Trolling/Evil Microsoft!?!?!

[TimJones]

I just want to get somethings straight!

1) I am NOT!! a troll, some of you people use the excuse that people with different opinions to yourselfs are trolls, if they bad mouth Apple in anyway you get defensive.

2) I have switched, I own a 12" Powerbook and use it all the time at home, I have airport extreme, an ipod and love them all!

3) I am not saying everybody in the forum is the same, some or the majority are in the same situation I am in.

Bill gates isn't that bad, He is a very good Businessman (He makes a lot of money, he does care for people aroung him http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm (http://), he produces software that the majority find good enough, just because 90% of the population use Microsoft Based computers surely can't mean they are wrong.

If people post questions about "why should I switch" the majority of them will be asking this in a genuine light, If you just say they are trolling they will say, well thanks guys (mac community)(for nothing) VIPS only!

[Veldek]

Originally posted by TimJones
Bill gates isn't that bad, He is a very good Businessman (He makes a lot of money, he does care for people aroung him http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm (http://), he produces software that the majority find good enough, just because 90% of the population use Microsoft Based computers surely can't mean they are wrong.

Eat sh**, billions of flies can't err!

*SCNR*

On topic: Of course, you're right. I think many Mac users have learned that most PC users try to bash the Mac as often as they can, so they tend to call everyone a troll, that starts like that. But it's possible to find arguments for a PC and against a Mac, so I say: each his own. If you have more use for a PC, then buy one and don't start to argue why everyone should have on or wh theay are better, because most Mac users have indeed more use for a Mac or use both.

[Sun Baked]

This belongs in the Battefront (http://arstechnica.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?a=frm&s=50009562&f=48409524) ...

Oh wait, that's another site where he'd be turned into used kitty litter.

[jxyama]

Originally posted by TimJones
he produces software that the majority find good enough, just because 90% of the population use Microsoft Based computers surely can't mean they are wrong.

i'd like to go along the line that the "majority" finds PC/Windows/M$ "good enough" because they don't know about the alternatives. no, they are not "wrong" but i'd think they are a little "ignorant" probably through no fault of their own.

i switched because i was sick and tired of Windows. mac happened to be the best alternative because i didn't want to bother learning all the technicalities of installing and setting up linux - yes, i know, it's probably very easy - but a mac just works, straight out of the box.

[Horrortaxi]

Originally posted by TimJones
Bill gates isn't that bad, He is a very good Businessman

Ack! It's too early in the morning to read a sentence like that. I haven't even had coffee yet. Not fair.

Is Bill Gates a good businessman? I suppose so. He successful at what he does. What does he do? That's what makes the "he's not that bad" part hard to swallow. Let's start around the beginning. He's a rich boy with family connections. His mom got DOS sold and he didn't even have it written yet. Not much has changed since then. We'll know how bad Bill Gates is (or isn't) with time. He seems hell bent on world domination at the moment but maybe the wind will be taken out of his sails somehow. You know what they say about history and those who forget the past? Keep an eye on Bill Gates. In the early 30's Hitler was very popular with the people.

[Vector]

It is a bit of a stretch to say that Bill Gates cares about people and to use his foundation as evidence. While he does contribute a good deal of money now, he has not been doing this for that long. Several years back Gates was getting blasted by the media because he was the wealthiest man in the world and gave hardly anything to charity, and it was only after the media latched on to his miserly habits that he began giving in proportion to his wealth.

Gates now contributes greatly through his foundation, but most of his contributuions are of computers and lots of microsoft software so his goals are not entirely benign.

[patrick0brien]

-TimJones

Well, I'd have to say you're correct that Bill Gates is not evil per se. There are others elsewhere in the world that fit that bill just fine.

I will say that Bill is an arrogant, self-centered, selfish little richboy who is probably the most keen opportunist to have exposure to the advantages he's been given in the last century.

His mother connected Ballmer, Allen and he to IBM and got their foot in the door. Then milked them through the 80's. They've not changed.

As for Gate's charitable contributions, well, it's always going in interesting places. Places where it would do MS the most good. I loved the one in India a few months ago...

As for Mr. Jobs, he has his own gulfs of personality. He's pretty arrogant as well, and explosive. He also is a micromanager - something that Bill Gates is not.

Who is the more evil? Well, I'm not one to judge. But I have to paraphrase Forrest Gump here "Evil is as evil does".

MS has killed more companies and destroyed more people than Apple - and that's proportionately true as well.

