“The co-founder, chairman and ‘chief software architect’ of Microsoft, the world’s largest software company, would deny it on his life, but the one person Bill Gates admires most for his geeky prowess—and might have chosen to succeed him as software architect—is almost certainly Steve Jobs,” The Economist asserts.
“Unfortunately, Mr Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer and victim of Mr Gates’s predatory business instincts during the 1980s and 1990s, cannot be considered available, since he is busy leading Apple’s renaissance as a builder of gadgets and software that, in the opinion of his fans, put Microsoft to shame. So Mr Gates spent years courting the geek he admires second most, a software pioneer named Ray Ozzie,” The Economist reports.
Full article here.
Nearly every article about Gate’s departure uses the phrase, “the world’s largest software company.” Note that they never write “the world’s best software company,” for that would be Apple Computer, Inc.
Back in the early days, “We all bought Macs. Bill bought a Mac. Bill was using a Mac. Bill was using a Macintosh. Not a PC,” said venture capitalist Ann Winblad, Bill Gates’ old girlfriend, as quoted by Michael Gross in “My Generation” published by Cliff Street Books/HarperCollins. And it wasn’t just the Macintosh that Bill Gates admired. In the same book, Winblad recalled being present with him when Steve Jobs was speaking, and that Gates had confessed to her: “Some day I’ll be as good a public speaker as he is. How do I do that? I’m going to work on that.”
Gates never got anywhere close.
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Gates had a girlfriend? Oh God.
steve jobs is no software architect… or engineer. he is a visionary.
I think rehabilitating Microsoft at this jucture would be too tall an order for even His Steveness.
Btw., why does this site look so much like a Microsoft site? And what’s with the text ads?
Gates is married, and is a generous man giving 1/3 of his earnings to charities.
I hate Microsoft, why someone would choose a PC shipped with Microsfot is beyond me…but Gates isn’t that bad. He may have ruthlessly tooken over the software market, but at least he’s doing good with his money now.
Microsucks is lucky as hell to have Ray Ozzie, and he is stupid as hell to have taken the position!
Steve sells dreams.
Bill just sells.
Before anything, Robin Hood was a thief.
Bill Gates is a thief. Does he really deserve any praise for donating some of his stolen loot?
MDN: “Note that they never write “the world’s best software company,” for that would be Apple Computer, Inc.”
LOL
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That is an interesting article. A visionary thinker who is also a decent human being could, in time, do some very interesting things with billions and billions of dollars in resources. It will be very interesting to see what Microsoft is ten years from now. For now it is a sack of sh__ and it will not be easy cleaning up, much less transforming into something really good.
Apple, on the other hand, is in one of its “golden ages.”
Yes, Bill Gates is married, and Melinda isn’t half bad looking. I’ve never seen Steve Jobs wife, though. I wonder if she is hot.
Here’s my wife:
Jobs was wearing a Tuxedo and Bowtie at the Mac unveiling. I like the jeans and turtle neck more.
I have 100 billion dollars… You realize I could spend 3 million dollars a day, every day, for the next 100 years? And that’s if I don’t make another dime. Tell you what – I’ll buy your right arm for a million dollars. I give you a million bucks, and I get to sever your arm right here. – Bill Gates, thief and despicable human being currently being lauded for handing out his stolen cash to charity. (source)
640K ought to be enough for anybody. – Bill Gates, the so-called “visionary.” (source)
Hey at least he is working on making better schools in the United States. Our schools are in trouble and need to be impoved upon. Now if Gates were to put Macs in the new schools that would be great.
Steve Jobs’ wife is pretty hot. I’ve seen him with her and son at the Palo Alto Apple store. She’s a blond and looks great for her age, definite MILF material. (HIGH FIVES Steve Jobs)
I haven’t seen melinda gates though.
(improved) upon
Blackbeard the Pirate gave 1/3 of all of his ill gotten gains to a charity of his choice as well. It was the hookers at his neighborhood pub, but still, his heart was in the right place.
Blackbeard and Bill Gates, great men of their times.
