Bill Gates Unloads Shocker on Stephen Colbert
January 31st, 2013 - 12:47 pm
Wow. Just wow:
Colbert: You’re out there saving the world, and yet, you don’t have the cool factor. No offense, not the same cool factor like turtle-neck cool factor…does it ever bug you that you’e out there saving the world, and yet he’s, he’s, the memories of a cool guy? Did you ever want to be the cool guy?
Gates: Ah, he was always cooler than me.
Colbert: Yeah?
Gates: Yeah.
While we’re all admitting deep, dark truths, I’m willing to tell the world that I am indeed shorter than Kareem Abdul Jabbar.
Cool isn’t everything. Jobs made some really great stuff, but he was also a bit of a sociopath.
True that, but what legitimate genius or genuine mover-and-shaker isn’t a bit…abrasive, let us say? To appreciate Steve Jobs, one need only consider what Apple was shortly before he returned. Here is a guy who, quite literally, changed the world. I mean, forget about computers for a minute and consider the transformation in the way we listen to music, and in the way we use a telephone. To birth one revolution is enough for any one person – but three?
Kinda like Bill Gates, who will leave a legacy at least as great; say what you will about Microsoft, but creating the standard computing platform for an entire planet doesn’t look bad on a resume either. And for Gates to say that, obvious as it is, in such a low-key way, strikes me as a really classy thing to do. Which kinda makes him – dare I say it – cool.
“Changed the world?” Good grief, the Kool – Aid is strong with this one. Sure the man made some great tech products, but come on. Ever heard of Norman Borlaug? Hardly anyone has any idea who he is, yet he did far more to “change the world” than all the pixels and stardust that Steve Job’s could possibly imagine in his own little world. And his closed – end systems of operation look a lot like just another budding monopolist, and he allowed his hate for the freedom of the internet (i.e. competition) to show on far too many occasions. Some restraint is in order for the Apple cultists at this point.
Still running DOS 3.0 while listening to CDs on the ol’ Sony DiscMan waiting for the Nokia 5100 to charge, are we?
“Put your head in a vise. Tighten it until you can’t stand it anymore. This is what it’s like to compete against Microsoft.”
– Guy Kawasaki, former Apple software evangelist
Oh, one other thing, before I forget. There’s this guy, Tim Berners-Lee. You may have heard of him; he created something modestly noteworthy.. And this is what he used to do it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_Web_Server.jpg
Bringing up Berners – Lee is non – responsive to my point regarding your knob – slobbering of Jobs. Please try harder next time – but by all means keep buying your awesome products that make everyone in the 3rd world much better off these days.
That’s enough for the personal attacks. Take two weeks off from commenting at VP. I’ll unblock you on the 15th.
As a Commodore survivor all I can say is, “Death to proprietary hardware, Baby!” That includes iCrap.
Know what 1000 shares of Apple would be worth to me today? Well, I don’t have them thanks to Jobs.