In the tech world, there aren’t many people who are held in higher regard than Bill Gates. Bill Gates’ contribution to the technology we use today is astonishing, a lot of software and computing technology we own and operate has come from some of his earliest ideas. I was excited to hear about a Netflix documentary series about him, being more of an Apple fan I was looking forward to being swayed towards Microsoft but the series didn’t turn out to be that way. Its focus is on the more crucial and important issues in the world.
Inside Bill’s Brain isn’t just a doco series that gives you a bit of history about Gates. In fact, the series would be better described as a three-episode tale of a man with the knowledge and money to help save people’s lives, our planet from dying and so much more but that same man constantly finds himself in a losing battle.
While the series does teach you about Gate’s earlier life and how he grew up, the series shines when it is comparing his experiences early on in his career to his experiences now. The series shines a light on how in the past Gates had people coming to him to solve an issue but now Gates is solving issues and people are getting in the way of his and his colleagues’ hard work.
There are three main issues at the centre of the series, which is as much about the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as it is about Bill Gates himself. The three issues they’re dealing with are better sanitation for third world countries, the fight to eradicate polio and a green future for the planet before the planet dies. The series manages to relate the issues with events that happened to Bill in his early years in a great way.
With each issue you get an inside look at how the solutions to issues are right there in front of people but other, arguably less important, issues are placed ahead of it in the grand queue. An example that the series uses well is how the USA’s trade war with China has affected the work that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been trying for years to achieve. It results in a heartbreaking and hopeless view for particular issues that inspire you to try and help in any way you can.
One element remains the same throughout and that is the analysis of how Bill Gate’s brain works and how he himself live’s his life. Moments like finding out about Bill’s travelling bag of books he reads will make you realise just how much information the man has in his head. The series does a great job of showing the audience both the computer side of Bill Gates but also the human side of him. The side of him that now admits that he’d done things a little differently which brings his image a little more down to earth and relatable.
If you are in any way interested in solving issues facing humanity and the world then this series is definitely for you. If you’re interested in how the brain of Bill Gates works then this series is for you. If you are hoping that the series will give you a bit of a history lesson of Bill Gates then and now then yes you should watch this series. The series’ short three-episode season is short and that is really the only disappointing part of this informative, motivating and inspiring docuseries of Bill and Melinda Gates trying to help save the world.