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- antipro, on 10/12/2007, -20/+186he just doesnt like the idea of giving PCs to people who can't afford to buy Windows
- emess, on 10/12/2007, -7/+71He probably should have made his comments at some other time and place so it wouldn't be so obvious that he's sour graping a product that could conceivably compete with origami at some point in the future -- wireless, a real keyboard, roughly the same size... and a hell of a lot cheaper. just solve the power supply and storage problem (maybe that would bring the price to a whopping $200). The laptop nonprofit licenses it to a maker to provide even more revenue for their project.
With all of his charitable involvement with issues of 3rd World development & health, etc., he may even be scheming how to bring something very similar to the $100 laptop to the 3rd World himself. Semi-charitable, and extending Microsoft's market into vast new territory at the same time.
Or am I being too cynical to suggest Bill would look for some synergy between his charity and his monster?
By the way if you read the FAQ on the $100 laptop website (laptop.org) it explains why they reject recycling old desktops. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -12/+76Don't both the MIT project and the Origami project use portable DVD player screens?
I also find it fascinating that while he's waxing lyrical about the amazing benefits of the internet as a platform delivery tool and service (Web 2.0, etc.), he simultaneously slams a project trying to extend the reach of those tools to people who can't afford his own solutions.
OTOH, it makes more sense to recycle the old PCs from corporations that go to the dump each year in a clever way than it does to provide people with new, underpowered laptops. Especially considering that labour isnt much of an issue anymore. - chimona, on 10/12/2007, -16/+50he does make a good point though, and since when is criticism the same as mocking?
Bill Gates is a fairly successful businessman and therefore may have some valid thoughts on computing platforms. all he's saying is that it doesn't matter how cheap a computer is if you still have to provide human resources that know how to work it.
and as for the whole "sour graping" thing, he was probably asked what he thought of the $100 computer, because he was promoting a portable computing platform at the time. and he gave his honest opinion.
Please, Deadpain explain how that makes him a hypocrite? or did you just read the title and skip the actual story? - qkslvrwolf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+34It only makes more sense if you haven't read the purpose of the $100 laptop. the whole point is that the thing can generate its own power. In some cases, for some of the deployments they're talking about, the laptop will provide more power than anything else in the area.
Old desktops don't do this. Old desktops also have a numberr of other problems. Like old components that might be prone to failure, and also vulnerability to unstable power. I mean, what good does a free computer do you if you have to spend $100 on surge protection.
Gates is an ass. - Elranzer, on 10/12/2007, -6/+33I guess to Gates, a computer without Windows is not a computer.
- deepsub, on 10/12/2007, -10/+35With computers that cost $100, it's hard to justify Billy boy charging $100+ for Windows.
I don't think Gates actually believes anything he said, it's just FUD aimed at new technology that just might make Micro$oft's bread and butter obsolete in developing markets.
Ha ha. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+26Personally I find his comments highly cynical. From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%24100_laptop :
"Microsoft's Bill Gates has attempted to convince Negroponte to use a version of Microsoft Windows on the laptop, but Negroponte turned him down. Some of Negroponte's friends told him Microsoft might then attempt to craft its own version of the laptop, but he responded such a development would be "great", as it would speed up the process of delivering cheap laptops." - sooperdooper, on 10/12/2007, -2/+24"Poor American kids" have libraries with computers which have internet access.
- captaindan, on 10/12/2007, -18/+40"You've outdone yourself in terms of making yourself look like a ***** fool."
And you're really winning the hearts and minds of digg users everywhere. - osrevad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+18Gates makes it sound like you have to constantly turn the crank, which isn't true. The battery consumption is low enough that you have spend very little time turning th crank. And does Gates not understand that this thing is partly designed for people who don't have any access to power?
- Autrix, on 10/12/2007, -6/+22+digg for Bill Gates having no heart..
The intention isn't for it to be a Top of the Line machine obviously. It's to help modernize 3rd world countries, Mr Gates.
At least MIT is making the effort. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -27/+42"Bill Gates is a hypocrite moron, he's going to Hell, I tell you."
"OMGWTFHAX!!! WINDOWS VISTA AND OFFICE 2007 WON'T FIT IN 500MB!!!! HOW AM I GOING TO SUCK THE MONEY OUT OF THESE POOR CHILDREN NOW????"
Uhh, he's donated more money to charity than you will make in your entire life.
Bear that in mind before saying stupid things. - kidlinux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14I think what most people (including Gates) are misunderstanding is that in the countries to which these laptops will be going, there may not be anywhere to plug them in (for power.) Also, hard drives are typically the first thing to fail, and when they do, where will their users have them serviced, and with what money?
