Bill "The Bastard" Gates

I'm kinda' half with Weaste on this but you have to put your hands up and applaud him for giving it to charity. He could have bought a football club instead...

I don't think its fair to say their kids have been left feck all either, not directly maybe, but I would think they are set in life.
 
So what exactly has Bill Gates done to ruin Personal computing? Didn't he bring it to the mass's?

Do explain Weaste.
 
Bill Gates doesn't give money to charity, everybody criticises him for having more money than he can spend whilst children starve. Bill Gates gives 30 feckin billion to charity and people criticise him! :wenger:
 
I think those people have it ingrained into them. Bill Gates may have struck gold and got very lucky at the same time but I'm sure he has done plenty of bad tricks along the way to ensure his business grows. There was even a law created to prevent them from repeatedly buying out any competitors wasn't there? Setting up his own trust and repeatedly announcing how much he is giving away along with claims like none are going to my children (yeh as if they are going to have to start from the bottom and work there way up like he did) its only natural these people would be cynical and call it a publicity stunt. That's how business works though doesn't it.

Anyway, hopefully his generous donations are used effectively. There are always stories of some guy pocketing a bit along the way.
 
golden_blunder said:
so fecking what man? its still 30 Billion going to charity ffs!
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Exactly, no matter what we all think about the man, his business dealings and the products that he has given the world, 30 billion dollars is an incredible amount of money and an extremely generous thing to have done, you can't argue that fact, publicity stunt or not who fecking cares.
 
Rudie said:
The Java platform "Write once, run anywhere" supports only the Java language but on many operating systems, although other languages are supported they aren't used.
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The Java Virtual Machine supports any language that can produce its object code. There is no technical limitation to compiling COBOL into that if anybody wanted to bother.
 
golden_blunder said:
so fecking what man? its still 30 Billion going to charity ffs!
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Explain to me why then that his company has done all that they possibly could to try to derail the one laptop per child programme, and still now when they allow XP to be used they charge for it? It would cost Microsoft nothing to give that OS away for free, and then he could still have his 30 billion left to do something else with. Here's an idea, there is a US Presidential election coming up. He could spend a few billion on that and become President, then maybe he really could make a difference.
 
that was a business decision

out of his personal wealth he is giving 30 billion, hate the business man if you want but you have to respect that donation!
 
WeasteDevil said:
Look it up. I'll just chuckle about bringing it to the masses part.
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Yeh, im sure my naivety on the subject was well highlighted with that comment. But i still fail to see how it ruined computing. Could you possibly point me in the way of an article on this subject, weaste. Much appreciated.
 
If there's no Microsoft would you be ranting on the internet? Maybe you will, but I wouldn't be here reading it.

I'll never understand why people are so unhappy with his success with Microsoft. Isn't that the ultimate aim of every business? To completely dominate or monopolize.
 
A monopoly is good for a business but in most cases its very bad news for the consumer.
 
VII said:
If there's no Microsoft would you be ranting on the internet? Maybe you will, but I wouldn't be here reading it.

I'll never understand why people are so unhappy with his success with Microsoft. Isn't that the ultimate aim of every business? To completely dominate or monopolize.
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It's probably that his success is off the backs of others hard work and forcing competitors either out of business or to license his ropey shit, plus if it weren't for Microsoft then PC stability and technology would be much further advanced than it is now.

Also, lets not forget the fact he eats babies while swearing at old ladies who dare cross him. fecking old bitches, always in his way!
 
1871_Biscuit said:
True. But am I not right in thinking that Microsoft have been stopped from having a full monopoly.
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Well yes there dirty tricks have been stopped somewhat but they still have the market in reality. They don't really need to concentrate on growing and expanding their product like a starting business would have to as they are already world renowned. They just need to keep the market share. Just look how long and hard a rival software browser like Firefox has taken to roll out into the public main-stream. I would think the damage has already been done concerning all this.
 
ZIDANE said:
Well yes there dirty tricks have been stopped somewhat but they still have the market in reality. They don't really need to concentrate on growing and expanding their product like a starting business would have to as they are already world renowned. They just need to keep the market share. Just look how long and hard a rival software browser like Firefox has taken to roll out into the public main-stream. I would think the damage has already been done concerning all this.
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That's simply because their product is the best right now. Linux keeps whoring themselves but they aren't even close, well not to the general public and average household anyways. I remember there was a big controversy back in the Windows 95 era or so, when they requried every new PC to have MS-DOS built in, which stirred up public outcry. But even since then, there was virtually no competitor besides Apple and they've made great strides with Windows. I can't see a proper rival coming soon for PC's until another decade at least.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Explain to me why then that his company has done all that they possibly could to try to derail the one laptop per child programme, and still now when they allow XP to be used they charge for it? It would cost Microsoft nothing to give that OS away for free, and then he could still have his 30 billion left to do something else with. Here's an idea, there is a US Presidential election coming up. He could spend a few billion on that and become President, then maybe he really could make a difference.
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Lots of people do things as a publicity stunt. Why so much hate for the guy?

