Did Bill Gates really steal from Apple?

[waggy]

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats

Originally posted by: Quintox
Who cares, he's richest man in the world and he donates a ton of money to charity, I like him.

So would you automatically like Joe Sixpack who donates a couple hundred each year to charity? Because that's what it amounts to for someone of Gates's wealth.

like him? no but i would respect them for it.

who cares how much it is compared to his net worth. he gives millions a year to charity.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: Quintox
Who cares, he's richest man in the world and he donates a ton of money to charity, I like him.

SO you like a guy who has absolutely no ethics or morals in life. Someone who wouldn't mind screwing you over up the wazoo if it benefited him?

Microsoft has a long history of unethical business practices. Not to mention stealing ideas from others, and selling inferior software products to others and making a profit due to restrictive licensing agreements.

From a business perspective, one thing they got right though is the licensing. It also shows that folks don't mind paying out of their ass in order to get software.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats

Originally posted by: Quintox
Who cares, he's richest man in the world and he donates a ton of money to charity, I like him.

So would you automatically like Joe Sixpack who donates a couple hundred each year to charity? Because that's what it amounts to for someone of Gates's wealth.

like him? no but i would respect them for it.

who cares how much it is compared to his net worth. he gives millions a year to charity.

he might "give" millions to charity, but i'm sure he has ulterior motives.

Him "giving" away money doesn't exactly match his ruthless personality.

 

[iamaelephant]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats

Originally posted by: Quintox
Who cares, he's richest man in the world and he donates a ton of money to charity, I like him.

So would you automatically like Joe Sixpack who donates a couple hundred each year to charity? Because that's what it amounts to for someone of Gates's wealth.

like him? no but i would respect them for it.

who cares how much it is compared to his net worth. he gives millions a year to charity.

he might "give" millions to charity, but i'm sure he has ulterior motives.

Him "giving" away money doesn't exactly match his ruthless personality.

Ulterior motives? Tin foil hat much?

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze
he might "give" millions to charity, but i'm sure he has ulterior motives.

Him "giving" away money doesn't exactly match his ruthless personality.

LOL, he's given tens of billions and Warren Buffet is trusting the Gates Foundation with the bulk of his fortune to use for its works.

 

[jdoggg12]

Bill Gates might be ruthless in the business world, but he and his wife are very generous philanthropists.

Three decades after starting the most influential American technology company, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said yesterday that he plans to step down from day-to-day work at the software giant to focus his energy full time on the $29 billion foundation he started with his wife 12 years ago.

Although the transition will not take place until July 2008, the move signals a new era for the software company that has been closely associated with Gates's geeky persona and provides an opportunity, according to many in the public health community, for Gates to become one of the most important philanthropists in U.S. history.


Microsoft founder Bill Gates smiles during his keynote presentation at the Computer Dealer Expo, or Comdex, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2000, in a Las Vegas file photo. Microsoft Corp. said after the bell Thursday that Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates smiles during his keynote presentation at the Computer Dealer Expo, or Comdex, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2000, in a Las Vegas file photo. Microsoft Corp. said after the bell Thursday that Gates will transition out of a day-to-day role in the company to spend more time on his global health and education work at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File) (Mark J. Terrill - AP)
Gates Casts a Long Shadow
Microsoft Corp. will gradually lose the day-to-day participation of its longtime iconic leader, Bill Gates, but the company should make the transition "without missing a beat," he said yesterday, as he begins to focus more on his charity work and the company continues to battle its software rivals.
Microsoft

Every move of the world's largest software maker, whose operating systems drive 90 percent of all PCs, sends ripples through the technology world.

Gates said he intends to remain chairman of Microsoft "for the rest of my life" but plans to relinquish all daily duties at the company and instead focus his legendary competitive drive on improving global health and access to technology. He and Microsoft chief executive Steven A. Ballmer yesterday laid out a two-year transition plan to begin grooming the next crop of executives to run the Redmond, Wash., firm.

Gates's sometimes relentless management style has bulled the company through many roadblocks, overcoming the government's attempt to break it up as a monopoly and overwhelming competitors such as Apple Computer Inc., International Business Machines Corp. and AOL. While Gates's founding vision of a personal computer on every desk has essentially come true, the basis on which he built the company -- software -- is being overtaken by the spread of high-speed Internet. New rivals such as Google Inc. promise a future where tools such as spreadsheets and e-mail reside online instead of in software on someone's hard drive. Gates's departure comes at a time when Microsoft is scrambling to adjust to that sudden shift.

