保罗·艾伦（Paul Allen）去世了。他是我最早结识的朋友之一，也是我的第一个生意伙伴。我想向他的姐姐乔迪（Jody）和家族成员，以及他在世界各地的众多朋友和同事致以哀悼。
我七年级时遇见保罗，这改变了我的人生。
我立刻感到很佩服他。他在学校比我高两个年级，个子特别高，是个众所周知的计算机天才（后来，他又留了一款很酷的胡子，我从没在这点上超过他）。我们开始在一起混，特别是在我们的学校有了第一台电脑之后。我们几乎把所有闲暇时间都消磨在任何我们可以接触到的电脑上。
这是我们在学校时的样子。左边是保罗，中间是我们的朋友瑞克·韦兰（Ric Weiland），右边是我。
保罗预见到计算机会改变世界。即使还在高中，在我们中还没人知道个人电脑是什么之前，他就预测到计算机芯片会变得超级强大，而且最终会带来一个崭新的行业。我们一起做的所有事情，都是基于他的这一洞察力。
事实上，没有保罗，微软永远不会诞生。1974年12月，我和他都住在波士顿一带，他在工作，而我在上大学。有一天他来找我，坚持要带我去附近的一个报摊。当我们到了那儿，他拿给我看1月份的《大众电子》（Popular Electronics），封面上是一台名为Altair 8800的新电脑，由一个强大的新型芯片驱动。保罗看着我说："这居然在没有我们的情况下发生了！"那一刻标志着我大学生涯的结束，以及我们新公司微软的开始。它的发生都是因为保罗。
作为我的第一个搭档，保罗设定了一个很少有人能企及的标准。他思想开阔，还有一种特别的能力，能用简单的方式解释复杂的问题。由于我幸运地在如此年轻的时候就认识了他，所以我领先于全世界其他人发现了他的这个才能。青少年时期，我在所有事物里尤其对汽油感到好奇。"精炼"是什么意思？我向我所认识的最有学问的人请教。保罗以一种超级清晰又有趣的方式做出了解释。这只是我们在之后几十年中进行的许多具有启发性的对话之一。
保罗比我酷。他十几岁时迷上了吉米·亨德里克斯（Jimi Hendrix），我还记得他为我表演《你有经验吗？》（Are You Experienced?）。当时我对一切都没什么经验，而保罗想要和我分享这些动人的音乐。他就是这样一种人，热爱生活和身边的人，大家也看到了这一点。
体育是另外一项保罗喜欢与朋友分享的个人爱好。在随后几年里，他会带我去看他钟爱的波特兰开拓者队的比赛，并且耐心地帮助我看明白球场上发生的一切。
想到保罗，他在我的记忆中是一个充满热情的人，十分看重家人和朋友；他还是一位杰出的技术专家和慈善家，想要成就伟大的事，并且做到了这一点。
保罗应当活得更久一些，他一定会充分利用这些时间。我将非常地怀念他。
What I loved about Paul Allen
By Bill Gates | October 16, 2018
Paul Allen, one of my oldest friends and the first business partner I ever had, died yesterday. I want to extend my condolences to his sister, Jody, his extended family, and his many friends and colleagues around the world.
I met Paul when I was in 7th grade, and it changed my life.
I looked up to him right away. He was two years ahead of me in school, really tall, and proved to be a genius with computers. (Later, he also had a very cool beard, which I could never pull off.) We started hanging out together, especially once the first computer arrived at our school. We spent just about all our free time messing around with any computer we could get our hands on.
Here we are in school. That's Paul on the left, our friend Ric Weiland, and me on the right.
Paul foresaw that computers would change the world. Even in high school, before any of us knew what a personal computer was, he was predicting that computer chips would get super-powerful and would eventually give rise to a whole new industry. That insight of his was the cornerstone of everything we did together.
In fact, Microsoft would never have happened without Paul. In December 1974, he and I were both living in the Boston area—he was working, and I was going to college. One day he came and got me, insisting that I rush over to a nearby newsstand with him. When we arrived, he showed me the cover of the January issue of Popular Electronics. It featured a new computer called the Altair 8800, which ran on a powerful new chip. Paul looked at me and said: "This is happening without us!" That moment marked the end of my college career and the beginning of our new company, Microsoft. It happened because of Paul.
As the first person I ever partnered with, Paul set a standard that few other people could meet. He had a wide-ranging mind and a special talent for explaining complicated subjects in a simple way. Since I was lucky enough to know him from such a young age, I saw that before the rest of the world did. As a teenager, I was curious about (of all things) gasoline. What did "refining" even mean? I turned to the most knowledgeable person I knew. Paul explained it in a super-clear and interesting way. It was just one of many enlightening conversations we would have over the coming decades.
Paul was cooler than I was. He was really into Jimi Hendrix as a teenager, and I remember him playing Are You Experienced? for me. I wasn't experienced at much of anything back then, and Paul wanted to share this amazing music with me. That's the kind of person he was. He loved life and the people around him, and it showed.
Sports was another passion that Paul loved to share with his friends. In later years he would take me to see his beloved Portland Trail Blazers and patiently helped me understand everything that was happening on the court.
When I think about Paul, I remember a passionate man who held his family and friends dear. I also remember a brilliant technologist and philanthropist who wanted to accomplish great things, and did.
Paul deserved more time in life. He would have made the most of it. I will miss him tremendously.
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