From the article:
“One reason why Mr Gates is so drawn to Mr Ozzie is that, as Mr Gates has said, “Ray is incredible at thinking of the end-user experience,” an area where Mr Gates, whose own genius is weighted towards business strategy rather than software finesse, has a less stellar reputation. Another reason is Mr Ozzie’s personality, which is the opposite both of Mr Gates’s and Mr Jobs’s. Mr Gates has a squeaky voice and sounds perennially on the point of irritation; Mr Jobs pushes his colleagues as Ramses did his pyramid-builders and appears to have a similar self-image. Mr Ozzie, by contrast, wears a permanent Buddha-like smile, speaks in a soothing, deep voice and delivers even harsh appraisals with reassuring charm.
Green, pond-dwelling muppets also rarely command serious attention.
“…but Gates isn’t that bad. He may have ruthlessly tooken (sic) over the software market, but at least he’s doing good with his money now.”
Maybe it’s guilt.
So if Al Capone or John Gotti gave lots of money to charity, it would make them o.k.? I don’t think karma works that way.
“I’m sorry I ruined businesses with vaporware or monopoly abuse and gave the world a shoddy, faulty product that has cost the world economy billions in losses, so I’ll take care of that malaria problem.” Nice though but that doesn’t compute.
Maybe he can also give the poor Windows upgrade vouchers as well. Not bad with some salt.
While Apple boosterism is the purpose of MDN, when will we see any position statement that Apple should deliver on quality and not ship MacBooks that fry eggs and explode into flames?
Until then, MDN and Apple are falling short of their potential. Just being better than awful Dell, etc., is not the measure. Excellence is the measure.
Until true excellence is available on the shelves of the Apple Store, I’ll just wait, thank you.
“While Apple boosterism is the purpose of MDN . . .”
WHAT? ? ? OMG, you’re right. I just now realized that. Whew, thanks. I wondered what I was doing here!
“While Apple boosterism is the purpose of MDN…”
LOL. Well said. Hey, MDN, why not put some of that cash from the annoying pop-ups into propping up AAPL stock? It’s shitty these days…
Jeez, does everyone here have to put Bill Gates down in order to feel good about themselves? I doubt there’s one person here who could accomplish 1/100th of what Gates has let alone Steve Jobs. The fact that Gates has the humility to admire Jobs for his unique qualities put you all to shame.
The only good thing Bill Gates can do now is forgo Vista and let Steve Jobs take over Microsoft.
Then the RIGHT operating system will used in the world.
Not some half-assed ‘Quick and Dirty OS’ grafted Mac OS ripoff.
Regarding Melinda Gates, let’s be real: She’s terribly homely, and went for the money.
“Jeez, does everyone here have to put Bill Gates down in order to feel good about themselves?”
Works for me. But we rotate with Ballmer for fairness.
You know, people can say something but don’t mean it. I can detect the insincerity from Bill’s facial expression when he commanded on the Mac in the Youtube footage. I recently saw the footage of Bill appearing on the MacWorld Boston 1997 Steve’s keynote on Youtube as well. I detected the same insincerity when he spook. He eyes would look slightly down and that gave me the creeps.
Jeez, does everyone here have to put Bill Gates down in order to feel good about themselves?
I don’t feel good about myself because Microsoft was found guilty by the U.S. federal government and 30-some states of criminal abuse of its monopoly. I don’t feel good about myself because Bill Gates is the same company’s fearless leader.
I feel good about myself because I won’t get the cooties by running any of its sh . . . er . . . junk.
To Michael Keaton:
“I’m Bat Man!”
Pete–
Um… whatever. You come across like the comic book guy on the Simpsons.
Michael Keaton, where did you come out with that “1/3 of his earnings to charities.” Figure? I recently saw on the news about Bill’s phasing out of M$ and the news said he and his wife so far had donated about 10 millions to charity. I hope I heard it wrong because 10 millions divided by 56 billions is about 0.017 percent of his net wealth!!! So much for charity. George Soros donates to charities too but does anyone know Soros was the one who single-handedly caused the 1997-98 Asian financial crises and made tens of thousands of people in Asia suffer economic hardship. Gates and Soros donate but that don’t make them good people!!!