"With success, I have been given great wealth. And with great wealth comes great responsibility to give back to society, to see that those resources are put to work in the best possible way to help those in need," Gates told a group of reporters yesterday afternoon from the company's headquarters. "Obviously, this decision was a hard one for me to make. I'm very lucky to have two passions."

Six years ago, Gates stepped down as chief executive to serve as "chief software architect," but he continued to be a towering daily presence at the company even as it saw the rise of Google and a new breed of competitors. Now 50, he made clear yesterday that he intends to step away from corporate life to focus on a foundation that already surpasses many governments across the globe in terms of spending and impact in the areas of vaccines, immunization and AIDS research.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's $29 billion endowment is 10 times the size of the Rockefeller Foundation and three times the size of the Ford Foundation. The foundation has contributed $159 million, or half of worldwide funding, for research and treatment that could result in nine or 10 new drugs that would help the world's poorest people fight diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Public health experts said the effort has invigorated areas of research that had fallen by the wayside and introduced innovative approaches by partnering with other nonprofit groups, governments and drug companies.

"This is good news for the world's poor," said Anne Lynam Goddard, chief of staff of CARE, an Atlanta-based nonprofit group focusing on ending global poverty and social injustice that received $10 million from the Gates foundation this year for health initiatives. "The Gates foundation has been a trendsetter. They've raised the bar in public health and reinvigorated interest in it."

Goddard and other public health experts said it is not just the sheer amount of money Gates brings to the table but also the businesslike focus on results and effectiveness that has made an impact. It's the "entrepreneurial, results-focused culture [that] has been a great thing for global health," said Orin Levine, executive director of a Johns Hopkins University program to spread access to pneumococcal vaccines, which received funding from the foundation.

"It wasn't that long ago people thought we couldn't make a malaria vaccine. But Bill said, 'No, let's do it,' " Levine recalled. "We had amazing results where we did a small but important trial in Mozambique, and this was the first evidence in the field that malaria vaccine could protect kids against malaria disease. It's indicative of what they've brought to the table. They're not afraid to tackle really big, difficult problems."

The Gates foundation has partnered with major drug companies to help subsidize research programs and bring a focus to some of the poorest countries. In Botswana, Bill and Melinda Gates spoke with former prostitutes to learn more about the spread of AIDS in that country. "In some countries, the issue of AIDS is very much an issue of commercial sex workers. Where others might have shied away from working in that sector, they haven't," Goddard said. "They come with no political agenda."

Gates made clear yesterday that he does not plan to take the helm of his foundation, where his wife, Melinda, already devotes much of her time. He said his role there will be similar to his current role at Microsoft, but he added, "I don't know what it will be like to not come to Microsoft every day." (Melinda Gates serves on the board of The Washington Post Co.)

Gates and Ballmer tried to assure investors and employees yesterday that the company would not change much once Gates departs, but that was hard to fathom given that his image and persona have long been intertwined with those of the company.

Microsoft went public in 1986, and the following year, Gates became the poster child for the self-made man and at 31 the youngest self-made billionaire.

Gates typically dresses in the casual geek-chic style of khakis and V-neck sweaters -- he wore one during his announcement yesterday -- and carries an equally self-effacing public demeanor. But behind closed doors, he has a reputation for being abrupt and dismissive of ideas he considers sub-par.

"There is that ruthless streak in him," said Laura DiDio, an analyst with the Yankee Group who also followed Gates as a reporter. During meetings, he was known to dismiss comments as "stupid," she said, and as his persona and Microsoft's corporate stature grew over the years, so did people's reluctance to challenge his authority. "You don't challenge the emperor on his home turf," DiDio said. "I don't think anybody's going to dominate Microsoft the way Bill has," and the company will benefit from new ideas and new blood of the younger generation of engineers, she said.

edit: source http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co...rticle/2006/06/15/AR2006061501300.html

 

[BladeVenom]

Microsoft has stolen nothing from Apple. If they had Apple would have taken them to court for copyright and patent infringement. Everything MS has supposedly copied off Apple, Apple had copied from someone else. The worst that can be said about MS is that they are slower in adopting new trends which is to be expected since they are bigger, and have to support more hardware.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: iamaelephant

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: waggy

Originally posted by: PaulNEPats

Originally posted by: Quintox
Who cares, he's richest man in the world and he donates a ton of money to charity, I like him.

So would you automatically like Joe Sixpack who donates a couple hundred each year to charity? Because that's what it amounts to for someone of Gates's wealth.

like him? no but i would respect them for it.

who cares how much it is compared to his net worth. he gives millions a year to charity.

he might "give" millions to charity, but i'm sure he has ulterior motives.

Him "giving" away money doesn't exactly match his ruthless personality.

Ulterior motives? Tin foil hat much?

why don't you study history a bit before you make assumptions.

