“Until recently, Bill Gates has been viewed as the villain of the tech world, while his archrival, Steve Jobs, enjoys an almost saintly reputation,” Leander Kahney writes in a commentary for Wired News. “Gates is the cutthroat capitalist. A genius maybe, but one more interested in maximizing profits than perfecting technology. He’s the ultimate vengeful nerd. Ostracized at school, he gets the last laugh by bleeding us all dry.”
“On the other hand, Jobs has never seemed much concerned with business, though he’s been very successful at it of late. Instead, Jobs has been portrayed as a man of art and culture. He’s an aesthete, an artist; driven to make a dent in the universe,” Kahney writes. “But these perceptions are wrong. In fact, the reality is reversed. It’s Gates who’s making a dent in the universe, and Jobs who’s taking on the role of single-minded capitalist, seemingly oblivious to the broader needs of society.”
“Gates is giving away his fortune with the same gusto he spent acquiring it, throwing billions of dollars at solving global health problems. He has also spoken out on major policy issues, for example, by opposing proposals to cut back the inheritance tax,” Kahney writes. “In contrast, Jobs does not appear on any charitable contribution lists of note. And Jobs has said nary a word on behalf of important social issues, reserving his talents of persuasion for selling Apple products. According to Forbes, Jobs was recently worth $3.3 billion which puts him among the 194th richest in the world, and makes him the 67th richest American. But the standings were shuffled on Tuesday with Disney’s $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar Animation — a deal that makes Jobs’ Pixar holdings alone worth some $3.7 billion. But great wealth does not make a great man.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Note that even Kahney, soaring in mid shark-jump, can’t bring himself to write that Gates “earned” his fortune; just “acquired.” How did Bill Gates get that all of that money? Did he somehow “acquire” it legally while illegally abusing a monopoly? What exactly did he do to get it? Dupe typewriter company IBM into using an “operating system” he picked up for a song, constantly fake the Mac operating systems over the years, buy some companies, pretend to be innovative, etc? Bill Gates is a business genius, sure. He’s not a software genius. He’s not a visionary. He’s been following Steve Jobs for decades now and pretending to be a tech leader. In case you missed it: Windows is an upside down and backwards Mac, folks. Gates put the icons on the left side of his fake Desktop, renamed Trash to Recycle Bin, ran the whole thing through Microsoft’s patented “Intuition Destroyer,” boxed it up and hired The Stones. For this he deserves our adulation?! Sorry, but we’ll have to pass, Leander, as we’re still in our right minds.
Leander, we read about Robin Hood. We know about Robin Hood. Robin Hood could’ve been a friend of ours. Leander, Gates is no Robin Hood. Don’t believe everything you read in TIme.
As Kahney writes, Steve Jobs is an intensely private man. Kahney suggests that Jobs could be giving vast sums in private, without publicizing it. It is appallingly crass for Kahney to criticize Jobs and then praise Gates for publicizing his every contribution. Kaheny actually has the gall to write, “On the evidence, [Jobs is] nothing more than a greedy capitalist who’s amassed an obscene fortune. It’s shameful. In almost every way, Gates is much more deserving of Jobs’ rock star exaltation.” Kahney must have lost his mind; from jealousy perhaps? Hey, as long as it’s high season for impugning people’s motives willy nilly and without any facts, let’s go! How’s it feel, Leander?
The way in which people approach charity, how much money people give or don’t give to charity, and which charities they may or may not support is none of Leander Kahney’s or anybody else’s damn business.
Our advice to Kahney is to put down the TIme Magazine, go read Jobs’ 2005 Commencement Address to Stanford University, and take Jobs’ advice to heart, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”
Open,
Who said profits were bad? I don’t care about Steve’s profits, his portfolio or how much he does or does not give to charity. Read what I wrote.
The premise of my argument is that it’s none of our business who gives what…but why do so many people jump to Steve’s support? None of you know what kind of guy he is. You don’t know what he does with his money. Why blindly support him?
And like you said in your rebuttal to me, Calcutta is still dirt poor. So I guess those two iPods I bought didn’t help any of the poor after all. Dumbass.
Also, I never said you should give your money to charities. And you don’t know that Gates is a scumbag. I’m sure you don’t have enough money to even get around him and find out. Just like you don’t know Steve is a great guy, so stop sucking at his “teet”.
There’s a short story called “The Wave”, you people should read it.
From Leander’s own magazine, the Microsoft Anti-trust Timeline:
http://www.wired.com/news/antitrust/0,1551,35212,00.html
March 10, 1999: A leaked Microsoft memo blames the press for focusing on Bill Gates rather than the facts of the trial.
From The Gates Foundation About Us page:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/
Bill and Melinda Gates believe every life has equal value. In 2000, they created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce inequities in four primary areas.
Yes, Gate’s contributions are doing alot of good for lots of people. And Yes, Gates contributions were positive PR as Judge Jackson was considering the break-up of Microsoft.
“The charity that hastens to proclaim its good deeds, ceases to be charity, and is only pride and ostentation.” — William Hutton
Kahney is on crack…
No other way ro explain it!
MaWo: ‘really’. As in, “Yes, he really is.”