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Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

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Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#111

Post by xpose2000 »

Spittie wrote: post #23
Arjuna wrote: post #20

For those that aren't aware, check out the "/r/tabled" subreddit [1]. From the official description: "a subreddit for tables of recent threads from places such as... /r/IAmA, /r/InternetAMA, /r/AMA, /r/AskReddit, /r/AskScience" It makes things nice to read. Of course, Bill Gates' new AMA will not be "tabled" yet, but as an example (and in case you missed it), here is his AMA from February 2013 [2]. [1] http://www.red…

Check out http://topiama.com (It was posted here some time ago, I have no connection with that site), I find it has a very nice interface. Like r/tabled, his new iAmA it's not here, but to give the same example, here's his old one: http://www.topiama.com/r/911/im-bill-gates-cochair-of-the-bi...

I appreciate the link! I created topiama and posted it on hackernews almost 2 years ago.

As a fellow user of topiama... I am a bit annoyed at how it looks on mobile. What I plan to do is use bootstrap to make a nice responsive layout for all devices. Stay tuned. Probably Spring/Summer.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#112

Post by Consultant32452 »

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #97
kmfrk wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One reason is that people have a vested interest in taking your words out of context and do a big non-story on your remarks.

That's true, but the responses seem to be specific and tangible, rather than vague, which is what I might expect from someone worried about being taken out of context.

If I were anywhere near being the richest guy on the planet I would have a hard time caring whether or not I was taken out of context. In fact, I'd probably just say all sorts of awful stuff that people would find shocking. That's probably one of the many reasons I'm not one of the richest guys on the planet.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#113

Post by Consultant32452 »

13hours wrote: post #100
iambateman wrote: post #68

I like Bill Gates. He seems like a kind, genuine guy who cares about people and doesn't mind making fun of himself. Big contrast from Bezos, Jobs, Ballmer.

He kinda reminds me of Woz in that way. Except Woz was never seen as evil, and Bill had an evil image for a while there in the 90s and early 2000s.

In his AMA he contrasts his younger self from other young billionaires and millionaires by stating that they are often much more interested in "giving back" than he was until he was much older. He was a ruthless man who cared only for himself in his younger days and that led to some rather unethical business practices. It wasn't until much later that he chilled out and learned some compassion for the rest of the world.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#114

Post by davidwihl »

lmm wrote: post #108
benbou09 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, he also does his own dishes

Seriously? That seems incredibly wasteful, not to mention boring. No way I'd be doing that if I had a fraction of his wealth.

I'm a CEO who does his family's dishes as night. It keeps you grounded. It's a good message for your kids that in spite of their wealth they should clean up after themselves. It makes a connection to the millions of hard working people out there. Finally, if your wife cooks dinner (as mine does), it shows appreciation for her work and effort. I use a dishwasher (as does BillG most likely) but there is still plenty of work like pots & pans.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#115

Post by maxerickson »

lmm wrote: post #108
benbou09 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the other hand, he also does his own dishes

Seriously? That seems incredibly wasteful, not to mention boring. No way I'd be doing that if I had a fraction of his wealth.

I can understand not wanting dishes lying around all the time and also not wanting staff around all the time.

I sort of see his job (what he chooses to make it anyway) as helping other people do good works by expanding their resources. I'm not sure that benefits from a 110% time commitment.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#116

Post by Joeri »

debt wrote: post #75
pmelendez wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Am I the only one who noticed the Weather for dummies? I wonder why he was interested on it.

Wow. Just the other day I was looking at the clouds and wondering how it all works up there and not some three-hundred word blogpost; seriously, why are there different clouds? The sky is such a big part of my everyday life, yet I know nothing about it. I searched around but couldn't find any good books on clouds. This seems like a good start though. Mad respect for Bill.

http://cloudappreciationsociety.org

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#117

Post by chippy »

Trufa wrote: post #57
blisterpeanuts wrote: post #24

What a strange format. I'm not a regular Reddit visitor so maybe I just don't "get it" but it seems like the top level questions for Gates are pretty intelligent, all questions I'd like to ask him (well, almost all--I don't get the condom one), and the responses to those questions are mostly snide, petty, and stupid.

I'm a frequent Redditor, and while I find the IAMA subreddits one of the most interesting ones, I'm pretty disappointed by how softball questions they were. Reddit is a great opportunity to be more direct and poignant (always in an educated and intelligent manner). For the people that don't know, the general "consensus" on reddit is that Bill Gates is awesome and Steve Jobs sucked, of course it's oversimplified but y…

>I'm pretty disappointed by how softball questions they were

This is not the way to look at it.

The answered questions were just that: answered. More hardball questions were ignored by the VIP. The VIP chooses which questions to ask. In short reddit IAMAs are basically free marketing exercises masquerading behind some kind of idea of "we did it, reddit" - that the audience has some kind of power. It doesn't, it's basically a false idea.

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#118

Post by ghost_IV »

chippy wrote: post #117
Trufa wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a frequent Redditor, and while I find the IAMA subreddits one of the most interesting ones, I'm pretty disappointed by how softball questions they were. Reddit is a great opportunity to be more direct and poignant (always in an educated and intelligent manner). For the people that don't know, the general "consensus" on reddit is that Bill Gates is awesome and Steve Jobs sucked, of course it's oversimplified but y…

>I'm pretty disappointed by how softball questions they were This is not the way to look at it. The answered questions were just that: answered. More hardball questions were ignored by the VIP. The VIP chooses which questions to ask. In short reddit IAMAs are basically free marketing exercises masquerading behind some kind of idea of "we did it, reddit" - that the audience has some kind of power. It doesn't, it's bas…

True. It is almost a public gimmick now. :(

Re: Bill Gates: AMA on Reddit

#119

Post by dennisgorelik »

10feet wrote: post #79
Trufa wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a frequent Redditor, and while I find the IAMA subreddits one of the most interesting ones, I'm pretty disappointed by how softball questions they were. Reddit is a great opportunity to be more direct and poignant (always in an educated and intelligent manner). For the people that don't know, the general "consensus" on reddit is that Bill Gates is awesome and Steve Jobs sucked, of course it's oversimplified but y…

Your questions are awful questions. It is much more important to focus on what he is doing now, which is bigger than what he has done in the past. He is actually helping millions of people around the world now, and you want to focus on what he did in business 20-30 years ago. Of course he was over aggressive in his running of Microsoft in the past. Does it matter if he says so? Or does it matter what he does today wi…

Through Microsoft Gates was helping tens of millions of people (including myself).

His charity efforts are small in comparison.

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