, Nathan Myhrvold, Peter Rinearson

Welcome to “The Road Ahead.” We have all been bombarded by the seemingly endless hype about the information highway and the coming age of technology. Now, Bill Gates – who built Microsoft into one of the most successful companies in the world – gives us his vision of what the future holds for us. “The Road Ahead” is his bird’s-eye view of the undiscovered territory on the information highway – an authoritative, thought-provoking, and very readable travel guide for the journey. In this optimistic and refreshingly realistic book, Gates looks ahead to show how the emerging technologies of the digital age will transform all our lives. As he says, we are on the brink of a new revolution, and crossing a technology threshold that will forever change the way we buy, work, learn, and communicate with each other. In “The Road Ahead,” Gates takes us back to when he chose to drop out of Harvard to start his own software company in order to participate in the rise of the personal computer he foresaw. Just as the personal computer revolutionized the way we work, the tools of the information age – which are, even now, becoming everyday reality – will transform the way we make choices about almost everything.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction, Biography, Technology, Computers, Science, Autobiography

286 pages, Hardcover

First published November 21, 1995

About the author

My new memoir Source Code: My Beginnings tells the story of my childhood and the early days of Microsoft. It's available now.

Reviews

[Saeed Almazrouei · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about The Road Ahead and it tells us new ideas and new ways of doing things. For more than 500 years people have used paper to hold ideas and information. There will still be paper in the future, but there will also be other new ways. As the book says the computer has already changed our lives. Also the computer offers faster communications. Computers are used for many things like part of business work for markets and money, Also it is used for education. It is a beginning for new things coming and new jobs coming with them in the future. Also TV has changed lives with new channels on it. In some ways electronic devices used by humans will develop day after day. As it mentioned in the book, in the future scientists will invent machines working by touch. Also, they will invent robots that will do human activities in the houses and companies.
In my opinion this book was exciting because it tells us how life has changed from the past to present.

I would recommend this book because it is important to know the developments that occur in life.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written in 1995, "The Road Ahead" was Microsoft founder Bill Gates' attempt to describe for people what the much hyped "information superhighway" might look like. Building from his own knowledge of what had happened already, what was possible and what was in the pipeline, Gates first explains how we got to where we were in 1995 (e.g. the rise of the PC, the beginnings of the internet) and then explains what the next steps are likely to be in terms of connectivity, new wired devices and a variety of possible applications. He then teases out implications for entertainment, business, education and more.

Reading a nearly 20 year old book on technology is a bit like unearthing a time capsule. It is intriguing to see what Gates got right and what he missed. For example, his description of the ways in which we might eventually access content seem quite prescient - he anticipated today's streaming services quite nicely. However, he seems to have missed the mark on mobile devices, not recognizing that the mobile phone and what he called "pocket computers" would evolve into one and the same thing. And any mention of the possibility of social media is entirely absent (he still references bulletin board services here). Also, a few of his predictions have yet to play out but may still be coming.

This is a quick and mildly entertaining read for those interested in both the history and the future of technology. As befits what one would expect from an industry leader, Gates is more optimistic about what technology can accomplish than many of us might be. But he still is a relatively deft tour-guide for the possibilities it offers us.

[Tasshin Fogleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this only a few years after it came out, as a little boy. It really stretched my mind and forced me to start thinking about the future.

[Uli Kunkel]

One-liner: Read it. 4.5 stars

[Kavitha Sivakumar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too technical and some part of the book went above my head. Don't know whether he could have dumb down...

Other than that, the book is very inspiring and I learned a lot. He talk about the evolution of computer from the business stand point of view.

But comparatively Melinda Gates book, The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World is mind blowing. So this book got 4 stars.

[Johnny Galt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1995. I read it in 2013 and most of it is still relevant. It is relevant because Bill Gates was on on the forefront of computers back then and could see the many directions and ways computers would affect us in the future. This book is fascinating and also amusing in ways which the internet and technology did not go the way he predicted. A solid book. It is a keeper for me and I will probably read it again in a few years.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this shortly after publication. An infomecial for Microsoft projects.

Overcome by history.

[Javi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bill Gates’ “The Road Ahead” is non-fiction publication in which Gates writes about how we are on the brink of a complete cultural and technological revolution. He outlines major technological innovations of the past that have led to this and how we are being affected by it right now. He also shares his own theories regarding the innovations of the future and how they will affect the average American household. This book was written in 1995, a time in which Microsoft was still a developing company, and illustrates why Bill Gates is the billion dollar, visionary we know him as today. He foresaw in the early 90’s a future of electronic excess in which more and more people own a personal computer and telephone. This future he foresaw is strikingly similar to the reality of today.

