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Thread ID: 54999	2005-02-28 07:10:00	Bill Gates ain't so bad, at least in this instance	Strommer (42)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
328947	2005-02-28 07:10:00	Billy boy makes heaps of money, but he does give some of it away. From Yahoo News: The most blunt assessment came from Microsoft chief Bill Gates (news - web sites), who has put more than $700 million into reducing the size of high school classes through the foundation formed by him and his wife, Melinda. He said high schools must be redesigned to prepare every student for college, with classes that are rigorous and relevant to kids and with supportive relationships for children. "America's high schools are obsolete," Gates said. "By obsolete, I don't just mean that they're broken, flawed or underfunded, though a case could be made for every one of those points. By obsolete, I mean our high schools — even when they're working as designed — cannot teach all our students what they need to know today." Now admit it, you don't hate him so much. Do you? :lol:	Strommer (42)
328948	2005-02-28 07:34:00	Oh for goodness sake . He only has that money because of his firm's price gouging . YOU and I are paying that money, not Gates . They have vastly over-priced their inferior products, and Gates is spending the vast surplus he is raking in from monopolistic practices - in effect, Microsoft and Gates is taxing us the way an elected government does, but with less accountability . Why should our money (collected through Microsoft's and Gates' greed) be subsidising schools in the richest country in the world? Why should that man be making decisions about where such vast sums of unearned money should be going? Let's have some analysis about the spending of Gates' conscience money rather than just worshipping a rip off merchant for driipping a bit of loot onto his own home patch . Pulease, give us a break .	John H (8)
328949	2005-02-28 07:51:00	Ouch!	Murray P (44)
328950	2005-02-28 08:08:00	Oh for goodness sake . He only has that money because of his firm's price gouging . YOU and I are paying that money, not Gates . They have vastly over-priced their inferior products, and Gates is spending the vast surplus he is raking in from monopolistic practices - in effect, Microsoft and Gates is taxing us the way an elected government does, but with less accountability . There is a very large fundamental difference between voluntarily buying Bill's goods, and compulsorily paying taxes, no matter how much you hate paying Bill for blue screens . Besides, a lot of people I know love his goods, with most of them swearing by them . Why should our money (collected through Microsoft's and Gates' greed) be subsidising schools in the richest country in the world? Why should that man be making decisions about where such vast sums of unearned money should be going? Let's have some analysis about the spending of Gates' conscience money rather than just worshipping a rip off merchant for driipping a bit of loot onto his own home patch . Pulease, give us a break . If you hate him and his stuff so much, go Mac or Open Source . Gates is not obligated at all to give his money away, just as no one is obligated to use his products . There are many immensely wealthy people in this world, but very very few give money away like Bill Gates . Just a few months back he gave $US750m to vaccine research for the third world . He has large endowments in some of the best universities in the world purely to further knowledge and make the world a better place . Having said that, I would never buy or use Windows as my primary OS .	vinref (6194)
328951	2005-02-28 20:55:00	Gates is not obligated at all to give his money away, just as no one is obligated to use his products . There are many immensely wealthy people in this world, but very very few give money away like Bill Gates . Agreed . Give the guy his due . And if Windows is such a disaster, why do people buy it? Microsoft is a business fairytale . A couple of nobody geeks who were clever at code and marketing - and succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams . The message of Bill Gates is that anyone can do this . You don't need a silver spoon or millions of dollars . And Google, Ihug, and Ebay are all examples following in Gates footsteps . We should praise and admire success instead of slamming it . Looks like the Tall Poppy syndrome is alive and well in New Zealand . :groan:	Winston001 (3612)
328952	2005-02-28 21:01:00	I can respect success. That doesn't mean I automaticly respect the man, his methods, his product, his disdain for those that made him rich, his arrogance towards other companies, or his plans to enslave us all to process's that help no-one but him and his bank account. The guy needs a poke in the eye.	Metla (12)
328953	2005-02-28 21:22:00	The guy is pure genius and while he isn't a saint, he could do a lot worse compared with the business ethics of companies such as Monsanto and Shell. Lo.	Lohsing (219)
328954	2005-02-28 22:10:00	The message of Bill Gates is that anyone can do this. You don't need a silver spoon or millions of dollars. And Google, Ihug, and Ebay are all examples following in Gates footsteps. We should praise and admire success instead of slamming it. Looks like the Tall Poppy syndrome is alive and well in New Zealand. :groan: Umm, 001 I think you should be aware that BG came from quiet a privileged background. That's neither here nor there though, it's the deeds that count, you have to admire his, um, marketing genius ;) BTW, I get a little sick and tired of critisism being labled "tall poppy syndrom". It makes no difference as to the background or capabilities of the target, either critisism is justified or it is not. So do the adherents to the philosophy behind that phrase think it is ok to critisise the poor or less capable, why is it that if one high flyer has a crack at another it is not labled tall poppy syndrom, what's the diff? If you analysed it a bit more, might you find that those most critisised are in the public eye more than most, and generally say and do things that enhance that?	Murray P (44)
328955	2005-02-28 22:54:00	Well said Murray P about the so-called "Tall Poppy Syndrome" . It is an easy charge to make without evidence, and it is also an easy way to avoid having to tax your brain with a modicum of analysis . What my intemperate post was wishing to say is: Hey folks, don't get sucked in by all this Gates generosity, and think he is a Great Guy because of how much money he gives away . Analyse it a bit for goodness sake - where did the money come from? (my answer - you and me and suckers like us across the globe); how come he has such a surplus? (my answer - over-priced products you and I etc paid for); where is the money going to? (my answer - in this instance it was being siphoned in from all over the world, third world countries included, to subsidise schools in the richest country in the world) . There is a huge history to Rich Man's Philanthropy, dating back through the centuries - Gates is only one of a long line . They all gave money away because they had too much to know what to do with (see, I am a beached socialist whale, not a Tall Poppy Harvester), and they were wanting to achieve some benefit for themselves, for example, one or more of the following: - brownie points in Heaven - an eased conscience - a healthier, better educated workforce so they could screw more productivity out of them (e . g . Titus Salt at Saltaire, Yorkshire) - publicity and social standing because they didn't have birth privileges like the aristos - a diversion (when Gates gives money away, he is like a conjurer - whilst we are marvelling at his left hand giving money away, he is still picking our pockets with his right hand) . I am also deeply suspicious of any Rich Man deciding which "charities" he will support - as a public figure, they are most likely to favour the fashionable rather than the unpopular (American schools rather than Rights for Gay Whales); the conservative rather than the liberal (Boy Scouts rather than rehabilitation schemes for unemployed street kids); the religiously acceptable; etc etc . They have enough power in the market place already without us accepting the power of their choices unquestioningly, and going all gooey because they have drip fed some of their usurous profits . I won't plead guilty to Tall Poppy Syndrome, Mr Lawyer . I will only plead guilty to a healthy dose of cynicism . This has nothing to do with Microsoft products and whether they are any good or not; it has everything to do with their pricing structures, monopolisitic practices, and the realities of charity .	John H (8)
328956	2005-02-28 23:01:00	Great,thats put me off whale meat. Back to the dolphins i supose.	Metla (12)
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