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Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

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Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#221

Post by wombatmobile »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #145
dddbbb wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's still relatively young, and likely realises the near absolute power he holds over one of the largest companies in the world is not something he can get back once he gives it up. Also Gates, to put it in very uncharitable terms, has shown that it doesn't matter if you're seen as a hated, greedy CEO as long as you do enough philanthropy later in life.

What would Bill Gates have to do to finally shed his reputation as a business man? Honestly, Gates seems like a pretty good guy from interviews he’s given and he’s doing something good with his money.

> What would Bill Gates have to do to finally shed his reputation as a business man?

I don't think he has to shed his reputation as a business man, if "being a business man" means maximising profits. He was great at that, and his activities were lawful, at least up to the point when he was judged to have acted in violation of anti-trust laws in trying to parlay one monopoly into another.

What he'd have to do to stem my disappointment in him as a leading fellow of the software development community of his day, is to acknowledge that after already earning his first 10 billion from DOS, Office and Windows, he actively worked to impede the progress of the internet, and hold back a generation of young non-millionaire developers, by "cutting off Netscape's air supply".

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#222

Post by saalaa »

xtian wrote: post #209
zelias wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would the fisherman feed himself if he broke his arms? Alternatively, what if he wakes up one day and finds that all the fish near his village have been fished out of the ocean by other, more entrepreneurial fishermen? If had money saved up, at least he could buy food for him and his family.

Social safety net and sustainability regulations. It’s not normal in much of the world to spend your life with the looming fear of being bankrupted by a serious illness or to treat natural ecosystems as a zero sum game to be exploited.

And please, can we agree that this our collective project and that we want to pool money so all of us have backup if/when needed?

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#223

Post by bostonpete »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #191
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would Bill Gates have to do to finally shed his reputation as a business man? Honestly, Gates seems like a pretty good guy from interviews he’s given and he’s doing something good with his money.

When you're as rich as Gates and Buffet you not only have a teams of people managing your money, you also have teams of people dedicated to managing your image. So yes - Gates seems like a pretty good guy. And he'll have paid a lot of money to create that impression. Zuckerberg doesn't seem to be running the usual PR operation - possibly because he's too young to be bothered, and possibly because he doesn't really ca…

That's pretty cynical. Giving away your entire fortune to charity and convincing others to do the same isn't just PR, it's a genuine effort to make the world a better place. He was a cutthroat businessman and made millions at the expense of other businessmen, many of whom would've done the same to him if they could. I don't think being a hardass in the board room disqualifies you from being a generous and caring person in your private life.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#224

Post by _jal »

bostonpete wrote: post #223
TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When you're as rich as Gates and Buffet you not only have a teams of people managing your money, you also have teams of people dedicated to managing your image. So yes - Gates seems like a pretty good guy. And he'll have paid a lot of money to create that impression. Zuckerberg doesn't seem to be running the usual PR operation - possibly because he's too young to be bothered, and possibly because he doesn't really ca…

That's pretty cynical. Giving away your entire fortune to charity and convincing others to do the same isn't just PR, it's a genuine effort to make the world a better place. He was a cutthroat businessman and made millions at the expense of other businessmen, many of whom would've done the same to him if they could. I don't think being a hardass in the board room disqualifies you from being a generous and caring pers…

> I don't think being a hardass in the board room disqualifies you from being a generous and caring person in your private life.

No, but it also doesn't somehow wipe away the actions he took to make that money.

He didn't just attack other businesses, he attacked open source, and would have destroyed it if he could have.

By all means, you can think whatever you like about the man. Gates has done some pretty slimy shit. Being nice now is nice, and I applaud him for it, but nobody is obligated to develop amnesia.

Further, there is no obligation to politely applaud the rich person picking and choosing who should benefit from their largesse. Nor in noticing the massive PR campaigns that go along with it.

He's buying what he wants with his money.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#225

Post by esolyt »

mjfl wrote: post #36
redisman wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has a lot more power as the CEO of Facebook than "just" a retired billionaire. Which is what humans have craved since the dawn of time.

The "thirst for power" is too much of a normie thing for Mark Zuckerberg to be interested in. I feel like he has this genuine delusion that Facebook serves this higher purpose and wants to see it through until people agree with him. I think he would prefer people to consider him as more innovative than Elon Musk than to have 'power'. Whether or not he will achieve this, well...

This was probably true in the earlier days of Facebook.

At this point, Facebook isn't even about Facebook. Facebook is a typical giant that acquires other companies. I would argue WhatsApp has more impact on the world than Facebook. Zuckerberg can't be proud of WhatsApp though, since he didn't build it.

To me, there is clearly no higher purpose here besides power.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#226

Post by arminiusreturns »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #145
dddbbb wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's still relatively young, and likely realises the near absolute power he holds over one of the largest companies in the world is not something he can get back once he gives it up. Also Gates, to put it in very uncharitable terms, has shown that it doesn't matter if you're seen as a hated, greedy CEO as long as you do enough philanthropy later in life.

What would Bill Gates have to do to finally shed his reputation as a business man? Honestly, Gates seems like a pretty good guy from interviews he’s given and he’s doing something good with his money.

It's a good thing we have a laundry list of his dastardly deeds so we don't go off what he "seems" like.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#227

Post by kennywinker »

grillvogel wrote: post #176
occz wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While your argument may or may not have some merit generically, what the previous poster likely referred to is Notch's apparent belief in the PizzaGate and QAnon-conspieracies. I'm of the opinion that Notch has kind of gone off the deep end, which makes me a bit sad. I'm not sure that money brought him the happiness he rightly should have gotten.

you're kindof proving his point though. Notch is "bad" because he believes in the "wrong" conspiracies, that all the trusted authority figures have ensured us are untrue. A few years ago the Epstein stuff would have been considered within the realm of wacky conspiracy theories, but it is receiving legitimate attention now.

Pizzagate and qanon stuff is all bs. They're not specific enough to ever be disproved, and when they are, they are summarily dis-proven. e.g. the guy who broke into Comet Ping Pong to save the kids, only to realize there are no kids.

Epstein was convicted in 2008 of procuring an underage girl for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute. So, I don't think that anybody was surprised when it turned out he was still a pedophile a decade later.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#228

Post by okareaman »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #191
2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What would Bill Gates have to do to finally shed his reputation as a business man? Honestly, Gates seems like a pretty good guy from interviews he’s given and he’s doing something good with his money.

When you're as rich as Gates and Buffet you not only have a teams of people managing your money, you also have teams of people dedicated to managing your image. So yes - Gates seems like a pretty good guy. And he'll have paid a lot of money to create that impression. Zuckerberg doesn't seem to be running the usual PR operation - possibly because he's too young to be bothered, and possibly because he doesn't really ca…

I met Bill G and had dinner with him when he published our software in the 80's. What you see is what you get with Gates. He's not a complicated guy. Smart, but uncomplicated. I liked that about him.

Re: Ask HN: What Happened to Larry Page?

#229

Post by thrwn_frthr_awy »

nip180 wrote: post #78
frakkingcylons wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people would agree that today’s Facebook has more of an impact than Microsoft.

I strongly disagree. Microsoft is largely responsible for introducing computers to everyday people. They championed a mission of “a computer on every desk and in every home” in a way no one else was. I have strong doubts that PCs as we know them today would be a thing without Microsoft’s influence. We should also not discount the timing of highly usable Windows and Microsoft software with the explosion of internet us…

Everything you said is absolutely true. I don't disagree with Microsoft's impact in the world is substantial.

But it is arguable that Facebook's ability to control/spread disinformation and propaganda in regards to political elections around the world is a different, but just as powerful impact.

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