What is Digg?232 Comments
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -17/+492He could at least wait until they release Vista.
- btipling, on 10/12/2007, -8/+173He's actually just stepping down from his day to day activities, not leaving the company.
- BloodJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -28/+134BALLMER SMASH!!!
- Ottergoose, on 10/12/2007, -7/+98He'll still be working full time, he'll just be focusing on getting rid of money instead of making it.
- IIIIrvin, on 10/12/2007, -6/+83The Gates Foundation is probably more worth his while.
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -4/+77"He can probably afford to live comfortably throughout his retirement..."
wow, what an understatement.. - jhuebel, on 10/12/2007, -11/+83@datagod: huh? Spreading population reducing vaccines? I think your tin-foil hat is rotting your brain.
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -12/+68They need to forcibly remove Steve Ballmer I think. They'll probably have to use a tranquilizer dart on him. The way they knock out those crazed bears that invade people's backyards looking for candy.
CANDY GOOD! FIRE BAD!
Is this the man who should be running Microsoft?
http://www.donklephant.com/wp-content/ballmer.png
http://pip.rubberfeet.org/06/Ballmer.gif - miller9time, on 10/12/2007, -8/+62Just because it has caps and two exclamation points does not make it better.
- SteveWiseman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+56why would you post a mirror? you really think Microsoft is gonna crash from digg traffic?
- dWhisper, on 10/12/2007, -1/+46Easily.
While people may think what they may about Bill and Microsoft, the B&G Foundation is one of the leading charaties of our time, and easily one of the most prolific and active. It aims across the board at libraries, education, health, housing... all sorts of things. Past that, he put it out there simply on their own; it's not a Microsoft endevour, though they donate, it's out of his pocket. - Systembomber, on 10/12/2007, -6/+35He can afford to live comfortably throughout his afterlife too...
- kshoaf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+26he just said that he wont be leaving MS. He will still be the chairman and will still be active, but will be more involved in the Foundation than he currently is.
- dallen, on 10/12/2007, -2/+25I would say THE leading charity. No one in history has donated as much as the Gates do to charty
- drakethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24Datagod, unlike most of America Gates does care about education. He donated millions to our library at Seattle U so hes probably done more then you. I would like to know the last time most digg members donated to education and health problems around the world. Instead most just complain and do nothing. Proactive involvement in this earth beats bickering.
- brendanc, on 10/12/2007, -6/+28As a web developer, I would tend to agree that IE is "*****" as you say, but, that was until IE 7 started to come around. IE7 is, in short, an incredible advance in usability and standards for IE. I know, I know, it "should" have been this way from the beginning, but it wasn't because they didn't really have any competition. You can thank Firefox, Safari, and Opera for making IE better.
Once IE7 is released, I doubt you'll be ragging on IE much. I don't mean to seem like a MS Fanboi (which I am to a degree, I suppose), but the simple fact is, IE won't suck when version 7 comes out, so your comment isn't really warranted. - kowgod, on 10/12/2007, -6/+27Some people enjoy their work. My guess is Gates still enjoys his work at Microsoft. No need to retire, I'm sure he is already plenty comfortable.
- JeffT1545, on 10/12/2007, -6/+26Official press release here -
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-15-2006/0004381642&EDATE= - rasterbator, on 10/12/2007, -5/+24This reminds me of Craig Barrett when he left Intel. They will be fine at Microsoft as long as they get rid of Balmer.
- crawf061, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22"am i rite guyz?"
oh.. oh.. all this laughing is making my side hurt - jordan1, on 10/12/2007, -3/+22Facts:
1.Bill started MS and it now rules the PC Universe
2.Bill Gates is insanely rich (see fact #1)
3.Bill Gates started a foundation that has to date saved thousands, if not millions of lives, worldwide with their money.
4.Vista will come out when they are darn good and ready.
5.Digg users love to bash Bill even though he is trying to save the world through his foundation (he's in a no win situation) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -10/+28With Gates gone, there will be nobody to stop Balmer throwing chairs at everyone! Duck!
- mhockey14221, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19him and a medium-sized country could retire quite nicely on that.