If he does give away the OS for free, how do you think his competitors would react? It wouldn't be fair to them as well. He can kill all competitors by lowering prices or giving them away for free.

There are always two ways to look at something, positive-negative. You say he has ruined personal computing for people but you could also say his competitors did not step up and challenge him as the main reason for that.
 
soulblight3r said:
Lots of people do things as a publicity stunt. Why so much hate for the guy?

If he does give away the OS for free, how do you think his competitors would react? It wouldn't be fair to them as well. He can kill all competitors by lowering prices or giving them away for free.

There are always two ways to look at something, positive-negative. You say he has ruined personal computing for people but you could also say his competitors did not step up and challenge him as the main reason for that.
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That is a VERY good point
 
Just out of interest, what are the figures in the US of PC users compared to Apple Mac users.
 
1871_Biscuit said:
Just out of interest, what are the figures in the US of PC users compared to Apple Mac users.
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I've heard it's somewhere between 5-10 % Mac users. The rest is probably mostly Windows, with some Linux users thrown in.

I think what Bill Gates has done with his charity work is hard to look past. But still, he was a spotty little geek who stole ideas from others to become the richest man in the world.
 
francobaresi said:
You lot slagging Bill Gates off make me laugh

Jealousy is a a strange thing
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Exactly he did what he had to do, to get to the top and stay at the top. Anyone in his position would of done the same and people bitter are just jealous.
 
soulblight3r said:
Lots of people do things as a publicity stunt. Why so much hate for the guy?
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Because of what he has made personal computing, do you all fail to get this point. He's made billions, yet in the process has produced a turd of a computer industry. I don't want to even think how much money has been lost to the global economy and productivity through for example the infamous "blue screen".

With all of this money, a little bit of care and sense could have been taken.

The amazing person I admire Peddle reference I made just goes flying over most of your heads, probably because most of you never came across computing until the mid 90s.
 
JazzG said:
Exactly he did what he had to do, to get to the top and stay at the top. Anyone in his position would of done the same and people bitter are just jealous.
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So the world has to sufer through the consequence of shite software? He could have made probably even more money if the daft twat had given any thought to quality of his software. Apple for one would have been dead and burried.
 
The world doesn't suffer, most people on Windows don't really have problems. On what basis is their software shit? Over-priced and sometimes buggy yes but not shit. If most had a decision to make between making more money and lesser quality software and less money and better quality software I think you know what option most would take, not the right thing but then again these days how many do the right thing?
 
WeasteDevil said:
Because of what he has made personal computing, do you all fail to get this point. He's made billions, yet in the process has produced a turd of a computer industry. I don't want to even think how much money has been lost to the global economy and productivity through for example the infamous "blue screen".

With all of this money, a little bit of care and sense could have been taken.

The amazing person I admire Peddle reference I made just goes flying over most of your heads, probably because most of you never came across computing until the mid 90s.
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Yes, probably most of us are ignorant about what amazing person I admire Peddle is and you're not helping by refusing to elaborate further. Biscuit asked what he had done wrong and you just replied "look it up". At least share your knowledge or whatever it is that you know with the rest of us.

If what he has done is indeed so shit, why hasn't anybody come up with anything better? It's been more than 2 decades since he started, and all we have for it is a choice between Windows, Mac and Linux. Yet a staggering majority chooses Windows. Because for all it's faults, there's more good in it than the bad, or at least that's what most consumers feel about it. That's why they keep getting Windows.

If he's made billiions in the process, good for him, he's done well for himself obviously. But he's also a great philanthropist. You can't blame him for 'poor' products when there's no competition.
 
WeasteDevil said:
Because of what he has made personal computing, do you all fail to get this point. He's made billions, yet in the process has produced a turd of a computer industry. I don't want to even think how much money has been lost to the global economy and productivity through for example the infamous "blue screen".

With all of this money, a little bit of care and sense could have been taken.

The amazing person I admire Peddle reference I made just goes flying over most of your heads, probably because most of you never came across computing until the mid 90s.
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So what has he done to the personal computing industry, besides bringing actual personal computing to the masses on an unrivalled scale and making bajillions off it? How is that a bad thing?

Like him or not, he and his company have brought to the world an operating system used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is the de facto standard in both business and personal computing. If that's not impressive or revolutionary I don't know what is. I don't use Windows personally on a daily basis, and I've heard plenty of bad stuff about Vista which has kept me off it, but if I need something stable I know XP is going to be up to the job. It's not perfect obviously, but nothing ever is in something as complex as an operating system, and it'd be silly to expect otherwise. Without Microsoft (and hence Windows), there would be no personal computing.

You could go on and on about how detrimental the 'blue screen' has been to the global economy but the situation would have been the same with any other OS. Linux early on couldn't handle abnormal shutdowns very well; I'm sure Mac users had to deal with fatal problems once in a while. No OS is immune to these problems, it's just that Windows failures/errors are documented and talked about to such a large degree that the system seems to be riddled with bugs and holes and whatnot.