A picture of Melinda Gates:
So glad I was born in the right time period to witness 3 powerhouses of creative genius.
John Lenon, Paul McCartney, Steve Jobs.
It doesn’t get any better than this.
Ray Ozzie was the man responsible for Lotus Notes. If you think Windows is stupid and rubbish then you’ve never used this product. Forced upon many a poor, poor corporate worker it makes grown men cry daily, and is just … nasty. Boo hoo hoo. :'(
Check out some real user feedback at LOTUS NOTES SUCKS
http://lotusnotessucks.4t.com/index.html
Imagine a nightmare vision of Windows Vista “improved” by Lotus Notes like operation … eugh!
R-
I’m used to getting dissed by those who have shelled out their hard earned money only to be disappointed (but never admitting it) with poorer quality than they expected.
Still, the blind devotion to all things Apple – no wonder they keep running stuff into the stores before it’s ready.
What are you going to do when the next generation of MacBooks are not only faster, stronger, more powerful, etc., etc., but also real cool.
BTW, I’ve a Sony Vaio at my office and no matter how hard I push it I run it, its a little warm buy never, never hot.
What’s wrong with saying Apple can do better?
Cutting Thru –
I can’t seem to find a source on your quote. I, um, did find this – http://www.pointlesswasteoftime.com/interviews/gates.html with, along with your severed arm statement, quotes like “You will stop nothing. You will bow down. Do you understand me? In fact, that’s our new slogan. That “where do you want to go today” garbage is out the window. From now on, it’s “Bow Down.” The streets will flow with the blood of the resistance.”
Funny read, but, uh, fake. Obviously fake. You should use a bit more common sense.
MacRaven…
“Paul McCartney”? WTF?! Creative genius??
Pablo Picasso, Buckminster Fuller; I could go on…
some people live in a very small world I guess.
Gates = “visionary?!?” are you high? he’s anything BUT a visionary. ruthless business man? sure. but visionary? not at all. you have to have an original idea to be a visionary. thinking that you want to create an extremely large company is HARDLY a unique vision.
As a Californian, I have a bone to pick with Mr. Gates’ Foundation and his method of “giving”. In 2004 California was voting on a ballot measure to fund stem cell research. Gates’ Foundation, instead of simply endowing a research facility or donating to the University system for the purpose, gave $400,000 to the action group promoting this ballot measure. His $400K was used to convince Californians to go into debt to the tune of $3 BILLION at a time when state debt is at an historical high. Gates could easily set up or fund a stem cell or cancer or aids research group on his own. Instead he is using relative “drops in the bucket” to persuade the populace to take on huge government programs and rack up debt that we cannot afford. His bid for King of the Philanthropists lost my vote with that stunt. Next time Bill, if you think something is such a noble cause that it needs $3 Billion, write a check for it from your foundation. Don’t simply fund a marketing campaign that shames unsophisticated voters into saddling themselves with a decade of debt.
Steve Jobs is Microsoft’s chief designer, since all Microsoft does is copy Apple.
You can read about Gates donation to the stem cell proposition here:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/technology/2004-08-25-gates-stem-cell_x.htm
I’m a turd, and I love flies. Color me brown, baby
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OS X will soon be on all computational devices – personal computers, cellphones, supercomputers, green screens, automobile GPS, etc. It is the end-all of operating systems. Everything else will go away.
Go Apple!
toonie, you MS weenie – go away and suck on BG’s dick. This site is for REAL Mac users only.
tooken?????
On the hero’s tomb is written
Not what he was, but what he should’ve been
And nothing you can do will change the circumstances
Just a mild infuriation with statistics of sin
–
Ampar, thx for the laughs. And for seeing that Gates isn’t good — he just looks that way.
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Jeff: Bill G is rich. Easy to get a girlfriend with tons of bank.
I have a vision of making several hundred million dollars, does that make me a visionary? If so, I’m sure there’s lots of visionaries all around us.
“Easy to get a girlfriend with tons of bank.”
