“In case you haven’t noticed there’s been a lot of media coverage about Bill Gates retiring from Microsoft and quite a lot of it has been more than a little fawning. Well it’s time to set aside the fanboy accolades and cut to the truth about Bill Gates,” Jim Lynch writes for ExtremeTech.
“Bill Gates’ reign at the top of tech plunged the computing world into a new dark age that only the Internet, Apple, Google, and Linux have begun to liberate us from,” Lynch writes. “Gates’ operating system products were second-rate copies of more elegant, stable, and technologically superior products such as Mac OS, Linux, and Unix. Gates’ retirement will be remembered as the beginning of the end for Microsoft.”
“And it’s not coming a moment too soon,” Lynch writes. “So much damage has been done by Gates and Microsoft that it will take the computing world years to finally escape their grasp.”
Lynch writes, “There are some who try to defend Gates’ actions during his career by saying ‘well geez, he’s giving a lot of money away so he’s really a nice guy!’ Aaaaw, when you put it like that what’s not to love about Bill Gates?
“Plenty,” Lynch writes. “Gates is simply following in the footsteps of the robber-barons that came before him and he’s taking his ill-gotten wealth and trying to buy himself respectability and a better legacy than greed and bad products. Andrew Carnegie, JP Morgan, William Randolph Hearst, Andrew Mellon, and others are who Gates is using as his role models.”
“These men all accumulated truly vast concentrations of wealth through ruthless suppression of competitors and other shady business tactics. And many of them later tried to buy respectability through charitable foundations and giving,” Lynch writes. “Bill Gates doesn’t want to be remembered for what he truly is: A robber baron and convicted monopolist. So he’s deploying his ill-gotten billions as he prepares to buy-off as many people as possible to create an alternative view of himself in history.”
“So enjoy your ill-gotten money, Bill, as you sail off into the sunset… Good riddance to you and don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out,” Lynch writes.
This is only scratching the surface, there’s much, much more in the full article (and, no, really, we didn’t write it, Lynch did) – very highly recommended – here.
Afterwards, in case you missed it, you might want to check out this AP article and our accompanying “Takes” which may or may not have inspired Lynch: Bill Gates moves on; a troubled Microsoft remains – June 27, 2008
I totally agree with this view.
GOOD RIDDANCE BG.
Bill Gates and M$ have almost destroyed any technological progress.
The legacy of Bill Gates will always be a man of average talents who knew how to destroy any creativity and leverage his company’s postion to the one of global Mafia status through constricting and bullying business tactics.
I hope he rots in hell, regardless who he is trying to pay off with his ill gotten gains.
If the man had any decency what-so-ever he would have given all that money back to the customers he has ripped off over the last 20 odd years.
Thanks for nothing Bill Gates, good luck in trying to alter history’s view of you – I for one will be telling all the truth until I breath my last breath.
No FUCK OFF and go and count your $ billions you tosser.
He’s not even giving HIS OWN millions away! He latched onto “donations” from Warren Buffet for that!… And I’ve been saying the same thing about Gates every since he started that “Foundation”.
As far as liberating us, where’s Lynch been hiding? We’ve been set back decades of innovation because of Microsoft. Been saying that for 15 years at least. Ask any of the small companies and cool software MS has corrupted or outright choked out of existence in it’s 20 year reign of terror.
MDN Word “Future” as in the technological future we could’ve had as young adults likely will be our grandchildrens.
Gates Foundation is NOT so charitable. It uses leverage to shape political policy and keeps strings firmly attached to funds. In California, when the Gates Foundation could have simply granted money for stem cell research, it instead spent a couple hundred million on a pro-stem cell ballot measure that persuaded the passing of a $6 BILLION bond measure to fund the research. Thanks for the “charitable” contribution Bill. Now Californians are strapped with $6B more debt and a personal tax increase.
I like turtles.
I also like Word.
Don’t be so pessimistic. Buy an iPhone 3G and cheer up. The future is now.
“Bill Gates’ reign at the top of tech plunged the computing world into a new dark age that only the Internet, Apple, Google, and Linux have begun to liberate us from,”
And THAT is the truth…
Well said that man. About time someone other than Daniel Eran Dilger said it…
And Microsoft is STILL doing it:
“Microsoft is radically changing the Office user interface on the Windows side to force companies to adopt Vista while also attempting to stave off the advance of the free OpenOffice productivity software”
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/07/10/myths-of-snow-leopard-8-its-just-an-os/
Gates brought us one positive thing that we should not ignore… a target.
