11–20 of 33 posts
The software industry doesn't need fixing - I hope Gates continues to focus his energy in these other areas.
He should run for President instead.
"Bill, would you consider returning to lead Microsoft?"
"No."
Became a 1000 word article. Amazing.
The "HN Dream" has always seemed to be:
1) Make a startup
2) Strike it rich
3) Acquire millions (billions? I forget which is "cool")
4) With [bm]illions, change the world
Gates personifies that. Why on Earth would he backtrack to step 1 again?
Let's be honest though: the stuff Gates is doing today is way more important than any of the things Jobs did over the last decade. We can argue about the relative merits of disrupting the cell phone handset industry and tablet computing, long-tail effects thereof and the like, but at the end of the day the best you can argue is that it will have trickle-down effects for the poor and disadvantaged.
Gates, on the other hand, is working on goals to directly improve the lives of people. And the people his foundation is trying to help tends to be the folks who need help the most, not people who can afford expensive mobile phones and even more expensive mobile phone rate plans. Gates is no saint by any means, but I can't see how after working on such big-picture issues, he'd want to come back and run a business.
"Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'".
To echo what some others have already said, I don't see how coming back to Microsoft could be more personally satisfying for Gates than what he's doing now. Sure, it would probably feel pretty nice if he could right the ship and get lauded in the same way Jobs has been as of late. Let's be honest though: the stuff Gates is doing today is way more important than any of the things Jobs did over the last decade. We can…
Rather see Gates start a nuclear energy company, with radical new designs that focus on safety, widely distributed, low cost, zero emissions. He's invested in such companies, but I'd love to see him really push it as CEO. He's done/doing great philanthropic work in the 3rd world. Cheap, clean, and available electrical power would do wonders for poor countries. 1MW nuclear reactor in a shipping container, runs for 30…
I agreed with you right up to the last sentence. > It could happen if we stop chasing foolish "green" energy windmills and solar panels. What? How are the two things even related at all? How are solar panels foolish? Why put "green" in quotes? The reason that nuclear power isn't getting the attention it deserves is not that other 'alternative energy' projects get the attention. It's much more that governments and cor…
Nuclear isn't getting attention because of irrational fear that liberals and the government promote. Gates would have a tough job, but he's someone with the resources to lobby govt, and get trusted and respected people to start taking nuclear seriously.
Perhaps after Gates starts building these reactors in other countries, the green zealots will finally get discredited. Seriously, why is someone with billions of dollars, huge influence and power, and a strong advocate of reducing carbon emissions, why is he NOT building a solar and wind power company? And why is it that the people who are making money off solar and wind seem to get all their profits through government subsidies?
http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Bill-Ga...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agreed with you right up to the last sentence. > It could happen if we stop chasing foolish "green" energy windmills and solar panels. What? How are the two things even related at all? How are solar panels foolish? Why put "green" in quotes? The reason that nuclear power isn't getting the attention it deserves is not that other 'alternative energy' projects get the attention. It's much more that governments and cor…
I would argue that ethanol subsidies are currently a barrier to wiser energy policies, however.
To echo what some others have already said, I don't see how coming back to Microsoft could be more personally satisfying for Gates than what he's doing now. Sure, it would probably feel pretty nice if he could right the ship and get lauded in the same way Jobs has been as of late. Let's be honest though: the stuff Gates is doing today is way more important than any of the things Jobs did over the last decade. We can…
Less poverty and diseases beats a better version of Microsoft any day.