Comparative study between commencement addresses by steve jobs and bill gates
“Our Similarities bring us to a common ground; Our Differences allow us to be fascinated by each other”-Tom Robbins. In this paper we will compare and contrast commencement addresses delivered by two of the greatest technological entrepreneurs of this generation, Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft) and Steve Jobs (founder of Apple), at Harvard(2007) and Stanford(2005) respectively. By analyzing texture of speech and choice of content, we will observe that though the speakers are nearly identical in age, choice of career and professional status; there is disparity in the personae projected and ultimately the message delivered by them.
The message in Jobs’ speech (Stanford University News, 2005) was to encourage the students to not be afraid to do what they love, and he arrived at this point by lugubriously narrating three stories of adversity from his life. Gates’ speech (Harvard gazette, 2007) in contrast was aimed to inspire the students to strive to reduce inequity in the world, which he achieved by humorously recounting his exploits at Harvard and his thoughts on inequity. We notice here that despite similar situational influences, the two men try to present antithetic images of themselves by the tone of their speech and also by carefully filtering which aspects of their life they disclose (Leary, M. R., & Allen, A. B., 2011, p.1199). The first major difference is the tone of the speech; Jobs opts for a very solemn approach with few humorous departures while Gates is very liberal in his use of humor which in fact forms a very integral part of the first half of his speech. The second difference is the kind of content in the speeches; Gates shares his thoughts on inequity, the journey of his arrival at this epiphany and his thoughts on how the problem could be tackled while Jobs divulges very personal stories about his adoption, getting fired from Apple and being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Due to the fact that Jobs’ speech contains more elements
The message in Jobs’ speech (Stanford University News, 2005) was to encourage the students to not be afraid to do what they love, and he arrived at this point by lugubriously narrating three stories of adversity from his life. Gates’ speech (Harvard gazette, 2007) in contrast was aimed to inspire the students to strive to reduce inequity in the world, which he achieved by humorously recounting his exploits at Harvard and his thoughts on inequity. We notice here that despite similar situational influences, the two men try to present antithetic images of themselves by the tone of their speech and also by carefully filtering which aspects of their life they disclose (Leary, M. R., & Allen, A. B., 2011, p.1199). The first major difference is the tone of the speech; Jobs opts for a very solemn approach with few humorous departures while Gates is very liberal in his use of humor which in fact forms a very integral part of the first half of his speech. The second difference is the kind of content in the speeches; Gates shares his thoughts on inequity, the journey of his arrival at this epiphany and his thoughts on how the problem could be tackled while Jobs divulges very personal stories about his adoption, getting fired from Apple and being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Due to the fact that Jobs’ speech contains more elements