I really loved this book! For one, who better than Bill Gates to anticipate how computers and the technology associated with them would be an aspect of almost everyone's lives. He does an expert job of predicting the rise of the computer in money markets and business in the 21st century. Additionally, it got me excited, but also a tad bit frightened, to one day experience the other technology he predicted would rise in the 21st century such as household robots that will have the ability to do essentially all chores and even more!

I would most definitely recommend this book to others. It is important to reflect upon how we have gotten where we are today, in terms of technological advancement, so we can build upon what we’ve learned to create the next big thing. This book can inspire people to do just that! I really appreciate Bill Gates sharing his expansive amount of knowledge with the reader.

[Victor Borba · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impressionante como o Bill Gates previu toda a influência da internet nas nossas vidas em 1995. Realmente um gênio.

[Sebastian Sampallo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se full recension i Boktokiga podcast, avsnitt 29.

The Road Ahead måste ha varit väldigt spännande och fascinerande när den kom. Boken innehåller Bill Gates förutsägelser om hur internet skulle komma att påverka våra liv i framtiden. Såhär med facit i hand, ca 30 år senare, kan man inte annat än att ta av hatten för Bill Gates - han hade rätt i typ allt.

Med det sagt The Road Ahead inte en särskilt rafflande läsupplevelse idag. En del aha- och "åh fan"-upplevelser, men det blir snabbt lite enformigt. Därav lite ljummet betyg.

[Christopher Lewis Kozoriz · Rating 3 out of 5]

"...finding a job will be easier if you have embraced the computer as a tool." ~ Bill Gates, The Road Ahead, p. 258

I found this book like reading the prophets of the old testament and Bill Gates is the prophet and the things he is saying are predicting what will happen in the future of the technological highway.

Because this book was written in 1995, you begin to see that Bill Gates was not too far off from the mark. I believe that is why Microsoft has had tremendous success...that being the leader, Bill Gates, is able to see what is going to take place in the future on the technological highway and be adequately prepared for it.

[Senthil Kumaran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had found this book very inspiring. I liked the vision Bill gates shares in this one, namely "A computer running Microsoft Windows on everyones desk". This book, I believe, from the early days of Microsoft and had really thought on future world with ubiquitous computing. I liked to so much that I inherited some of his thoughts on future home design and tried it at my house while building (wherein there would be phone on all rooms and only phone near the person would ring (this was before cell phones)).

[Abhinav Bhardwaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

My brother had given me this book 7 years ago. I tried several times and failed. But after developing bit of reading aptitude I tried it and finished off successful. in these 7 years I have also become an entrepreneur and now when I turned it's last page, I feel so foolish for not reading it. I would have taken more intelligent steps. must read for technology related entrepreneur. it is not biography but vision of Mr. Gates which is a realty in today with Google, Facebook, Twitter and many Internet related portals. Good Read

[Bala]

I read it in 1996 and most of it is still relevant only because Bill Gates was on on the forefront of computers back then and could see the many directions and ways computers would affect us in the future. This book ofcourse is fascinating and amusing in a way now, just because the way he predicted the internet and the technology did not go in his way. A solid book.

[Albert Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fun to read this in 2025. 20 years removed and it was super interesting to see what Bill got right, what he got wrong, and what is this up in the air. It is especially interesting as we're on the cusp of the AI revolution to draw parallels to the internet boom. As they say, history doesn't repeat himself, but it certainly does rhyme.

[Imene MELLAL · Rating 2 out of 5]

في البداية كان الكتاب جميلاً. يحكي فيه بيل غيتس عن حياته وكيف تحدى الصعاب لتكون مايكروسوفت ما هي عليه الآن. لكن في النهاية بدأ يتحدث عن مسائل متخصصة جدا في التكنلوجيا وتفاصيل لم تكن تهمني على الإطلاق.

[Bassel Damra · Rating 3 out of 5]

بالبداية يذكر لنا بيل غيتس بايجاز بدايات شركة مايكروسوفت و كيف بدأت في سوق الأعمال ثم يأخد الكتاب منحى تقني فيشير بيل غيتس الى تنبؤاته بما يخص تكنولوجيا المستقبل (التي نعيشها نحن الان) .
لم أكمل الكتاب , لم أر َ أي فائدة في أن أكمل كتاب صدر قبل 20 عاما يتحدث عن تكنولوجيا اصبحت ارثا من الماضي .

[Hamad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Admirable !
Loved how many of those predictions he made about future of computer has come true !

I needed an inpiration for programming and this did the trick !

Also provided quite useful business tactics !

[ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

i learn i could get evrything from life that i want .but bill gates never learn to respect to other brain.