“Gates Foundation is NOT so charitable.”
More on that:
http://nonprofit.about.com/b/2007/01/09/whats-up-at-the-gates-foundation.htm
“Gates Foundation’s Influence Criticized”
(By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. Published: February 16, 2008)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/science/16malaria.html
“Gates Foundation Backs Off From Pledge to Review Investments”
http://www.newscloud.com/read/Gates_Foundation_Backs_Off__From_Pledge_to_Review_Investments?skipSplash
Bottom line:
The GF has hundreds of millions invested in petroleum and other companies that are directly linked to causing misery, widespread illness and death in the same areas that the GF has pledged to help. After being called to the carpet, the GF board backed by Bill and Melinda’s recommendation has decided to continue its investments without change.
Read it for yourself.
“The Gates Foundation has poured $218 million into polio and measles immunization and research worldwide, including in the Niger Delta. At the same time that the foundation is funding inoculations to protect health, The Times found, it has invested $423 million in Eni, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and Total of France — the companies responsible for most of the flares blanketing the delta with pollution, beyond anything permitted in the United States or Europe.”
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gatesx07jan07,0,6827615.story
You guys need to read more. Eran is good but there have been many writers who have stuck their necks out and said the same thing about Microsoft.
Wow! You guys are completely ridiculous!
Ok, fine, you don’t like Gates and Microsoft has done with the industry. I disagree, but that’s fine, case closed.
But how can you knock his philanthropy?! You can come up with any conspiracy theory you have about it, but he what he does, his money or not, helps the world! Do you guys pick on that because God Jobs doesn’t do anything similar (at least not that the public knows about)?
@Macaday
Why do you throw that FUD around? Is it possible that Microsoft changed the UI because it just made sense and is much easier to use? Or is everything that Microsoft does in spite of Apple? And Office 2007 has NOTHING to do with Vista! It works exactly the same in Vista as it does in XP. It’s my turn to call FUD! Stupid Roughly Drafted…
Good article.
This column could be a brief history lesson for every tech fan of the future.
July, 2050 –
“Little Atticus Steven Jobs Thompson writes to us:
‘Why did the world stagnate in computer hell for 15 years back in the late 20th, early 21st century?”
Well, Atticus, to start answering your question, here’s an article by Jim Lynch, published in 2008 …”
MDN Word “time”
Haha!
It is SO refreshing to finally see someone, someplace, not already known for zealous Microsoft hating, to tell it like it is…
However, Lynch got one thing wrong… He closes by stating that Bill’s “charitable” foundation will not change how history remembers Gates and to a certain extent that is true… There will always be the intelligent, honest view held by a small minority who can see through the hype, but let’s face reality…
The vast majority of will be easily befuddled by all the hyped up do-goodery of the tax-sheltering sham that is the Gates Foundation. Ballmer was never up to the task of running Microsoft, and Gates well knows that.
Ballmer is the fall-guy… the Hudsucker Proxy… The German Empire. He’ll take the blame, letting the real culprit run off scot free, whilst the real victims, the nameless millions, remain behind paying the biggest price.
History repeats itself because people let it. Simply put, the human race is 99% made up of total idiots who are too close to their despair to see it.
Why doesn’t Gates sponsor a child for $30 a month. He could sponsor millions of kids a month. Now that would be something real. The Foundation sounds like a big expensive thing to run, just making more rich people richer.
Gee, I always thought he was a fine fellow.
@ HMCIV
So true.
Who will the target be now? Ballmer? No, he’s not worthy. My guess – it will be that OTHER Steve.
best article of the week MDN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@Jordan:
“You can come up with any conspiracy theory you have about it, but he what he does, his money or not, helps the world!”
How are your reading comprehension skills?
(venture two posts up from your squealing post and read from any of the links – go on, I triple dog dare you)
And a little research on your own first might help you before posting foolish, misplaced anger.
Life in Ballmerville is grrrrreeaaat!!!…for the competition.
@ Pi
That wasn’t up when I posted. My reading comprehension skills aren’t too bad, thanks for asking. I’ll back down from those comments, sort of. But really, how many people invest in oil without doing ANYTHING to help the world. Really!
