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Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

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Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#31

Post by moreorless »

franze wrote: post #11

some weeks ago i got talked into setting up the internet connection on windows vista machine (of a friend) - a very simple task i though. it was a horrible and unbelievable stupid experience. it took me two hours(!!!) according to a quick google at least 88 000 000 windows vista copies had been sold. i expect that at least (and on average) every vista user had run into a similar issue at least once (probably more oft…

Not everyone is as inexperienced as you are in Windows Vista networking. Just because it took you two hours to figure out something, doesn't mean that it is the same thing for everyone.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#32

Post by brainless »

I have for the last few years personally thought about this many times over.

I am from India and understand the problems that Bill Gates is trying to help solve, with his money, management skills and time.

I am a tech fan-boy and love good gadgets, I work hard to earn and buy a gadget. But people like me are minority. And moreover those gadgets die in 3 years flat.

For countries like ours, it is crucial to solve the socioeconomic problems and head towards a better tomorrow. In that respect what Bill Gates has been doing, has inspired me to think differently. He has made capitalism also look much better (I come from communist backgrounds). You earn and then you give back, the way you want to, where you want to.

Having an impact on actual living conditions of people is far more important than building better OS with a Metro UI or even a better phone with dual cores.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#33

Post by franze »

emarcotte wrote: post #15
franze wrote: post #11

some weeks ago i got talked into setting up the internet connection on windows vista machine (of a friend) - a very simple task i though. it was a horrible and unbelievable stupid experience. it took me two hours(!!!) according to a quick google at least 88 000 000 windows vista copies had been sold. i expect that at least (and on average) every vista user had run into a similar issue at least once (probably more oft…

And Bill Gate's contribution to Vista was what, exactly? I think you're missing the point of this article, not to mention stretching on your math.

"Gates's last full-time day at Microsoft was June 27, 2008" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Gates

"On January 30, 2007, it [Windows Vista] was released worldwide" - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Vista

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#34

Post by franze »

moreorless wrote: post #31
franze wrote: post #11

some weeks ago i got talked into setting up the internet connection on windows vista machine (of a friend) - a very simple task i though. it was a horrible and unbelievable stupid experience. it took me two hours(!!!) according to a quick google at least 88 000 000 windows vista copies had been sold. i expect that at least (and on average) every vista user had run into a similar issue at least once (probably more oft…

Not everyone is as inexperienced as you are in Windows Vista networking. Just because it took you two hours to figure out something, doesn't mean that it is the same thing for everyone.

yeah, most vista users i know (mostly older family and friends) come to me (i - to 99% - refuse to do any of that stuff) after they wasted days and weeks.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#35

Post by jerf »

rprasad wrote: post #27
firefoxman1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just like how Carnegie wasn't spoken of very well until later in his life, after he became a philanthropist. On the other hand, Fred Harvey (a very Jobs-like entrepreneur and a hero of mine) is remembered by very few. I'm sure you could find dozens of other examples throughout recent history, but the thing I've noticed is that the true heroes don't care if they're remembered; they're content in knowing they made…

Eradiacting a disease that has killed millions...that is a meaningful contribution to society. Helping fund massive innovation in the education system...that is a meaningful contribution to society. Selling electronics gadgets for a lot of money is not a meaningful contribution to society.

Education system reform in any sense that an HN'er would generally conceive of is first going to be built upon a foundation of selling lots of cheap electronic gadgets for what still comes to a lot of money.

Are you sure it's not a meaningful contribution to society? If electronic gadgets are extensions of our minds, are you sure it's not a meaningful contribution to work out how to make them do more, more cheaply, for more people, until the utility of the devices is so great that it overcomes nearly everyone's reluctance to part with their money?

The picture is not so clear cut as that. Every leaf node on the tree of human accomplishment nowadays is built upon an awful lot of other less glamorous nodes, but take them away and the glamorous stuff doesn't happen. You may not understand how the sewer worker contributes to the cancer cure, until the sewer worker stops showing up for work on the cancer research facility's beat, at which point your nose may explain it to you.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#36

Post by Kilimanjaro »

So, a software baron in the same league as Pablo Escobar, who made billions in shady ways and tried to clean his name giving it all away, will be remembered more than a guy who was a living god among artists, creators, marketers and geeks?

Sure you can buy a couple of pages in history, a billion a piece, but your tarnished reputation won't wash away easily, no matter how many vaccines you fund or how many shills to down vote me you pay.

You can spend all your money buying a heaven but that won't make you a saint.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#37

Post by SudarshanP »

Goladus wrote: post #26

This depends on whose memory you are talking about. For leader-types, academics and historians looking to study someone with massive charisma and ambition, it's Jobs they are going to remember. Videos of speeches and interviews will be preserved, and where Jobs and Gates are side by side it's clear that Jobs is the one with the presence. For everyone else including the general public, it'll probably still be Gates, b…

One of the videos that will be circulating around for quiet some time is http://ed.ted.com/lessons/steve-jobs-at-stanford-university-...

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#38

Post by Samuel_Michon »

ImprovedSilence wrote: post #17
franze wrote: post #11

some weeks ago i got talked into setting up the internet connection on windows vista machine (of a friend) - a very simple task i though. it was a horrible and unbelievable stupid experience. it took me two hours(!!!) according to a quick google at least 88 000 000 windows vista copies had been sold. i expect that at least (and on average) every vista user had run into a similar issue at least once (probably more oft…

Was Bill Gates even around for vista? I thought he stopped his msft day job years ago?

Bill Gates quit his day job at Microsoft in 2008. Microsoft Vista was released in 2006, they had worked on it since 2001.

So Bill Gates was very much responsible for Vista.

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#39

Post by [deleted] »

rprasad wrote: post #27
firefoxman1 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just like how Carnegie wasn't spoken of very well until later in his life, after he became a philanthropist. On the other hand, Fred Harvey (a very Jobs-like entrepreneur and a hero of mine) is remembered by very few. I'm sure you could find dozens of other examples throughout recent history, but the thing I've noticed is that the true heroes don't care if they're remembered; they're content in knowing they made…

Eradiacting a disease that has killed millions...that is a meaningful contribution to society. Helping fund massive innovation in the education system...that is a meaningful contribution to society. Selling electronics gadgets for a lot of money is not a meaningful contribution to society.

[deleted]

Re: Malcolm Gladwell asserts that Gates, not Jobs, will be remembered in 50 years

#40

Post by pbreit »

chollida1 wrote: post #6

Is this considered a controversial point? I would have thought that most people would have thought the same thing. it's really been amazing to see how Bill Gates reputation has rebounded in tech forums in the past 5 years. 5 years ago it would be the rule rather than the exception for Bill to be bad mouthed in tech forums. Now I've noticed that it's mostly the opposite. My guess is that in 50 years Bill Gates will be…

Not only is it controversial but it's probably wrong. Bill Gates hardly comes up in conversation anymore and Microsoft's relevance is way less than a company of its revenues, product usage and stature should be. I couldn't even name a single thing the Gates Foundation is doing, much less has accomplished. No one will remember desktop computers in 50 years when computing will be all around us (moved ever so far forward by Apple products). Your last sentence is drastically understating the impact Jobs had on multiple massive industries.
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