Not drug addiction
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| purplewizard Apr 27, 2008 7:30 AM EDT |
I think it is too harsh to compare it to addicting people to hard drugs. It is more a case of entrenching an idealogical outlook of "greed and selfishness rule" in opposition to co-operation and sharing. Or that a persons lot is to be a consumer and they can have no say in these aspects of their lives. |
| tracyanne Apr 27, 2008 12:51 PM EDT |
Quoting:I have to wonder if he will be able to make the transition from dictator to do-gooder or if he will just write checks? The thing is Bill Gates' "retirement" has more to do with providing vehicle from which Microsoft can market it's products into poor but emerging markets. The foundation can go where the corporation cannot. The foundation can obtain the ear of those the corporation cannot. |
| techiem2 Apr 27, 2008 4:23 PM EDT |
Quoting:Open source, he said, creates a license "so that nobody can ever improve the software," he claimed, bemoaning the squandered opportunity for jobs and business. Is he REALLY that clueless or is he just spreading the standard FUD? If nobody could ever improve open source...well...it wouldn't be open source... |
| tuxchick Apr 27, 2008 5:58 PM EDT |
techiem2, I always wonder. A lot of people believe he is brilliant, and he probably is. But the things he says in public are near-moronic, like Chance the Gardener in 'Being There'. And like Chance, people hang on his every word as though he were emitting rare brilliant pearls. Moral: being a wealthy asshole makes people think you're hot stuff. |
| bigg Apr 27, 2008 6:24 PM EDT |
> Is he REALLY that clueless Ever read "Death of a Salesman"? I imagine Bill Gates boasting to his wife about how in a couple of years it'll be just like it was in 1998. I think he convinced himself years ago that in the end, Microsoft always wins. Microsoft hasn't beaten the GPL, so his only explanation is that everyone else is blinded by ideology, too naive to realize that Microsoft always wins. When a business model works that well for you, it's tough to realize that it's dead. You cut off the quote too early, the last part says "He went back to the analogy of pharmaceuticals: "I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them," he said, adding with a shrug: "That may seem radical."" He's referring to the ability to lock up the software because that is, in his view, the only way to make money on software. |
| jdixon Apr 27, 2008 6:35 PM EDT |
> I imagine Bill Gates boasting to his wife... You do know what Melinda said to Bill on their wedding night don't you? "Oh, now I know why you called your company Microsoft." |
| jdixon Apr 27, 2008 6:39 PM EDT |
> I think if you invent drugs, you should be able to charge for them. Of course, if Microsoft's software had to meet the same testing standards drugs do, none of it would ever make it to market. |
| rijelkentaurus Apr 27, 2008 8:29 PM EDT |
Quoting: I think it is too harsh to compare it to addicting people to hard drugs. If we're talking about simple home users, I may be inclined to agree, a switch to GNU/Linux or a BSD would solve most of their problems and they could cruise on without missing a beat. Rather like smoking pot, it's just a habit you have to give up, it doesn't take a toll on your body in an addictive way (with rare exceptions). However, in regards to businesses it gets a lot uglier and more difficult to move them away from the Redmond Beast. If it was as trivial as "what about my Word and Excel files" then we could turn the whole world to Linux in five days. Unfortunately there are programs written specifically for the Windows platform that lock in data and make it hard to move...sometimes nearly impossible due just to the money necessary to do so. In that case it's Redmond and someone else (like Intuit, for instance) that are both peddling their drugs and locking you down a little bit more. MS has its own crack that runs on its crack...MSSQL Server, Exchange, .NOT, SharePoint...all of that stuff. I have a client running a medical software that does almost everything for the business...the program runs on Windows .NET, and the server is SQL Server. It would take a fortune to get them off of the Windows platform, if it could be done. Now that is like a hard-core drug addiction. Not only do you have them continually paying tributes to the Redmond kingdom, if they ever decide that they don't want to do so, the pain of getting off of the habit could very well kill them. |
| Steven_Rosenber Apr 28, 2008 11:30 AM EDT |
What I don't like is a multibillionaire throwing around his money and making it look charitable when he's really pushing Microsoft's agenda by spreading its software around the globe. The world health stuff he's doing, I'm totally behind that. But any technological "philanthropy" he does is nothing more than poorly disguised marketing for MS. |
| Scott_Ruecker Apr 28, 2008 12:39 PM EDT |
I agree Steve, I find it interesting that schools that could not afford to buy multiple licenses of Windows all of a sudden have "Microsoft Computer labs" in them. All the computers "graciously donated" by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Its nice that its too expensive for the school to buy but they can be "given" them. Hmm.. Cause you know, when you smell smoke.. |
| tracyanne Apr 28, 2008 1:31 PM EDT |
Quoting:But any technological "philanthropy" he does is nothing more than poorly disguised marketing for MS. What I said. |
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