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Bill Gates On the Past, Future, and Google

editingwhiz writes "eWEEK reports that Bill Gates told PBS talk show host Charlie Rose and a Stanford University audience at TechNet Wednesday that 'We're at the beginning of something important again' in the development of technology — just as in the 1980s with the advent of the PC. He also discussed the growing Microsoft-Google competition, world health issues, how to give lots of money away to the benefit of mankind, and whether he'll return to Harvard to finish his studies." From the article: "On whether there's another idea today that is as powerful as the idea of the personal computer in the 1970s: 'If I knew medicine like I do computers, I would like to be able to control the [human] immune system, to fight against the onset of disease on a world level ... but I think the idea of the PC still would have topped that.'"

22 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. "If I Knew Medicine..." by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 5, Funny

    If he knew medicine and could control the immune system in the human body as well as he and his company can control computers, just imagine the biological viruses we'd have faced by now. Every day your heart would stop beating for no reason and they'd have to restart it with CPR, but nobody would think that was odd.

    1. Re:"If I Knew Medicine..." by rubberbando · · Score: 3, Informative

      Every day your heart would stop beating for no reason and they'd have to restart it with CPR, but nobody would think that was odd.

      Actually, CPR doesn't restart your heart. It keeps the blood circulating through the body until a paramedic can use a defibulator to actually restart it.

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    2. Re:"If I Knew Medicine..." by aychamo · · Score: 5, Informative

      rubberbando, you are completely wrong. CPR is cardiopulmonary resuscitation. The technique is used if the patient goes into cardiac or pulmonary arrest. It literally starts their heart beating again, or makes them start breathing again. Using a defibrillator on someone in cardiac arrest wont do anything. A defibrillator (as its name implies) is used to revive a person who's heart is in atrial or ventricular fibrillation, which is an erratic pattern of contraction, instead of the normal pattern as observed by ECG. The defibs cause a complete depolarization of hopefully the entire myocardium in an attempt to get it to contract all together again. If the heart isn't beating at all, the defibs won't do anything.

    3. Re:"If I Knew Medicine..." by s20451 · · Score: 3, Informative

      It keeps the blood circulating through the body until a paramedic can use a defibulator to actually restart it.

      That is not correct. A defibrillator is useless on a person whose heart has stopped. It is used when the heart goes into "fibrillation", which is an uncoordinated sequence of heart muscle contractions that result in no net blood flow. Since fibrillation almost never resolves itself, left untreated it will cause death within minutes.

      In fact the defibrillator works by applying an electrical shock which stops the heart -- thus ending the fibrillation. The hope is that the heart's normal rhythm will start again immediately thereafter.

      In CPR, the idea is to maintain blood flow and oxygen in the lungs until (hopefully) the heart starts again on its own. This is why CPR has such a low success rate (5-10%), although still much better than the zero per cent success rate of doing nothing.

      Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. (Although I have a PhD, so technically ...)

      --
      Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
  2. Present by spellraiser · · Score: 4, Funny

    Bill Gates on the Past, Future, and Google

    So he's saying Google is the Present?

    Damn straight ...

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    I hear there's rumors on the Slashdots
  3. Hot Air by quokkapox · · Score: 4, Interesting
    'We're at the beginning of something important again'

    His job is to say things like this. He's been saying this for over a decade. It's a lot of hot air.

    The microsoft windows monopoly is becoming less relevant with each new free web-based software application/service that comes out, be it Google, YouTube, Flickr, Writely, etc. And all of those run fine on Linux.

    --
    it's a blue bright blue Saturday hey hey
    1. Re:Hot Air by WeAreAllDoomed · · Score: 5, Insightful
      His job is to say things like this. He's been saying this for over a decade. It's a lot of hot air.

      his job is to continue to leverage his single stroke of phenomenal luck - being at the right place at the right time a few decades ago - to sustain the ongoing illusion to the unwashed masses that he is some kind of unparalleled genius, and by extension, that microsoft is the beginning and end of computing.

      --
      free software, open standards, open file formats, no software patents.
    2. Re:Hot Air by Pastis · · Score: 3, Insightful

      To win the Lotto is a "single stroke of phenomenal luck".
      To build the company as he did, by outsmarting other competitors like IBM, is not luck. Far from it. He provoked the situation and get the most out of it.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS-DOS

      As yourself: would you have done the same in the same position?

  4. This is the original by digitalderbs · · Score: 3, Informative
    Bill Gates on the Past, Future...

    This is the original article for the dupe posted earlier today.
  5. Was anyone else reminded of by antifoidulus · · Score: 4, Funny

    the movie "Back to School" after reading, "and whether he'll return to Harvard to finish his studies". Replacing Dangerfield with Gates would make for a weird, weird movie.

  6. Ahh, so that explains it by also-rr · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The reason I have been feeling as sick as a dog all day today is because my immune system is stressed out about what it might have to face in the future.

    Anyway, I believe that the next big thing will be an expansion of high speed communication to cover most of the human race. Sure, it's pretty obvious... but as I recall so was the idea that the internet would be a world changing phenomenon in 1994 and I have a file that was originally written on a BBC master in 1987 explaining how the computer would be widespread in business and the home.

    Over the next 20 years? Same as the last 20. Continual progress towards more devices that communicate more freely.

  7. Come again? by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 5, Funny
    'If I knew medicine like I do computers, I would like to be able to control the [human] immune system, to fight against the onset of disease on a world level ...
    Except for the fact that you wouldn't be able to download your immunizations until Microsoft verified that your genetic code was authentic via Windows Genome Advantage.
    --
    What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
  8. Oh teh Noes! by Aqua_boy17 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey, quick, someone check on Charlie. Looks like he has the 'Blue Face of Death' again.