I don't trust Microsoft farther then I can spit.

 

[Hyperblaze]

Originally posted by: DaveSimmons

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze
he might "give" millions to charity, but i'm sure he has ulterior motives.

Him "giving" away money doesn't exactly match his ruthless personality.

LOL, he's given tens of billions and Warren Buffet is trusting the Gates Foundation with the bulk of his fortune to use for its works.

I pray Warren Buffer knows what he is doing.

It is true that we have yet to see the Gates Foundation's long term effect.

But I read somewhere that the Gates Foundation isn't solely looking out into helping others. They are also interested in making money, just like any business, and in some ways, causing harms to others in the process.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: Hyperblaze

Originally posted by: iamaelephant
Ulterior motives? Tin foil hat much?

why don't you study history a bit before you make assumptions.

I don't trust Microsoft farther then I can spit.

"The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's $29 billion endowment is 10 times the size of the Rockefeller Foundation and three times the size of the Ford Foundation. The foundation has contributed $159 million, or half of worldwide funding, for research and treatment that could result in nine or 10 new drugs that would help the world's poorest people fight diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis. Public health experts said the effort has invigorated areas of research that had fallen by the wayside and introduced innovative approaches by partnering with other nonprofit groups, governments and drug companies. "

Hmm, I guess the sinister plan is that if more Africans survive TB, they can grow up to buy Microsoft software? 😕

Edit:

But I read somewhere that the Gates Foundation isn't solely looking out into helping others. They are also interested in making money, just like any business, and in some ways, causing harms to others in the process.

You're referring to the fact that the billions endowed to the Gates Foundation are invested worldwide, rather than sitting in a zero-interest checking account. (Almost all charities invest their holdings, as do colleges, states, counties ...)

Some PC-Police complain that some of the money is invested in energy companies and other businesses that produce pollution. They argue that every investment made with the Foundation's money should be "green."

That's a somewhat valid argument, but not evidence of a sinister plot.

 

[RichardE]

Originally posted by: NightDarker
I'm watching Pirates of Silicon Valley--and granted it really isn't a documentary or anything--but they specifically say that ideas were stolen.

Did this really happen? Excuse me for my lack of knowledge on the subject...

Have you seen Windows Vista lately? sheeesh...

right down to "Windows Mail"

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
Microsoft has stolen nothing from Apple. If they had Apple would have taken them to court for copyright and patent infringement. Everything MS has supposedly copied off Apple, Apple had copied from someone else. The worst that can be said about MS is that they are slower in adopting new trends which is to be expected since they are bigger, and have to support more hardware.

Apple did sue Microsoft for patent infringement. It was finally settled when Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple in 1997.

http://news.com.com/MS+to+invest+150+million+in+Apple/2100-1001_3-202143.html

Both Apple and Microsoft executives denied that the Microsoft investment represents a path to converging the companies' operating systems. However, they said they had agreed to work out a settlement to a long-standing dispute over whether Microsoft's Windows operating system infringes on any of Apple's patents.

 

[chcarnage]

They were in court. It's an interesting issue.

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
The worst that can be said about MS is that they are incapable of inventing new trends which is to be expected since they have another business model.

Fixed that for you.

 

[idiotekniQues]

so with all the charity work bill does now, has he redeemed himself?

 

[jdoggg12]

I'd say in the scheme of things, hurting some companies but investing billions to save human lives could help some of my dislike for his business practice.

 

[zeruty]

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
well gates did steal the GUI from Apple that Apple stole from Xerox which stole from PARC. basically everybody stole from PARC. i do believe that Gates stole the mouse as david englebert (the guy who invented the mouse) was wroking for SRI which licensed the mouse only to Apple.

Yes, those bastards at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center stole those ideas from PARC. :roll:



For anyone interested in more information about the history of Apple and Microsoft, I'd recommend checking out this documentary:
Triumph of the Nerds
I guess some of it was cut for the dvd release, but it should still be pretty informative.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: zeruty

Originally posted by: ForumMaster
well gates did steal the GUI from Apple that Apple stole from Xerox which stole from PARC. basically everybody stole from PARC. i do believe that Gates stole the mouse as david englebert (the guy who invented the mouse) was wroking for SRI which licensed the mouse only to Apple.

Yes, those bastards at Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center stole those ideas from PARC. :roll:



For anyone interested in more information about the history of Apple and Microsoft, I'd recommend checking out this documentary:
Triumph of the Nerds
I guess some of it was cut for the dvd release, but it should still be pretty informative.

Great documentary. I watched when it was on PBS back in 96, and I rented it from Netflix recently to refresh my memory.