These laptops have to be extremely durable, and have to be usable almost anywhere. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -13/+27"Bill Gates is a fairly successful businessman" - you shoot your argument in the foot right there. he is 100% a business man so his opinions are entirely biased and tuned to discredit any competition, and believe me a $100 handheld that runs linux is VERY much on his radar as competition. i mean people might start to get this crazy idea that they don't need windows *gasp*
and take look at his comment more closely :"Hardware is a small part of the cost" of providing computing capabilities, he said, adding that the big costs come from network connectivity, applications and support."
SHOCK - look at the parts he is claiming are going to cost money, they are all the area's MS have vested intrests. for a start you don't NEED to pay for applications when you have community developed software, and you certainly don' t need to pay for support, thats a crock of ***** right there. network connectivity isn't expensive, in rural india they are using wireless links to provide communications for even the poorest farmers.
in short he is scoffing at this project on the outside, and shaking in his little space boots on the inside. the idea that software costs nothing threatens MS's entire empire, and the idea that this will take hold in developing nations terrifies them. - barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -3/+17Why are all of your comments so negative? It's as if someone trying to do something nice for someone else is an insult. The MIT website faq http://laptop.org/faq.en_US.html states the following reasons why they are doing this:
Why do children in developing nations need laptops?
Laptops are both a window and a tool: a window into the world and a tool with which to think. They are a wonderful way for all children to learn learning through independent interaction and exploration.
Why is it important for each child to have a computer? What's wrong with community-access centers?
One does not think of community pencils—kids have their own. They are tools to think with, sufficiently inexpensive to be used for work and play, drawing, writing, and mathematics. A computer can be the same, but far more powerful. Furthermore, there are many reasons it is important for a child to own something—like a football, doll, or book—not the least of which being that these belongings will be well-maintained through love and care. - sfacets, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Actually alot of people in third world countries do have food, as well as proper educational facilities. These computers can be of great use for those students wishing to start further education.
Don't believe all the stereotypical images you receive from the media. - BobbyOnions, on 10/12/2007, -1/+14I think the important bit in his rant was "the big costs come from network connectivity, applications and support". He *wants* them to have a "applications" cost. I'm guessing that "network connectivity" is a thin veil his operating systems. The open-source world *want* them to have it for free.
No matter how noble his intentions, he does not want any "emerging market" to use a non-Microsoft solution, despite the fact that the cost of XP/Vista Office, no matter how trimmed down, is likely to exceed many people's annual income there.
An open-source O/S and applications would increase the cost of unit by precisely zero. Adding Microsoft applications is going to add *some* cost. Even if it's just 10% or 20%, the bottom line is that with a fixed budget, a 10% increase in unit price means that you end up with less units! - xagoln, on 10/12/2007, -2/+15Yes, he's made all of the money he so kindly 'donates' from the commercial software industry, which he founded with his "open letter to computer enthusiasts" in the 70s. Before then, software was shared freely, much like the free open source movement that is reemerging today.
On the way there, he's taken the 'Microsoft tax' from each of us probably 5-10 times and ruthlessly crushed all competition. Now even the proudest capitalist has to agree that monopoly is not what capitalism is about, and capitalism as a system suffers when monopolies come about. - bjohnsonwsu, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16It's funny that he's knocking the $100 in the same breath that he's trying to sell his $500 - $900 device. I imagine the next sentence was "let them eat cake."
- BigHungryJoe, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18jkfan: "They WANTED Windows you ***** idiot."
No they didn't you anti-social dickhole. The whole reason they chose linux is because its open source. Steve Jobs offered them Mac OS X for free, and it was declined because *drum roll* it wasn't open source!!
Here's a quote from Wikipedia, "Microsoft's Bill Gates has attempted to convince Negroponte to use a version of Microsoft Windows on the laptop, but Negroponte turned him down. Some of Negroponte's friends told him Microsoft might then attempt to craft its own version of the laptop, but he responded such a development would be "great", as it would speed up the process of delivering cheap laptops."
So shut the ***** up you *****. - kalisphoenix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13jkfan87: Apparently, you haven't thought this through very clearly. Google, MIT, et al don't make food. They are technological entities, not agricultural deities. They're doing their best to think up a way to improve the human race in general (by raising the average acclimatization of the average human being to technology) and the third world in particular. Will it help today? Tomorrow? No -- but it can be anticipated that there will be very positive long-term benefits.
Bill Gates, on the other hand, has made an ass out of himself. He suggests a $600 device that is nowhere near as rugged, depends on good clean DC power (as provided by a good clean AC adapter), and doesn't have, you know, a ***** keyboard.