And I still stand by the FUD comment.
Regardless of Gate’s unimaginable wealth, there is one thing that all wealthy people suffer from… and that is GREED.
People with alot of money will always tell you they havent got any and they also have an almost paranoid fear of giving any away – unless they are getting something for it.
They will also try to screw the honest tradespeople and small businesses out there to get a cheap deal.
This is exactly what Gates is doing, he’s ‘donating’ a fortune on only things that give him either a financal or political return.
And yet, people with hardly any money are generous and helpful… interesting paradox of life that!
The people with almost nothing will always help people more and be generous with what little money or resources they have.
Imagine what amazing things you could do with all Gate’s money…
You could, pay off Africa’s dept, research into sustainable and non environmentally damaging fuel resources, find cures for illness, help the poor, convince the world to do something about global warming and climate change (too little too late guys in affraid!), invent teleportation… the list is endless.
Funny that the ExtremeTech article is an ASP page.
Gates leaving Microsoft is BAD NEWS!!
They now might actually change for the better!
I’ll never forget that there was a company called Blue Ribbon Software and they made a program called Bars & Pipes. B&P;was Amiga-only and a very popular music program at a time when the only noise from a PC was the clicking of a floppy drive. Microsoft for some reason, bought the company and then shut it down and stopped development of B&P;.
BTW, ExtremeTech is running on MS servers, too.
Did any of you read any of the ET comments from the brainwashed MS using drones who almost crucified Lynch for having the audacity to brave it and say it like it is?
They just wouldn’t believe the truth preferring to twist the fsck out of it.
It’s funny how M$ users seem to have a knack of re-writing history to justify their pathetic choices.
Billy boy must have one heck of a reality distortion field eh!
Much More about their latest fiascos:
http://www.microsplot.com/vista
From Jordan: “But really, how many people invest in oil without doing ANYTHING to help the world. Really!”
Interesting but not the point of your statement (“But how can you knock his philanthropy?!”) and therefore illogical.
Stick to just Bill and the Gates Foundation (the original point of your post) or you’re running into fallacy. Others do good and/or others do bad is a separate argument and to construe it as a justification for the actions of the Gates Foundation is wrong.
For example:
Major premise: Dan robbed a bank.
Minor premise: Many people steal.
Conclusion: Therefore, Dan is not guilty because others steal as well.
Argue that in court.
Jim Lynch (And most of the comments posted here) show a total lack of perspective and common sense. In the beginning of the PC revolution, MS liberated users from those moving toward a totally vertically integrated market – Apple and others. MS grew into a major US corporation because it provided the consumer with a choice in hardware and, provided software that liberated users from C:>. It’s easy to hate – the world exhibits this curse on a daily basis.
The former superintendent of the school district where I used to work forced every high school to split into “schools within schools” whether that format worked for that school or not. Part of the reason was that evidence shows that, in some instances, that approach works for many of the less-successful students in a school. The other part of the reason was that the Gates Foundation would grant up to $200,000.00 per school to the district for each school that did this BUT ONLY according to strict guidelines established by the foundations. My high school turned down the grant because the Gates formula wouldn’t have worked well for us, and we greatly pissed off the district higher-ups.
@ tbsteph
‘liberated…
I do not think that word means what you think it means….
@ChrissyOne
“Who will the target be now? Ballmer? No, he’s not worthy. My guess – it will be that OTHER Steve.”
Nope. It will be the Telecoms. Its already starting.
@ Pi
To be fair, I did say that I was “taking a step back, sort of.” If all of this is in fact true, I’m not excusing it at all.
But let’s look at this as sensible people for a second (instead of fanboys). Can we agree that the Foundation’s purpose is to do good? I hope so. Now, in order to do good, an organization must have money. In this case, that money comes from Gates himself, other donators, and the Fondation’s investments. It just so happens that oil isn’t a shabby investment.
Now, I didn’t read the entire 10 page article. My work is slightly more important that that. But, if the companies that the Foundation invests in directly cause the conditions it’s also trying to fight…yeah, that’s a bit of a conflict.
But I’ll still reiterate my point that at least he’s doing something! And a lot, to be honest!
To use you’re analogy:
Dan robs a bank.
Many people rob banks.
Dan gives the money back, and also gives money to lots of other banks.
