Gates Funding iBook Program?

[arn]

This Bangor Daily News article (http://www.bangornews.com/editorialnews/article.html?ID=49599) details some continued debate surrounding the state of Maine's iBook program... of interest from this article is this little excerpt:

Funding for the program includes a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help train teachers and to provide a $10,000 stipend for teachers serving as regional integration monitors to work with other teachers in each area.

[Xapplimatic]

Hey, why not take MS's money and spend it on Macs.. now THAT's Justice!

[Macmaniac]

Lets do more states then we will get more of his money muhahaha!

[KNGPaul]

The sad thing is he could donate a million dollars to every state and not be affected. 50 million is a very small portion of that jerk's total net worth.

[eyelikeart]

I don't know what to think about it...

I think it's great that Bill donated $1 million to the cause. It is a small amount of money, compared to what he could have donated....but nonetheless, still something. When it all comes down to it, the foundation is just a way for Bill to hoard his money and with this donation, get a nice tax deduction. Like I've said in many posts before this one, Bill Gates is an extremely smart man....so he knows exactly what he's doing.

I did find this on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation website:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is dedicated to improving people's lives by sharing advances in health and learning with the global community.* The foundation was created in January of 2000, through the merger of the Gates Learning Foundation, which focused on expanding access to technology through public libraries, and the William H. Gates Foundation, which focused on improving global health. Led by Bill Gates' father, William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based foundation has an asset base of $24.2 billion.

[jayscheuerle]

Sounds like a million dollar PR campaign to me...

[BillGates]

yep, its all about PR

[Unregistered]

Gates/Microsoft will do _anything_ to get their name in as major contributors in any big deal. Last night we had an event for the CS dept - the Unix SIG on campus had been planning an installfest for months, and it sort of morphed into a department sponsored event with food and games and movies etc. Sure enough, about two weeks ago there's all this talk about a MS installfest at a CS event... and oh yeah... a Linux installfest too. Apparently MS stole the show by donating tons of money and free software. It would be a crime to let the *nix crowd be the main sponsors of an event, apparently. :\ GARRR!

[Unregistered]

Hey, let's be fair...
I'm repulsed by Bill and his business thinking, but to be fair, he and Melinda have given away (on average) a million dollars A DAY for the past several years to good programs like the Maine Ibook one. Although you'd like it to be, this is no isolated headline grab. To that, have you heard before about the other millions they have donated? Probably not...Microsoft really is Satan -- but the foundation has done some very good things -- and has been generous beyond what anyone could have conceived.

Do you think that the Maine kids would stand a chance of getting those Ibooks if all the funding had to come from the coffers controlled by legislators like the Republican quoted in the article? That's where your wrath should be wielded.

[JuneBug]

I hope that I am not too late when I am saying this, anyways, what is the real reason that Bill had anything to do with that? The answer is simple :Office v.X Think about how much money he is going to a cut of from those 3600 iBooks each loaded with Office as a standard. I mean when you think about it any kid that has a computer in school these days definetly uses Word and PowerPoint almost every week for an assignment. Not to continue on with this forever because I am sure you all get the point. But I just wanted to state the obvious for those who hadnt mentioned it before.

[jayscheuerle]

Might as well give it away. There aren't enough truly innovative companies to buy or crush out there so he's gotta do something.

He could have invested it in something arrogant like a "Gates Stadium", so he deserves some credit. I can't remember the last time I gave $10 away, much less a million.

[SPG]

The difference between the absolutely ruthless business practices of MS and the philanthropy in Gates' name is astounding. As he is giving millions to programs around the world, he is screwing his own employees into "independent contractor" status to avoid paying basic benefits and allow MS to slash jobs on a whim with no unemployment or severence issues whatsoever.
I'm glad he's giving away money, but it bothers me just like Tiger Woods getting millions off the backs of subsistence laborers. (okay flame away, but honestly, both of these guys get millions more then they could ever use, and with the influence they have can take a little less, still be obscenely wealthy, and make the world a better place for a lot of people.)

[Unregistered]

I know why I've cut way back reading these posts...same ignorance, same blowhards, same bias...

I'm a Maine Laptop Program Lead teacher as well as the Tech Cooridinator and teacher at a Maine K-8 school...I hate Windows but administer 2 servers and 70 workstations. We'll be getting 75+ iBooks. The Gates Foundation has helped and we WILL NOT be buying Office...we have AppleWorks...

[Xapplimatic]

If you can't take the heat.. stay out of the rumors forum.. :)

[Unregistered]

Bill Gates didn't give a Million Bucks, the Gates Family FOUNDATION did. Bill's insanely weathy lawyer father is far more charitable than Bill Gates III is, and is well known for his philanthropy. Trey (as his friends know him) is more known for introducing fake error code into early versions of Windows to make it look like DR-DOS was constantly crashing, or instructing his workers to write code so Windows 95 would look for Corel Wordperfect suite, then slow it down by running empty cycles. Look it up in the court documents. It's all there.