[coopdog]

The only reason Bill Gates has that foundation is for tax write off's. It also makes him look like a kind, good and nice guy. He only does it for his image. If he really cared, he would do privite or annonomus donations. A person that really cares about what they are supporting doesn't need their name engraved all over a building or whatever thay donated. I see the Gates Foundation as a way to get easy tax write off's, more free buisness connections, and to support is image, a guy who gives his millions back to education and the people. Yeah I'm sure he wants or likes to give his money away. :o

I wonder how much his wife would get if they got a divorce. Do they have a pre nup? I'm sure is legal team has something in place if they ever had a falling out. Maybe a firey auto crash, falling on bullits, something like that.

[billyboy]

Originally posted by coopdog
If he really cared, he would do privite or annonomus donations. A person that really cares about what they are supporting doesn't need their name engraved all over a building or whatever thay donated.

I cant remember a specific name but there was a multi billionaire businessman who was publicly denounced for being a miserly self centered bastard. When he died it was discovered that he had secretly given about $950m of his personal wealth to small scale development projects in S.America. That´s a humble man in my book. Maybe Bill Gates will mellow.

[Ugg]

Now, now, trashing Billy's philanthropic gestures isn't very nice.

In the US their are two kinds of deductions for donations. The first where you give to an organization without restrictions and without any say in how it is spent. This kind allows a person to write off the entire amount of the donation. The second, is when a person wants to choose how it is spent. By doing this, one can deduct only ~60% of the donation. Ok, it can be argued that this is just another sign of a control freak but Bill's donations have been of the second kind so he's only getting a tax deduction on ~60% of his donation. Obviously for him not a big deal but during the dotcom boom many tech donors also chose this route, the days of giving without restrictions are over.

One of the Gates' Foundation's major works is how to deliver vaccines and medicines to people who are far removed from electricity and roads. There are other organizations that are doing the same thing but Gates has decided to go it alone and it caused a great deal of controversy. Whether his foundation will make a big impact in the world remains to be seen but with a megalomaniac like him at the helm the chances are good that at least some of his efforts will lead to spectacular results.

I am glad that the majority of his foundation's efforts are geared towards helping people in the third world. They need all the help they can get.

[Marble]

I'm no pro on the subject, but after recently seeing an interview of Bill Gates Senior (who is apparently a progressive, conscious-minded individual who is often confused with his son in participating in important world solutions) and Bill Gates Junior (who despite my forgetfulness regarding the subject of discussion came off as a completely self-absorbed *******) by Bill Moyers - I don't think that Gates can be deserved any sympathy. The raw fact may be that he is contributing to important causes, but the spirit that it is done in, and all the *other* facts that point to his ridiculously abusive corporation, earn him absolutely no respect from me. It is important not to just do something, but to do something for the right reason, in my book.

[dcb]

This is one of the most idiotic threads I have ever seen!

First of all, I don't think I am familiar with PC users bashing macs...it's the other way around. Everytime a mac user has an issue with Apple, some self proclaimed PC switcher expert always has something colorful to say about windows, Bill Gates and Dell to convolude Apple's shortcomings. (I know, apple has no shortcomings). Can someone tell me why an apple board devotes so much time to Bill Gates?

As for Mr. Gates philantropy...who cares? You guys are just trying to find another way to bash Bill Gates! Don't you ever get tired of it?

You can call me a troll, won't hurt my feelings. I own a mac and a pc - I use them both.

[edesignuk]

This thread is so pointless, TimJones has come here once to post and get a reaction, he doesn't want to discuss his opinions as he hasn't even been back since. What a waste of time and bandwidth :rolleyes:

[spinner]

I always find it funny that people think the rich give to charity because its the right thing to do. :rolleyes: It is a tax write off plain and simple. When you have that much money simply leasing a new car is just not sufficient.

[Horrortaxi]

Watch out for the phrase "I'm not a troll" as it usually indicates that the person is, in fact, a troll. When it's the first sentence in a post there should be no doubt at all.

[jayscheuerle]

Bill cares about Bill. Tons of other people are self-centered, but he has the money, power and resources to get his way more often than not. That make him more obnoxious and dangerous than the next guy, but it doesn't make him any worse.

Bill doesn't care about computing or he wouldn't squash innovative competitors.

His main interest is power and winning at all costs. That makes him an effective businessman. If that's how he wants to be remembered, he's doing a great job. My guess is he's jealous as heck of Steve Jobs and would do a jig if Steve died tomorrow. He's spent his life trying to show the world that nerds rule. Now he rules, but he's still a nerd. His cool factor is zero. Steve's probably up around 8 out of 10 which is great for someone his age.

Not an evil nerd. Just a nerd.