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History Will Revere Bill Gates and Forget Steve Jobs, Says Author

Hugh Pickens writes "PC Magazine reports that journalist Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Outliers, has stirred up quite a controversy in tech circles with his off-the-cuff remarks that history will remember Bill Gates fondly while Steve Jobs slips into obscurity. Gladwell likened Gates' charitable work to the German armaments maker Oskar Schindler's famous efforts to save his Jewish workers from the gas chambers during World War II, and added that because of Gates there's a reasonable shot we will cure malaria. 'Gates, sure, is the most ruthless capitalist. And then he decides, he wakes up one morning and he says, "Enough." And he steps down, he takes his money, takes it off the table ... and I think, I firmly believe that 50 years from now, he will be remembered for his charitable work,' said Gladwell. 'And of the great entrepreneurs of this era, people will have forgotten Steve Jobs. Who's Steve Jobs again?' For all his dismissal of Jobs' legacy, however, Gladwell remains utterly fascinated with him. 'He was an extraordinarily brilliant businessman and entrepreneur. He was also a self-promoter on a level that we have rarely seen,' said Gladwell. 'What was brilliant about Apple, he understood from the get-go that the key to success in that marketplace was creating a distinctive and powerful and seductive brand.' Gladwell concludes that the most extraordinary moment in the biography of Jobs is when Jobs is on his deathbed and it's over and he knows it. 'And on, I forget, three, four occasions, he refuses the mask because he is unhappy with its design. That's who he was. Right to the very end, he had a set of standards. If he was going to die, dammit, he's going to die with the right kind of oxygen mask. To him it was like making him send his final emails using Windows.'"

16 of 679 comments (clear)

  1. The big difference here is by Stirling+Newberry · · Score: 1, Troll

    that there is a Gates Foundation that might pay Gladwell, and there isn't a Jobs foundation that might.

    1. Re:The big difference here is by drinkypoo · · Score: -1, Troll

      But say what you want about Microsoft or Bill Gates, but he sure has helped the world with the fortune he created during his lifetime.

      Nice astroturfing, new account with no other comments.

      He sure is a great person for that reason, and kudos to Bill for that.

      Yes, let's all be sure to thank him for operating Microsoft anticompetitively and taking a giant shit on all of us for so many years. That's a great idea.

      Go ahead, bring on the trollmods. I can afford the fucking karma.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:The big difference here is by Whiney+Mac+Fanboy · · Score: 1, Troll

      that there is a Gates Foundation that might pay Gladwell, and there isn't a Jobs foundation that might.

      True, but that's kind of the point isn't it?

      Both men were (or are) assholes. Businessmen intent on screwing their competitors, colleagues, customers, whoever to make a buck.

      But in the end, Gates is using some of his money to give a false impression of philanthronpy, whereas Jobs is just another dead tycoon.

      --
      There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
    3. Re:The big difference here is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Lol. The Gates Foundation causes as much suffering as it TRIES to cure.

      They invest in Monsanto, chemical factories, oil companies, and everything that promises profits even if really dirty. Their projects are uncontrolled, and Gates uses it as Tax avoidance method. Bing (pun intended) it. There is a LOT of criticism against the B&M G Foundation.

    4. Re:The big difference here is by drinkydoh · · Score: -1, Troll

      "what were they thinking when they dared to include an 'embrace and extend,' proprietary network platform in their OS so that people might actually be locked into their ecosystem (despite the pre-existence of browsers based on open standards). "

      Fixed that.

      Based on this comment you weren't around then. Netscape (now Firefox) was the one breaking all the standards and IE and Opera tried to play nice and according to standards.

    5. Re:The big difference here is by segedunum · · Score: -1, Troll

      Oh yeah, how dare he use his money to cure malaria, the false bastard

      Curing malaria? No. 'Treating' it forever and a day? Yes. Why? Well, a cure would kind of put a dampener on the gravy train that is the Gates Foundation, especially for all the drugs companies getting money sloshed through it.

    6. Re:The big difference here is by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Troll

      How sad and cynical do you have to be to seriously believe that all the time and money Gates has spent, especially post-Microsoft, is some sort of elaborate ploy to make people think better of him?

      How blind and foolish do you have to be to fail to understand that Gates is not doing this out of the goodness of his heart? His actions over time have conclusively proven that no such quality exists. He stole from us all (literally in some cases) and he is unrepentant. The Gates Foundation promotes the goals of Big Pharma in which Bill Gates is personally, massively invested. The Gates Foundation makes for-profit investments, and those investments are explicitly not ethically reviewed as per the foundation's own press release. We are talking about massive conflict of interest from beginning to end and as a nonprofit no less.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    7. Re:The big difference here is by msauve · · Score: 1, Troll

      "Remind me again what the actual flaws are in ActiveX"

      You mean like how it isn't open, so it can't be truly cross platform? How well do those ActiveX controls work on your smartphone?

      --
      "National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
  2. Frosty Piss by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Bitches

  3. Re:error in submission by drinkypoo · · Score: 1, Troll

    There was nothing wrong with giving people a decent car to drive. So what if it is not god's gift to mankind.

    You can't make a car analogy here, because it would be retarded. The problem with Windows has always been that Microsoft abused their position. They abused their position as an OS vendor by tweaking products to be less interoperable with their competitors' software. They abused their thus-gained monopoly position through all manner of anticompetitive practice. This resulted not only in a dearth of customer choice (necessary for a healthy marketplace) but also in actual negative financial impact to human beings.

    There are plenty of reasons to hate Microsoft products, but the biggest reason not to pay for them is that the money will just be used to fuck the industry some more — and thus, all the users.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  4. Re:Probably. But he doesn't deserve it. by DemomanDeveloper · · Score: -1, Troll

    I was just discussing this on G+

    Nice astroturfing there again, drinkypoo. Everyone knows that nobody actually uses Google+.

    It's nice you have given it a nickname of G+ too. We have a real shill here, people.

  5. Re:Probably. But he doesn't deserve it. by drinkypoo · · Score: 0, Troll

    Nice astroturfing there again, drinkypoo. Everyone knows that nobody actually uses Google+.

    Ah yes, now you have two comments. Congratulations.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  6. Bill who? by longk · · Score: 0, Troll

    Sorry, I didn't catch it. Too busy playing with my iPhone.

  7. Re:Astroturfing accusations without any evidence. by drinkypoo · · Score: -1, Troll

    Martin Espinoza, please present some real evidence to show that this is indeed a case of astroturfing.

    I refuse to believe that you are not DemomanDeveloper until you log in and demonstrate a posting history.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  8. Not Bill by O('_')O_Bush · · Score: 0, Troll

    I don't know why we keep talking about Bill Gates being a philanthropist. Bill is a sociopath that gets a kick out of stealing from all of us and making money in the most cutthroat ways possible.

    Melinda Gates is the soul that Bill doesn't have, and she is the one that does the philanthropic work, with Bill's money.

    --
    while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
  9. Re:Astroturfing accusations without any evidence. by drinkypoo · · Score: -1, Troll

    And yet the comment is valid even if the writer was DemomanDeveloper

    the evidence

    Not going to hold your dick for you while you piss, though. I have to draw the line somewhere.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"