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An interview with Bill Gates

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Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#31

Post by kamakazizuru »

saraid216 wrote: post #14
mortdeus wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Though it is worth pointing out that worldwide internet coverage would provide a great resource for those living without suitable education and work opportunities. One of the hardest parts in eliminating poverty from the poorest nations on earth stems from the lack of economic infrastructure in those countries. We can keep giving them rice and supplies but until they have work opportunities that provide a way to purc…

Protip: There's an edit link, and you're allowed to use it.

super protip - theres a Karma level after which you are allowed edits.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#32

Post by deletes »

spiritplumber wrote: post #16

Bill Gates (or realistically someone in his organization) should answer my emails. I'm going to deliver him a way to curb malaria spreading at cost, and nobody over there has gotten a hold of me yet. I'm severely tempted to just drive to his house and drop the prototype off....

Show us your solution.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#33

Post by transfire »

What is so frustrating is that the malaria problem has all but been solved. I have read on multiple occasions about our ability to breed genetically modified misquotes that can be used to decimate mosquito populations on the one hand and on the other create malaria immune mosquitoes that stop the transmission of the disease. So why hasn't it been done? Short answer: bullshit "unknowns" about long-term ecological effects. Well try explaining that to the 12 children who just died from malaria while I wrote this comment.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#34

Post by mtgx »

Tarang wrote: post #4

Guys don't go so hard on him. This is a passionate person about getting rid of this disease. I've had malaria 7 or so times. The problem is when you don't get access to medication which is the problem. If you don't it can kill you very slowly. Malaria is caused by this organism transmitted by mosquitoes. If you get rid of it, mosquitoes still live, but malaria can disappear. Also its not zero sum. Dedicating resource…

So why does he have to trash everyone else's priorities then?

What if I worked on making a fusion reactor technology that could give "free energy to everyone". Would I get to shit on Bill Gate's "anti-malaria" campaign, too, because I'd think my priority is more "important"?

Phone and Internet communications are very important to people. Much more important than it might seem at first glance. I come from a relatively poor country where people would spend "whole salaries" to buy a smartphone. Clearly people themselves have different priorities, and it's not just about the corporation's or government's priorities.

So I guess my point is, I'm sure Bill Gates could go about funding his anti-malaria campaign without trashing other priorities. If he wants to attack other people's priorities, how about attacking something like oil subsidies, that take important amounts of money from the tax payers, and give it to very profitable companies. That money could be used for fighting malaria instead - if you will. But again, not for Bill Gates to decide.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#35

Post by spiritplumber »

deletes wrote: post #32
spiritplumber wrote: post #16

Bill Gates (or realistically someone in his organization) should answer my emails. I'm going to deliver him a way to curb malaria spreading at cost, and nobody over there has gotten a hold of me yet. I'm severely tempted to just drive to his house and drop the prototype off....

Show us your solution.

I'm not sure how, that's the thing. Do I do a video time lapse? It's a bit boring to watch someone NOT being bitten by mosquitos.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#37

Post by Tarang »

mtgx wrote: post #34
Tarang wrote: post #4

Guys don't go so hard on him. This is a passionate person about getting rid of this disease. I've had malaria 7 or so times. The problem is when you don't get access to medication which is the problem. If you don't it can kill you very slowly. Malaria is caused by this organism transmitted by mosquitoes. If you get rid of it, mosquitoes still live, but malaria can disappear. Also its not zero sum. Dedicating resource…

So why does he have to trash everyone else's priorities then? What if I worked on making a fusion reactor technology that could give "free energy to everyone". Would I get to shit on Bill Gate's "anti-malaria" campaign, too, because I'd think my priority is more "important"? Phone and Internet communications are very important to people. Much more important than it might seem at first glance. I come from a relatively…

The thing is providing internet access is obscenely profitable in Africa.

Looking at Vodafone's margins in countries such as Kenya (via Safaricom) they're amongst the highest for a telco in the world. This was even true before MPESA came along. These companies can afford to pay outrageously high license fees, taxes, interest expenses amongst other things and still invest in networks all around the country & still turn a heavy profit. Safaricom, MTN, Vodacom whatever so long as its a wireless communications company are the largest or in the top 5 in the countries they operate in.

The problem comes about is there are two information platforms. One on an expensive 3G/Edge based network (the internet) and the other an information platform based on a cheaper SIM App/SMS. This isn't a problem you can solve by throwing money at it. Bill Gates can't fix this that easily.

You see services pop up that use SMS to get information over a web experience because of these costs. It would be better if everyone had access to first grade information instead of falling back to SMS.

Back to the central point these telecoms firms have more power to solve the issue than Bill Gates does. Whether he tackles malaria or not you'll still see them spend heavily in infrastructure. They just charge too much and people are incentivized fall back to these SMS like alternatives (which MPESA is also built on btw). But these SMS-like services are not the internet. So its not at the loss of this if he invests in an anti malaria campaign.

I think its not he's trashing other people's priorities. The world was fine before the internet came long, it did help. But diseases have caused harm for as far as the dawn of recorded time.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#38

Post by algorias »

transfire wrote: post #33

What is so frustrating is that the malaria problem has all but been solved. I have read on multiple occasions about our ability to breed genetically modified misquotes that can be used to decimate mosquito populations on the one hand and on the other create malaria immune mosquitoes that stop the transmission of the disease. So why hasn't it been done? Short answer: bullshit "unknowns" about long-term ecological effe…

You can't pivot your way out of ecological catastrophes, you know...

There are many instances of "innocent" actions of mankind that ravaged huge areas of the world very rapidly (the beaver plague in south america, just off the top of my head). Ecosystems often find themselves in very delicate states of equilibrium, an equilibrium that can be irreversably broken with the slightest missstep. There are very good reasons to be extremely conservative in this area.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#39

Post by tunesmith »

bolder88 wrote: post #15
jbrooksuk wrote: post #7

I'm pretty sure that life > internet access.

It's not that simple though. There's quite a few people who are not at risk of ever getting malaria, but who don't have any decent internet access. So for them, curing malaria will make 0 difference to their life. Also, since when has Microsoft or Bill Gates ever been sold on the idea of the internet as a good thing?

Not sure what your point here is, but it kind of reads as if you're saying that the life of someone on the verge of internet access is more valuable that that of someone on the verge of fatal malaria.

Re: An interview with Bill Gates

#40

Post by tosic »

While this is obviously a good statement, it is besides the point. There's no reason you can't work on both and since he is caring about malaria, others can work on internet access. The question to ask would be, if working on both slows progress in either and what the "sweet spot" is for balancing funds and efforts to achieve the best overall progress.
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