One of the most interesting arrivals on Netflix in September 2019, was the series in three parts titled Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates. It has taken me some time to actually watch it, but I just finished it now, and I must say that it was extremely interesting in many ways.
I didn't really know what to expect before I started to watch the series. If you didn't know it, this is a Netflix original series, meaning that you can stream it in every single Netflix country, without changing your Netflix region or anything like that. I guess we have all heard about Bill Gates as the founder of Microsoft, and I thought that this series would tell the story of Bill Gates and how he created Microsoft. But, after watching the first episode, I was greatly surprised at what the series was all about... it was about so much more than Microsoft.
Inside Bill's Brain - episode 1
In the first episode, I felt as if it was really about how Bill Gates has spent his most recent years fighting to provide people in poor nations with clean water and making sure that poop and pee doesn't flow into the water which is later coming from the tap and in showers, but instead, that it is cleansed, and used to provide energy and once again clean water. It was really interesting to see the work he has done to make this dream come true and to see him drink a glass of water that was pee five minutes earlier was quite crazy.
Inside Bill's Brain - episode 2
In the second episode, I felt as if there were two topics that got the main focus. The first was the creation of Microsoft, which also deals with his relationship with Paul Allen. Here we also learn about Bill Gates and the pace at which he works, mostly without stopping. He says that weekends and days off weren't for him, especially in the period when he was writing code for Microsoft.
But, in the same episode, we also meet Bill in the current time and learn about his fight for getting rid of polio once and forever. And after the first episode, I thought it was only about clean water - and here I understood that it is so much more.
Inside Bill's Brain - episode 3
The third, and final episode, dealt with several topics. We get to know more about Bill and Melinda, about their marriage, how they met, and some of their challenges. But, even more, we get to see how tough it was for Bill when Microsoft was sued because of buying competitors and creating their own monopoly (making it hard for others to compete with them). This was a hard battle for Bill, and we get to see and learn more about him in this battle and how it affected him.
However, the final episode also dealt a lot with TerraPower, Bill Gates' initiative to create safe atomic power plants that will run on atomic waste that currently remains unused, stored here and there in the world. I didn't know that Bill has dealt with such thoughts at all, and it was interesting to hear his thoughts. In general, the public hates the sound of atomic power plants (because of Chernobyl, etc), but this made me look at the entire subject from a different point of view.
My thoughts on Inside Bill's Brain
I am really glad I have watched the three episodes. It feels as if I actually got to know more about Bill Gates, I understand more about his character, who he is, what he does, and what has made him one of the richest persons in the world. The constant desire in him to learn and to understand should encourage many of us to keep going, and also the pioneer spirit in him is something I admire. Most people would be discouraged if something they do would fail... Bill has lived through lots of delays and stuff that can be considered failures, but he is still there. And, while someone would say fighting polio is a battle enough in itself, he is at the same time working to save the planet earth due to the climate problem, he is working on an atomic power plant, he works with providing clean water to people, and so much more. How can one man be capable of all this? If you do not understand, watch this series and I believe you will understand it better in a couple of hours.
So, how did I really like the show?
I was surprised, in a very positive way. I learned so much about Bill Gates and his work, and it inspired me in many ways. You do not have to like Microsoft, nor Bill Gates, but one has got to admire this guy for everything he has accomplished.
My Score: 9/10 IMDb score: 8/10 (based on appx 5000 votes)
Also, what do you do when you sit on the plane or go on a trip? Do you bring your cellphone and chat on WhatsApp? Or do you do like Bill Gates and bring a giant bag fo 7-8 books, in order to dive into a new area or to get even deeper knowledge on a subject he is already interested in?
Go ahead and watch it, I believe you will have a very good and inspiring time!
Ps: Of course, this series was created to show Bill Gates in a positive way. I am sure there are people who are angry and disagree with things, and who wouldn't portray Bill Gates as positively as what we see in the series. But, watch it no matter what, you will be challenged, inspired, and for sure learn some stuff about Bill that you didn't know.