BTW, I'm a Windows user and law student who has had enough of Microsoft and is considering switching to Macs, except that before I do, I need to know that Gates and Jobs aren't in bed together. Anyone know anything?

Michael T.

[Unregistered]

Bill and Steve "in bed together?!" You've GOT to be kidding me right? Sure they look the other way and say they're supportive of each other, but COME ON. Bill couldn't hold a candle to Steve in a Billion dollars, erm years. Seen any INNOVATION come from Redmond? Ever? I didn't think so.

[Unregistered]

they had a big uncomfortable optical mouse that was kind of a titanium colored plastic... it was sorta nice, till i must of clicked it too hard and it broke =\

[jaredbbauer]

you people are sick in the head. I think that you should get over this bill hatred... If apple had screwed someone you would think it was the greatest thing that has ever happened. I dislike windows just as much as the next guy but not because of bill or because it is microsoft, i hate it because it does not work very well. I love macs because they are stylish and do not crash as often. If you are going to dislike MS do it for good reason not because of bill gates or anyone else that you have never met. He is still a person, a regular human being just like you. I am sure that all of you have your bad side. I know that I do. I just hope that people never say about me what you people say about gates and his organization.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by jaredbbauer
you people are sick in the head. I think that you should get over this bill hatred... If apple had screwed someone you would think it was the greatest thing that has ever happened. I dislike windows just as much as the next guy but not because of bill or because it is microsoft, i hate it because it does not work very well. I love macs because they are stylish and do not crash as often. If you are going to dislike MS do it for good reason not because of bill gates or anyone else that you have never met. He is still a person, a regular human being just like you. I am sure that all of you have your bad side. I know that I do. I just hope that people never say about me what you people say about gates and his organization.

I can hate Bill for his unethical and overbearing business practices that destroy both the innovation of small companies and the livelyhood of their employees.

I can hate Steve for his arrogance and insistance that his way is the only way. This attitude has negatively affected OSX's usability as well as its support for older machines.

These personality traits have made both men very successful in the world of business.

I can hate them, but I don't. They don't deserve that much passion from me.

Windows is just an OS that suits many people well.

OSX is just an OS that suits many people well.

For the record, I'm a short-tempered, arrogant, obsessive (yet easy-going) perfectionist who doesn't tolerate idiots and has a handful of decent qualities too.:cool:

[agreenster]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle


I can hate Bill for his unethical and overbearing business practices that destroy both the innovation of small companies and the livelyhood of their employees.

I can hate Steve for his arrogance and insistance that his way is the only way. This attitude has negatively affected OSX's usability as well as its support for older machines.

These personality traits have made both men very successful in the world of business.

I can hate them, but I don't. They don't deserve that much passion from me.

Windows is just an OS that suits many people well.

OSX is just an OS that suits many people well.

For the record, I'm a short-tempered, arrogant, obsessive (yet easy-going) perfectionist who doesn't tolerate idiots and has a handful of decent qualities too.:cool:

Time out.

Steve does not insist that his way is the only way. Steve is a very laid-back, family-oriented Californian. He is excited about Apple, but the truth is he only politely offers an alternative to Microsoft. Apple is a love of his, not an obsession.

His vision of the future is not for Apple to own the personal computer marekt, but for Apple to be included as a great home and business computer with a 15-20 percent marketshare.

And Bill is not Satan. Crimeny. Bill Gates is an abso-freakin-lutely amazingly successful businessman. Maybe some of his practices are unethical, but I challenge you to find ONE company in the US who hasnt broken SOME rule, even Apple. He is a testament to the self-made man.

Bottom line is, just as stated above, pick the OS that suits YOU, and quit bi+ching about Gates. Yes, he's rich, but he deserves to be. Remember-Microsoft wont be around forever, and neither will Apple. Just be happy that you have a really good Apple to use now, that enhances your life.

[jayscheuerle]

Originally posted by agreenster


Steve does not insist that his way is the only way. Steve is a very laid-back, family-oriented Californian.


ROFL!!!
Ever met someone who worked for him?

[agreenster]

I do work for him.

[jayscheuerle]

Me too. I polish his apples & resize his hats, read to his monkey & shave all his cats.

He's a sweetheart.

[agreenster]

Now you are showing your immaturity. I was being serious.

[Abominog]

Originally posted by jayscheuerle
Me too. I polish his apples & resize his hats, read to his monkey & shave all his cats.

He's a sweetheart.

"resize his hats"... hee hee hee

BTW, Billy Gates is worth, what, about 60 billion last I heard? So what percentage of that would 50 million be (if he gave 1 million to each state), less than 1/1000th of his worth? My calculator won't go that far ;)

BTW,


Q: What corporate secret did Melinda gates find out about on their wedding night?

A: Why they call it "micro" "soft".

[DavidCL23]

Q: What secret did Bill Gates find out on his wedding night?

A: That his OS isn't the only thing that crashes.

Q: What did the bussness executive say while the plane he was flying in was in a tail-spin?

A: Damn my PeeCee crashed!