Gates: Ruthless vs. respect

For me to talk about his impact on technology and his departure from Microsoft would take a really long blog post. Some might hold in high regard, maybe even a legend. Some might just hate him.

For me, Gates is a geek that found a way to make a lot of money doing what he enjoyed. You have to give him credit for that, plus the fact that a lot of his fortune is being put towards good causes, that deserves at pat on the back. Cheerio Gates, have fun closing out your days at Microsoft and please put your energy to making the world a better place.

For more Microsoft wackiness and hidden treasures visit my blog on the Microsoft Subnet!

Most people see Bill Gates through tunnel vision. For example, techies focus on his software terrorism - which is bad enough.

But an intelligent analysis of the bigger picture reveals Bill Gates to be just as disgusting as his friend and benefactor, George W. Bush.

Having earned a reputation as a corporate thug, Bill Gates has poured mountains of money into the best public relations campaign money can buy. Of course, his managers focus on Gates' philanthropical endeavors, starring the Gates Foundation.

Yet the Gates Foundation has been revealed to be little more than an investment firm. Amazingly, Gates didn't even pay fair share for the Gates Foundation's headquarters. That's right, he scr*wed Seattle taxpayers out of millions of dollars in that deal.

Bill Gates is effectively a prisoner of his almost cosmic arrogance and greed. And it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out.

I guess it's a sign of the times that so few people possess sufficient independent thinking skills to grasp the obvious - that Bill Gates is a global jerk.

Having lived in Seattle since 1984, teaching with the Seattle School District for sixteen years and running for public office several times, I've come to know Bill Gates, Inc. far better than most of the yellow journalists who write about him.

I'll be documenting Gates' crimes on my new website, www.billysoft.org. In the meantime, I'm once again running for public office and am using my campaign to attack Bill Gates.

Please visit my campaign website at www.seattle-mafia.org.

David Blomstrom

I've heard the first-hand accounts of how aggressive Gates was, wanting to control standards bodies and dictate that Microsoft rules serve as the industry default. Winning was the goal. Shipping products and making money was the goal, while tolerating 80% code stability was acceptable: revenues came first.

Notwithstanding Gates (Balmer, Allen et all) and their desire for world domination, the market bears an equal part of the blame. We all love the seemingly wonderful user friendly bits, despite all the security flaws, and the predictability they offer. Our comfort and lack of adventure has made Gates and others very, very, very wealthy. Can't fault the guy for that, but beyond a certain point I can't get the notion from my mind that Gates is all-consumed with power and wealth to everyone's detriment. They keep making things more complex and expensive. What, to make him more money to give to his endowment? And did you know that his endowment is structured to actually make more money in interest and investments than they give out annually (8% vs. 5%)? Whatever Gates does is designed to make him out to be a great business man and philanthropist. Fine. Let him think what he does. All I can see is that Halo has enslaved an entire generation of people, paying Gates a monthly stipend so he can further feather is flourishing fund.

I don't like or dislike him. I do NOT admire him at all.