[مروان المريسي · Rating 5 out of 5]

i learned that Bill Gates was a great man !
and.. Microsoft was a wanderful company, but it gone!
welcome to google and googling

[Arielle Dane · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The Road Ahead’ written by Bill Gates with the collaboration of Nathan Myhrvold and Peter Rinearson had surely kept its promise that it would clear up the ‘seemingly endless hype about the information highway’ which is proudly stated on the book’s synopsis. Published by the Viking Penguin in 1995, the book had vividly shown the situation that the people encountered about the rising age of technology over that time. Funny enough, those individuals who have read the hardback right after it was released two decades ago mostly scoffed on Mr. Gates’ ‘too idealistic ideas’.

They were extremely focused on Mr. Gates’ personality rather than his brilliant thoughts which made them fail to use ‘The Road Ahead’ as their travel guide in venturing down the unknown but optimistic future. As the title suggests, the book resembled a roadmap which would steer the readers in having a better understanding in technology development. This objective of the book is a success but for the period that it was published, most of the critics dismissed his notions as it just his way of promoting Microsoft, in their opinion.

However, reading ‘The Road Ahead’ 20 years after it was published brought a sense of nostalgia to those who witnessed the progress of the personal computer from just a mere figment of imagination until it becomes an everyday companion of the people in the modern time. It amazes the reader knowing that a piece of technology that we normally use today and as common as a ballpoint pen was once treated like a bit of luxury.

In addition to this, Mr. Gates evidently described how the personal computer would change the way we live. From the aspects of education to the dizzying world of business, it surely did.

As he engraved himself to be one of the major participants in developing the personal computer by creating his own software company with Paul Allen, it is not surprising that he had a very majestic view of the future. After absorbing every portion of knowledge that the book has to offer, it felt like the reader had taken a peek inside the complex brain of Bill Gates.

And this makes us wonder, if he had that kind of wisdom before, what does he have to say now for the next string of years?

What he did in ‘The Road Ahead’ is like dissecting a part of his brain and sharing it to those who want a snapshot of his ‘bird’s-eye view of the undiscovered territory on the information highway’. In this book, the reader had concluded something.

Bill Gates clearly wanted his visions to turn into a handsome reality.

In Chapter 1, A Revolution Begins, the author reminisced about the start of his journey in taking interests on writing software program when he was just thirteen years old.

Throughout the chapter, Mr. Gates discussed about his high school and college life while being engrossed over the thought of computer.

Together with his friend, Paul, they had played around microprocessor chips to create a tool which can help in the community, as they did in making the ‘Traf-O-Data’ from Intel 8008. It was only the beginning of his triumphant success.

Aside from this, he gave an introduction about the ‘information superhighway’ which was popularized by Al Gore. He presented ideas and encouraged the reader to visualize how that highway would work for the people. He improvised situations which would be easily solved once the information highway is built. Mr. Gates initiated questions such as: ‘Is your bus running on time?’ ‘What is your child’s school-attendance record?’ ‘How is the hole in a needle manufactured?’. According to him, these set of different matters would be answered in the next decade. And he was right.

Additionally, he soothed down the growing anxiety of the people when the thought of information highway was brought up into the public.

For the next chapter, The Beginning of the Information Age, he talked about the building importance of information to people and how the highway would be a very effective channel in distributing it to those who need it. He also quoted Claude Shannon’s definition of information which is the reduction of uncertainty. The significance of converting analog data into digital which would bring efficiency to everyone was also touched by the author. He keenly explained about the binary system, the contributions of the pioneers in inventing the computer, the ENIAC, the fiber-optic cable, bandwidth and others.

Bill Gates also penned, “We already understand the science that would allow us to build these superfast computers. What we need is an engineering breakthrough, and these are often quick in coming.”

In the following chapters, the author enlightened the reader about the common mistakes that most of the companies in the computer industry had made which led to their failure. This part of the book might had been a good ‘do’s and don’ts’ manual for those people who are interested in investing their knowledge in this line of work.

He also gave several notable quotes along the way:
“Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can’t lose. And it’s an unreliable guide to the future.”
“It’s increasingly important to be able to compete and cooperate at the same time, but that calls for a lot of maturity.”
“You can’t rest on your laurels, because there is always a competitor coming up behind you.”
“It’s important to acknowledge mistakes and make sure you draw some lesson from them.”

He also discussed the reason behind the unceasing bouts among the companies to create a hardware that will become the standard equipment which everybody would use. It is needed ‘to ensure interoperability, minimize user training, and of course foster the largest possible software industry’.

Mr. Gates enlisted the possible technologies that would be developed from their ancestors or the personal computers. The most attention grabbing idea that he revealed to the reader was the wallet PC. Undeniably, this tool has an apparent resemblance to the smartphones that most of the population uses in the present day. The only thing that’s out of the picture in today’s mobile phones is its capability of storing digital money in which the reader thinks that it is very likely to happen soon.