Ouch. What a tool.
To Michael Keaton
So the fact that he used illegal business practices to gain his money is all OK now that he’s giving a lot of it away ?
So if Ted Bundy (the serial killer) were rich and gave a lot of that away would that make it OK ?
Or if Ken Lay (the CEO of Enron) gave away a large portion of his money would that make what he did OK ?
The fact that Gates did make his money running a company that has been convictedd of abusng monopoly power does not change. He was the CEO and Chairman of a company that was involved in illegal activites that has, IMHO, been dealt with so ineffectually that they have simply extended their behavior to new markets.
Gates was and is still a sleezey businessman that made his money illegally.
The Mafia is probably jealous
According to the book iCon, Steve Jobs’s wife is also a statuesque woman with whom Steve has 2 children (Steve also has a daughter Lisa from his first relationship). Steve met his wife who was in the audience at one of the lectures that Steve was giving at his old college a few years back.
Also, Steve was quite happy to give millions of copys of Tiger for FREE to the $100 laptops for kids in 3 worlds countries project. So deep down he is just a less publicised charitable guy.
Melinda Gates
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2005/11/7UR5.html
haven’t found a pic of Mrs Jobs though
“Also, Steve was quite happy to give millions of copys of Tiger for FREE to the $100 laptops for kids in 3 worlds countries project.”
He offered it, never gave it.
They didn´t want it.
“So deep down he is just a less publicised charitable guy.”
LOL. Then how did you know about it? Somebody at Apple publicised it.
“I’m a turd, and I love flies. Color me brown, baby .”
Another Ampar wannabe. Imitation is flattery, I suppose. An obvious example of that comes to mind. BTW, if you’re going to use scat humor and pretend to be me, you’ve got to use more imagination. I don’t mind if you try to be my clone but you’ve GOT to do better than that phoned-in drivel.
You’re welcome, Rewind.
“a circular lie in a calibrated order
weathering time with salt ‘n’ water
tears that you cry are your endeavor
to break into the madness of imaginary lines, until . . .”
[The Mafia is probably jealous]
Indeed.
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We don’t need a… ’cause without end, to serve forever’.
Watching Bill morph from a snake into a saint is revolting enough. No martyrs, please.
But, that notion can live in our heads, no?
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So who is the greater benefactor, the man with two dollars who gives away one to someone in need, or a centi-billionaire who gives away millions? Like the robber barons of the next-to-last century, Gates’ charitable acts, while helpful to those in need, do not erase thirty years of cut-throat business practices, thievery, and hypocrisy (remember the Gates ‘software pirtates should go to jail’ speech given even as he was stealing (adapting) everyone else’s inventions?
Like the Catholic church filling the vacuum left by the declining Roman Empire, Gates and Microsoft succeeded by undermining a bumbling IBM. Without that, Microsoft would be a tiny blip on the radar screen producing an also-ran spreadsheet for the ubiquitous Mac.
I don’t know Jobs, and what I do know about him second hand makes me happy I don’t know him, but like Walt Disney he is a corporate (not ‘personal’) artist determined to create the best that he can.
A final word about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Like all charitable foundations, it exists as a tax shield.
“Ray Ozzie was the man responsible for Lotus Notes. If you think Windows is stupid and rubbish then you’ve never used this product. Forced upon many a poor, poor corporate worker it makes grown men cry daily, and is just … nasty. Boo hoo hoo. :'(“
Notes is TERRIBLE, one of the worst Apps I have ever used. So this guy should fit right in. Although I have to say Exchange/Outlook/Entourage is way better than Notes. At least you could use Mail.app with Exchange.
Oh yeah Gates is a POS. He may be doing decent things lately but those are good things, but he is not. Good people do bad things and they are still good people. Gates is a P-O-F-S that has done bad things for a long time and recently has done some great things. He still sucks!
Here’s a pic of Laurene Powell Jobs
http://www.collegetrack.org/organization/board.html
and Laurene with Steve
http://www.ifoapplestore.com/stores/sf_opening/photo2/pages/28_lineup.htm