No, it doesn’t excuse the original crime, but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the final action is still good. Not to mention that investing in oil isn’t a crime.
@ Buster
Liberated is exactly what I meant.
When I was growing up, my peeps used to phrase it thusly: “Don’t let the doorknob hit you where the good Lord split you.”
The big difference between Bill Gates and the so-called robber barons from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution was that, by and large, what they were doing was LEGAL. It wasn’t yet against the law. It was BECAUSE of them that the antitrust laws were created and passed. It was BECAUSE of them that child labor laws were passed. They weren’t even paying taxes on their profits; those laws hadn’t been passed yet, either.
Was what they were doing ethical?? Hell, no, but legally they pretty much weren’t breaking any laws. That’s WHY they wanted to make as much money as they could, BEFORE the lawmakers got involved and slowed down or stopped the gravy train.
What’s my point? Our buddy Bill didn’t come along in an environment like that. The Sherman Antitrust Laws had been in place for 70, 80, 90 years and he KNEW that, and yet STILL engaged in consistent unethical, anti-competitive, monopolistic behavior. That’s why the government (too late) had to get involved.
Does this guy who, like the robber barons of old, is now trying to buy his way into Heaven, deserve the praise he’s getting from the MSM? No, he deserves a foot up the ass and a 2 x 4 upside the head, but hey, that’s just me.
Oh, and I disagree with Jim Lynch on the last thing he said. Don’t take Steve Ballmer with you, Bill; leave him right where he is for as long as the board is stupid enough to keep him in place. He can try to take over Yahoo, take another half decade to come out with Windoze 7, sell 3 or 4 Big Ass Tables, lose billions with the Xbox, sell a couple thousand Zunes, whatever.
M$ is the Lusitania and the Titanic all rolled into one. Apple, Google, Linux, the Internet, and open source are in the submarine arming torpedos as we speak. Steve Ballmer is the overconfident captain fluffing pillows and rearranging deck chairs for the passengers.
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
“Can we agree that the Foundation’s purpose is to do good? “
I have serious doubts but I’ve read a lot on the subject from many different sources.
“yeah, that’s a bit of a conflict.”
That’s a bit of an understatement.
“But I’ll still reiterate my point that at least he’s doing something! And a lot, to be honest!”
Perhaps you should read up more on the subject first. There’s a hell of a lot more to this story than can be simply described as altruism or philanthropy (or gee, isn’t Bill swell because he’s funded another inoculation program – now go here: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/16/science/16malaria.html). You’ll get another whiff of another example described by another poster on this page with regards to public education.
There’s a lot more going on with Bill and Melinda’s Excellent Adventure than most people will acknowledge because criticizing charities is construed as evil or ungrateful.
@ tbsteph
‘MS grew into a major US corporation because it provided the consumer with a choice in hardware and, provided software that liberated users from C:>.’
Translated this means that MS got rich by ripping off a company that earlier had ‘liberated’ people from ‘see-colon-enter’ and by providing a cheap, ass backward alternative which repressed innovation in the computer industry.
The Cult of Micro$oft is not amused.
Grow up, twats.
Only a socialist moron could write that crap. Bill Gates isn’t the devil or responsible or all perceived ills of the tech industry. Do you really think he has that much power? Wow. What a smart guy he must be. Oh wait, you think he’s stupid? Which is it?
Henry Ford did a great deal for the car industry and the economy. Would I even consider buying a Ford today? No. Things change. But lets not re-write history to support some misguided agenda.
Yeah, the products from MSFT suck and I’d much rather use Apple products but I don’t blame Bill Gates. I simply vote with my dollars.
The author is whinny. Buck up. Grow a pair and do something that really makes a difference. Tell a Windoze user about OS X!
@rws
“Yeah, the products from MSFT suck and I’d much rather use Apple products but I don’t blame Bill Gates. I simply vote with my dollars.”
The MSFT shill game is getting lame.
Formula:
1) Slam Apple or anti-MSFT comments.
2) Either say you are an Apple user or also dislike MSFT products.
This attempts to inject validity into Point #1 by piggybacking onto perceived Apple “fanboyism” using Point #2.
There is no Apple “fanboyism” in the world, only people who like to use better products (like driving a nicer car, eating better food, etc.). But there IS Microsoft religious blindness (like fundamental religious fanatics the world over who refuse to acknowledge science or facts).