- muElliott, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18Don't you mean his great great great grand children will be able to live comfortably throughout their retirment? :-)
- willcode4beer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+18http://digg.com/users/TubaTechno/friends/list
- Cymrubeats, on 10/12/2007, -1/+16It reminds me of that saying "put your money where your mouth is." Well, he did.
- tails, on 10/12/2007, -2/+17Thinking from a global perspective - this is a good thing. At this point effecting change within Microsoft must be very difficult, even for someone at the top. That has got to be frustrating.
I think he can have a much deeper & more positive impact on others through the great work of his foundation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_&_Melinda_Gates_Foundation - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14He has a wife you twit
- tdkyo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16My God, some of these comments are outrageously rude and full of crap.
- dance2die, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14May Bill Gates lead a peaceful life for the rest of his life...
- aliguana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Slag the man off all you want (I've done my share, I'm hardly a MS fanboy), but I think its great that Gates is going to devote his life to his charity work. Most people in his position would retire to their private island and spend their cash on fast cars. You can be cynical about his motives all you want, but he's leading by example and its nice to see.
- q3ctf4, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16He's giving the company two years notice, he hasn't left yet. It will be interesting to see how this drags on for the next two years, especially concerning the stock price and direction of the company.
- RichPowers, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Well I'm sure he can do more good for humanity through the Foundation. He should hurry up and start his own college and maybe build a music hall too :)
- ndm007, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Not to fit the stereotypical Digg Village Idiot, but that would have been less than 10 minutes if Steve Jobs was leaving Apple.
- OBKenobi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16Bill Gates Music School for the Deaf.
- ani-pockdotnet, on 10/12/2007, -5/+17CNN Article: http://money.cnn.com/2006/06/15/technology/microsoft_news/index.htm?cnn=yes
- wistar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11BillG has long maintained that he will give away 95% of his wealth. He has also been outspoken about the great amount of time and effort that such an endeavor will require to come to pass. This is his signal that he is about to escalate the effort. In the end, and through BillG, a robin-hood like effect is taking place. MS has taken from the rich(er) and is giving to the poor(er).
It's impossible to predict how history will view the arc of MS but I think it will always be implacably tied to Bill Gates and that his actions and benevolance throughout the balance of his remaining life will form much of the lasting impressions of MS. - misterpony, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11Gates Foundation Donations: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/MediaCenter/FactSheet/
It'll be very interesting to see what Bill does when he's there more. - jeffgtr, on 10/12/2007, -2/+13I think it's a smart move on his part. As much as I dislike windows I admire Bill Gates for taking this path. I have to wonder if this means we'll be seeing even more of Steve Balmer, egads.
- uptown, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10...someone's gotta deliver the pizza.
- beedun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Good for Bill. It's nice to see someone with so much wealth and power try to help out people in need. Congrats on the move Bill!
- VeganG, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12No matter what you think of his products, I admire that he's going to spend the rest of his life giving away more money than he's already giving away.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13I saw this on the front page of DIGG at T+19 minutes ... a new record?
- jtrost, on 10/12/2007, -9/+17This goes to show you that no matter how much you dislike what Microsoft does or what it stands for, the money the company makes (and pays out to Gates) is going towards good things. Knowing that makes me feel a lot better about buying Microsoft products.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10When is Balmer leaving? Thats the news I'm looking forward to!
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -5/+13Perhaps you should claim all your Microsoft purchases as charitable contributions on your tax return?
- amish, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Gates literally owns microsoft and is the only person who knows mircosoft inside out. He will be attached to microsoft one way or the other until he dies.
- wistar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7BillG has always been a proponent of fair taxation. One example: he and his father are both very outspoken about maintaining, and even strengthening, the estate tax.
- zodieman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I never cared for Microsoft's software but I admire Bill's decision to leave and "share the wealth". Problem is, MS is being run by a Steve Ballmer who's a really scary character. That man has no couth and is VERY dangerous. Just go and read some of his interviews and you'll see why Bill was a much better PR person for that company. I feel sorry for them.
- McZiggz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8The Xbox team seems to have their head on right as far as User Interface goes. They should really look into moving some of those guys into the OS team, or finding some like minds.
Windows hasn't fundamentally changed much (even looking @ Vista) since Windows 3.x
The new Xbox 360 OS shows major innovation for Microsoft. -
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