He boasted the competence of the personal computers in executing the friction-free capitalism. It is an extremely efficient market in which buyers and sellers can find each other easily, can interact directly, and can perform transactions with only minimal overhead costs.

For example, in the production of newspapers to be delivered in vast amounts of places throughout the world seeks for numerous procedures. For this to happen, trees needs to be cut down to produce paper, complex machines are used to process this, ink is required for printing and transportation is also a necessity for distribution which undoubtedly contributes to pollution.

But with the help of PCs, this can be converted in a digital form which will surely save us from wasting time, money, resources and cause damages to the environment.

In conclusion, the information highway would indeed initiate a global innovation. But upon reading the whole text, is it already constructed?

Anyways, it could also have been the highly-powered Internet that is in full course today.

On the whole, the book is clearly written in a very understandable way which makes it suitable for any kind of person. Someone who is unaware about the PCs could still comprehend it even if you are 15 or 60 years old.

‘The Road Ahead’ is definitely one of the most important books that have tackled about computers and lifted up the cloak that had been obscuring the uninformed part of the public.

In conclusion, it is a portion of history marked on paper which would always become a place for everyone to reminisce about the piece of technology that changed it all.

[Kuffnuckel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich hatte die Vision des Meisters bereits 1995 gelesen...und musste ihn einfach heute, im Zeitalter des Überwachungskapitalismus und der Verschwörerschwafler, noch einmal lesen.

Die Grenzen zwischen Naivität und Verschleierung scheinen immer wieder zu verschwimmen. Hat er es damals wirklich nicht geahnt, oder wollte er sich nicht ertappen lassen? Wie weit hat er selbst gestaltet und die letzten Jahre geprägt?

Auf alle Fälle hat er Datenschutzprobleme kommen sehen; jedoch wie heute rechtsaußen, den notwendigen Sichherheitsgewinn mit der vollständigen Überwachung durch Straßenkameras und Fahrtenschreibern fasziniert den Weg bereitet.

...und dass Big Money für Ihn und seine Freunde...jaja, so nennt er "Sie" wirklich, immer eine Rolle spielt, verheimlicht er auch an keiner Stelle.

Glaubwürdig ist die Faszination, mit der er dem "Informations Highway" gegenübersteht,...kleiner Junge eben...
Lustig erscheint heute der Begriff walletpc...tatsächlich hat heute jeder ein Handy....ob wir deshalb in einer demokratischen, gebildeteteren und friedlicheren Welt leben als 1995, darf jeder anders entscheiden als US-Bill.

Warum er auf S. 380 (2. Auflage) von "scheußlich fetten Menschen" schreibt und ob sich hier der wahre Philantroph zeigt....???

[Drew Baird · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid book. Since I was an MSFT employee from 1995-2002, I had a ringside seat. Now it is a history book! Fundamentally correct Bill made two mistakes. He lagged behind on the phone, not the Pocket PC as the tool of the future. While on one hand, he was wrong but he was right too. The phone morphed into the Pocket PC. Another choice was Bill's decision to do an email app after the fact. Both decisions probably cost MSFT billions. Just my opinion...

He and Paul are the men that put a PC on every desk in the world.

PS. Apple was great too and Steve/Woz kept Bill/Paul on their toes. :)

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Road Ahead captures Gates' vision for the future of the internet from the early days of personal computing. The language is plain and the author creates a clear picture of the possible applications of the internet. The most striking aspects of the text are Gates' willingness to embrace the great unknowns of internet evolution, his forthrightness in acknowledging the likely dangers of internet communication, and faith that industry will continue to solve increasingly difficult problems with the help of computers.

Overall, an interesting perspective and a plain reading experience.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I doubted myself for a second: why am I reading someone’s prediction 30 years ago?! Now I am very impressed by how accurate those predictions are as we are living in them. You can see Bill’s concepts turning into internet giants such as Amazon, Facebook, and more to come! We are living in an amazing world and on the way to a fabulous future.

[Jason Iyasara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating!

[Evan Pappas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing time capsule book, I bought a used copy that had notes from a professor that read through it in 1997. AMAZING to see their thoughts on things like streaming video.

[myriam kisfaludi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Froid, pédant mais visionnaire

[Anton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full recension i avsnitt 29 av Boktokiga!

[Brandur · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this 25+ years after publication, and this was admittedly largely a intellectual exercise since there's not a whole lot of practical information in here anymore, but I was shocked how prescient many of Gates' predictions were — he got everything from smartphones, video streaming like Netflix, digital wallets/contactless payment, the growth of online marketplaces, biometrics-driven device protection, all the way to personalized media echo chambers (although he thought this would be a good thing on the whole). A good track record, although as a radical optimist, he was about 0 for 100 on any the bad stuff.