> "If you are going to go have people share the computer, get a broadband connection and have somebody
> there who can help support the user, geez, get a decent computer where you can actually read the text and
> you're not sitting there cranking the thing while you're trying to type," Gates said.
I mean, seriously. How can you look at that quote and not say "Holy *****. Bill Gates has no ***** clue what he's talking about." - chrono13, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11"He has given more money ANONYMOUSLY than anyone in history."
No. I do not believe you are correct. He may have given the most money to charity than anyone else. But he is not the largest anonymous charitable person. By its very definition, wouldn't it stand to reason that the most anonymous would be... you know.... anonymous?
Truly anonymous donations are anonymous. I know. I have made some.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. - polumrak, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Oh, I like this one one:
"...geez, get a decent computer where you can actually read the text and you're not sitting there cranking the thing while you're trying to type," Gates said.
Geez, children, get some decent food, stop starving you little morons! - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Each product is for vastly different markets.
- tarball, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10IIRC, he tried to get the project to use Windows. It was rejected on the grounds that the people using the laptops would have a better opportunity to learn about computers/technology by using an open source OS (Red hat Linux was decided on I believe).
I don't remember him being so critical when he was trying to push Windows on the project though. - ledavee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10@jkfan87,
I understand your point, but please remember that knowledge and education is the key to breaking the poverty cycle that these poor, manlnourished people are trapped in. You can read more about the poverty cycle over at wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_cycle - ywwg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11no, the OLPC uses a dual-mode screen that is 800x600 black and white, or ~320x~240 in color. The black and white screen does not use a backlight, so the battery life is improved. In color mode, there's a backlight that shines red,green,and blue light through the black and white screen, producing a color display.
It's not going to be pretty color, but it'll work for video. - giggins, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Gates is just pissed that its not going to run windows.
- DarthTater, on 10/12/2007, -6/+14to have access to a computer? To have access to internet? Because people don't have money to buy an origami?
Gates critics of the MIT project was out of place (presenting Origami) and he's almost sure out of contact with the reality of developing countries. - barbobot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Because it doesn't address the REAL problem these kids are facing. And it will be a huge bust like Live Aid. And it is a waste of time and resources that could have been better used to ACTUALLY help these people.
First off I dont know what you mean by the "REAL" problem.
Second if the real problem happens to be food, I don't really believe that you know too much about the project. MIT has stated many times that they feel this is the best way _for_them_ to help. If MIT was a farming school they would have taught the children to farm. They are a technology school so they are helping with technology and education. Its not coming out of your pocket, why are you so angry? - gskrilla, on 10/12/2007, -7/+15Chimona i have to agree arent these the very same digg users who were outraged after the media "twisted" steve woz's comments about apple, we all know what the media can report what people "say"
As far as a successful business man he is the richest person in the world and considering he donated over $360million dollars last year alone, that's a million dollars a day.
I'm not the biggest Bill Gates fan in the world but as far as charity goes the man does alot and he does often give a blunt opinion on issues, which is why he might be speaking as a person who donates, and saying the project isnt feasible on that issue not as a person who wants to profit from it!!
Educate yourself people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_and_Melinda_Gates_Foundation
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm - BigHungryJoe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10"Negroponte has made significant progress, but he has also catalyzed the debate over the role of computing in poor nations--and ruffled a few feathers. He failed to reach an agreement with Microsoft on including its Windows software in the laptop, leading Microsoft executives to start discussing what they say is a less expensive alternative: turning a specially configured cellular phone into a computer by connecting it to a TV and a keyboard."
Article only says discussions took place. Doesn't say who initiated those discussions.
"Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, had also offered a free version of his company's OS X operating system, but Negroponte rejected that idea because the software was largely not open-source, meaning people could not get free access to software and its source code, which they could then modify. Negroponte said in an interview here that he had resolved to use Linux not because it was free but because of its quality and maintainability.
"I chose open source because it's better," he said. "I have 100 million programmers I can rely on.""
Article only proves my point. You're still wrong. I guess no pwnage for me then, douchebag. - Karyyk, on 10/12/2007, -8/+16I still say that Gates' "charity" has more to do with tax breaks and benefits than it does this great benevolence that everyone seems to give him the credit for. I could well be wrong (I don't know the man personally, obviously), but the fact that in donating his monies to charity he more than likely saves just as much that he'd otherwise have to buck up to the feds.
In addition, it's just like Microsoft to openly ridicule what they deem as competition (even when it's not, as would appear to be the case here) while secretly building a "superior" (for their reasons) version of their own. Besides, if the developing countries that stand to benefit from MIT's $100 laptop get used to open-source from the get go (aka FREE), what are the chances they'll be willing to pay hundreds of dollars on licenses later that enable them to, well, do exactly what they were already able to do for nought? Real short answer there... - polumrak, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10His $500 - $900 device started actually at $1190.