    --
    What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?
  9. It's arrogance and delusion... by Arker · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Bill doesn't know personal computers any better than the average hospital administrator knows the human immune system. And I'd bet you that when someone does make the next breakthrough in understanding and controlling the human immune system, that someone will not be a hospital administrator. I'd also bet that at least one hospital administrator will believe he did it though.

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  10. gates as prophet by entropy42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    When you are evaluating bill gates's prognostication ability, do not forget to consider this prediction: in January, Mr Gates predicted that technology would make spam "a thing of the past" within two years.

    Yes, that was January 2004.

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    -- Stop the violins!
    1. Re:gates as prophet by shawngarringer · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Gates was talking about spam from a users point of view not a technical one. Spam, for users, is not a big deal anymore because of how good spam filtering takes care of it. I get MUCH less spam delivered to my inbox (1 or 2) than I did 2 years ago (100+). My spam filter gets over 200 a day still, but it really doesn't impact me at all.

  11. Oh no, not the defibulator! by Dystopian+Rebel · · Score: 5, Funny

    When a guy's flat-lining, the most hilarious thing you can do to him is to use the defibulator and the detibulator to remove his leg from the knee down, then attach his feet directly to his femurs. When he revives, he starts walking around like a duck and looking confused. We crazy paramedics just about split a gut laughing every time!

    --
    Rich And Stupid is not so bad as Working For Rich And Stupid.
  12. However harsh it may sound... by scsirob · · Score: 3, Insightful

    His wish to be able to cure people and eradicate diseases is noble, but saving every sick person will not save the Earth. In fact, it will make the Earth's population grow way out of control.

    So instead of dying from cancer, HIV or bird flu, we'll starve for lack of food and water.

    In other words, dying is a necessary evil fact of life. If we can make it happen without pain and suffering, so much the better. But trying to prolongue it forever is foolish.

    --
    To Terminate, or not to Terminate, that's the question - SCSIROB
  13. Re:FP by orasio · · Score: 3, Interesting

    As he said, personal computers are very important for the world as a whole.
    The policies of MS, and their way of doing bussiness has an effect everywhere.
    Although MS is not the cause of all the bad stuff that is happiening around, they have some responsibilities, here and there, including developing countries.
    They use some techniques I don't approve to convince my government to give them money, and I think that money has better places to be spent. The same thing is happening in Africa, for example.

    The guy gives back some money, that is right, and he even gives in a sensible way. But the net gain for everybody, because of the existence of MS is not that clear.

    Plus, charity is not that great, and it just doesn't work very well.
    Charity alone is not something to praise a guy for. Good ethics, and an overall good effect on the community, that would earn my respect. Giving something back is sometimes not enough.

  14. Re:Philanthropy for Dummies by kz45 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Steal from 100 widows, support 1, collect humanitarian award."

    and microsoft steals from widows.....how?

  15. Re:FP by spectecjr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Plus, charity is not that great, and it just doesn't work very well.
    Charity alone is not something to praise a guy for.


    That's why he has a foundation, and there are strict rules governing the way that the money is given to 3rd parties. It's run like a business - your charity has to produce results for you to get the money, and to keep getting more, you need to keep producing results. Otherwise, he gives his money to another charity which will do a better job.

    Pretty smart way of handling it actually - which is why Warren Buffet jumped on board too.

    --
    Coming soon - pyrogyra
  16. What he didn't say... by Duggeek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The tricky part is reading between the lines...

    From TFA:

    [Gates on "powerful ideas"]

    If I knew medicine like I do computers, I would like to be able to control the [human] immune system, to fight against the onset of disease on a world level ... but I think the idea of the PC still would have topped that.

    Translation: "Y'all better be glad I'm just screwing up your PC."

    [Gates on how Live.com competes with Google]

    Competition between our two companies will be good for the whole industry.

    ...until we leverage all the content out of Google with IP lawsuits.

    [Gates on recent struggles with the EU]

    We have worked out our differences. If they wanted us to leave out some of our components for some reason, we could have delivered a European version of Vista for them. But it turned out that wasn't necessary.

    Interesting that there's no specific mention of what was modified to make the European Edition "unnecessary". It's obvious that Vista is still packing Windows Media Player (component in question) Is this IE/Netscape all over again)?

    [Gates on the next 10 years]

    We're on to another wave of innovation; we just need to make sure the United States continues to stay right up there in relation to the rest of the world.

    This is after quoting all the "amazing stuff" that's coming with the Xbox360, Zune and voice recognition. Yes, World, be like the good ol' U.S. of A-holes! Cave-in to an oppression of content not seen since the book burnings of 1938 Germany!

    [Gates on the delays of Vista]

    Yes, it's later than we planned. But we want it to be right. It reminds me of when we released Windows 95 late that year, taking much longer than we planned.

    ...and we all know how "right" Windoze95 turned out to be. (...but it's got a killer version of MS-DOS!)

    [Gates on the exposure of medical research furthered by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation]

    I get a little upset with the media, which will cover a plane crash in India that killed 100 people, but it won't cover the fact that 1,000 times that many died in Africa today from malnutrition or disease.

    Of course! That's why Billy has a problem with the media. ...or is it another reason?

    If Gates did turn out to be a doctor, I'm sure he'd be a plastic surgeon. If he can't make you well, he can at least make you look good.

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    This post © Copyrite Duggeek, all rights reversed.