I can't even believe I'm defending Windows, given that I don't use it at home or at work, but you've forced me to reply with all your bitter posts in this thread. I know you're really clued up about software and computing as a whole, Weaste, but can you at least drop the pretense and admit you hate Bill Gates because he's smarter, more technically proficient and more absurdly successful and loaded than you'll ever be? Thank you.

Oh, and one last thing. Why is this in the Entertainment forum? Unless your idea of entertainment is making us read your anti-Gates diatribes?
 
kelvinhole said:
So what has he done to the personal computing industry, besides bringing actual personal computing to the masses on an unrivalled scale and making bajillions off it? How is that a bad thing?

Like him or not, he and his company have brought to the world an operating system used by hundreds of millions of people worldwide and is the de facto standard in both business and personal computing. If that's not impressive or revolutionary I don't know what is. I don't use Windows personally on a daily basis, and I've heard plenty of bad stuff about Vista which has kept me off it, but if I need something stable I know XP is going to be up to the job. It's not perfect obviously, but nothing ever is in something as complex as an operating system, and it'd be silly to expect otherwise. Without Microsoft (and hence Windows), there would be no personal computing.

You could go on and on about how detrimental the 'blue screen' has been to the global economy but the situation would have been the same with any other OS. Linux early on couldn't handle abnormal shutdowns very well; I'm sure Mac users had to deal with fatal problems once in a while. No OS is immune to these problems, it's just that Windows failures/errors are documented and talked about to such a large degree that the system seems to be riddled with bugs and holes and whatnot.

I can't even believe I'm defending Windows, given that I don't use it at home or at work, but you've forced me to reply with all your bitter posts in this thread. I know you're really clued up about software and computing as a whole, Weaste, but can you at least drop the pretense and admit you hate Bill Gates because he's smarter, more technically proficient and more absurdly successful and loaded than you'll ever be? Thank you.

Oh, and one last thing. Why is this in the Entertainment forum? Unless your idea of entertainment is making us read your anti-Gates diatribes?
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I think we have a winner.
 
soulblight3r said:
Yes, probably most of us are ignorant about what amazing person I admire Peddle is and you're not helping by refusing to elaborate further. Biscuit asked what he had done wrong and you just replied "look it up". At least share your knowledge or whatever it is that you know with the rest of us.

If what he has done is indeed so shit, why hasn't anybody come up with anything better? It's been more than 2 decades since he started, and all we have for it is a choice between Windows, Mac and Linux. Yet a staggering majority chooses Windows. Because for all it's faults, there's more good in it than the bad, or at least that's what most consumers feel about it. That's why they keep getting Windows.

If he's made billiions in the process, good for him, he's done well for himself obviously. But he's also a great philanthropist. You can't blame him for 'poor' products when there's no competition.
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I don't believe the majority of users 'choose' Windows, so much as you can choose what's already preloaded for you by your computer vendor. Fair fecks to Microsoft though, for making something so ridiculously prevalent that most won't want to use anything else for fear of being looked quizzically upon.
 
There are say 3 or 4 YouTube videos of a conference call with Chuck Peddle that a Commodore user group in the States did a few years ago. Chuck designed the 6502 processor and was the head of MOS technologies, later Commodore Semiconductor Group. Now, when he was building the PET he came across Bill Gates (as he will tell in the YouTubes if anyone can be arsed to look) and probably changed Bill Gates's fortune.

Now, Commodore went to the grave, and Bill is probably correct in what he says regarding how companies were run, however, what I object to is the way he says this, when it wasn't true in the beginning, he didn't have a fecking clue either - and only through luck did IBM drop the biggest bollock a company has ever dropped.

This man has used is crap operating systems, tied to bullshit processors (yes this mad has made Intel rich in the process), to rake in even more with his crappy application software. Not once in this time has he thought about his job, as "chief software architect" and actually pushed his company to design something well, not once, yet at the same time crushing creative people, companies, and ideas with his monopoly position, and his company continue trying to do this (HD-DVD being an example of this using a Microsoft codec) There is no excuse for this at all, and I wouldn't mind if he was just some CEO, but he's always labled himself as "chief software architect", and on that level his legacy is damning, because he's left the current computer industry and the global economy as a whole in a far worse state than if he had run McDonalds or Boeing.
 
kelvinhole said:
besides bringing actual personal computing to the masses on an unrivalled scale and making bajillions off it?
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If you believe that he has done this, then I'm not even going to bother with the rest of your post.

How the feck did he do this? He didn't! Are you trying to say that OS2 would be in a worse position than Windows and personal computing be less universal than it is had Microsoft not existed?

It's one of the most stupid things I've ever read.

Personal computing became mass market because of advances on the hardware level (both in power and cost), Microsoft has never advanced anything on any level.
 
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