- polumrak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11He should try harder, damn thing is 12 times more expensive than MIT laptop, works only about 2 hours from a battery and doesn't even have a crank.
- polumrak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10They're not for third world countries, they're for the whole world.
These are not free laptops but $100 laptops. Can the U.S. government spend $100 on a poor american kid? - dEM1972, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8This becomes nothing more than a sales pitch for MS new midi-tablet PC. Obviously Mr Gates is going to push his own machine over something that has been developed round the idea of being cheap and not tied into "expensive" operating systems or specific vendor. Who in the developed world is going to buy a Ultra portable PC when the price tag is as expensive as a low to middle end laptop that offers the same. How then in the developing world will even consider Bill's midi-brick. Marketing hype and bitterness, signs of desparation. Who knows. Who cares.
- KoZo, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10why the hate? why not support it? with all his money in the foundation, why not collaborate with the rest of the industry to create a portable PC that works? I dont mind putting in there a free version of a stripped Windows OS as long as it's affordable and is working efficiently.
- mrmartini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -12/+19i don't give a ***** how much he donates when he does it purely because the man has more money then he knows how to dodge tax on.
it won't even be gates that comes up with what to donate to, it will be his army of tax lawyers find the best tax write off.
what is a bigger show of charity, a man on $400/week donating $20 a month when he can hardly afford it himself, or a man with $10,000,000,000 at his disposal (that we know about) donating a few million just to boost his public image... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10from the website FAQ:
"How will these be marketed?
The laptops will be sold to governments and issued to children by schools on a basis of one laptop per child. Initial discussions have been held with China, India, Brazil, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, and Thailand. "
"Why not a desktop computer, or—even better—a recycled desktop machine?
Desktops are cheaper, but mobility is important, especially with regard to taking the computer home at night. Kids in the developing world need the newest technology, especially really rugged hardware and innovative software."
"In one Cambodian village where we have been working, there is no electricity, thus the laptop is, among other things, the brightest light source in the home."
Sure they say its for all the children of the world but come on it is clearly for 3rd world countries by even what their website states - carpespasm, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15the only thing is, with all the cash he rakes in, him donating x million dollars is probably less charitable by scale than most people giving 10 bucks to a homeless guy.
- polumrak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Yeah, give them more food, give them more water, give them to sew some reebok shoes, keep them away from knowlege and education.
- wastern, on 10/12/2007, -6/+12he's just trying to sell is UMPC
its easy for him to say "get a decent pc" when he is sitting on $60 billion. the 3rd world countries don't have that luxury. he's so out of touch - sspooner, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9I worry that developing countries are being lured by some mythical lifestyle improvement by handing out $100 laptops everywhere.
I see these kids on TV living in shanty towns, starving with no medical help. I say spend the $100 on getting them clean water, food and medical support first before getting them on the internet.
The problem is that no one makes any money out of that. - theone3, on 10/12/2007, -14/+20Deadpain. Nice explanation. ;).
An excelent point chimona. Bill Gates probably does know more about the issue than most, so perhaps it's not such a good idea to discount his ideas so quickly. There is the issue of support. Especially with the arcane mix of weird languages around Africa. (Where's the 'Click click pop brr' button?) But what he appears to have forgotten is the benefits of the open-source style mesh networking that these machines provide. They enable little communities to share information openly and freely. Remember, just because he has experience dosent mean he's thought of everything. I seriously doubt Bill has a reasonable concept of what OS/Wiki is really about, and he probably dosent know much about the conditions in third world countries. So his assesment may be accurate in his frame of thought, but it may be entirely the wrong frame! - geekchic, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11I spend a fair amount of time reading and writing about mobile phones in poor countries. I strongly believe that the $100 computer is missguided anyway.
Villagers don't want computers - they want communications.
They want to talk to family and friends in other villages and countries. That is why a village will club together to buy a mobile phone that they can share, or microcredit schemes will lend them the funds to set up a "mobile payphone".
If someone comes out with a "smartphone" with a slightly larger screen and keyboard - then that is all the "computer" that they will want for now.
How will the $100 computer send emails or connect to the internet ? Via a mobile phone !
So - put email and basic web access into a Nokia handset, and you have the computing power they need - in a device they want.
There are already wap sites in existence that offer local market prices for crops and weather reports - these work fine on mobile phones. Frankly, what is the benefit of a "stand alone" computer ? - bobbagum, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9Look at the Windows XP starter edition crap he's selling to Third World Countries...
- wastern, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7haha. classic.
oh, they can't afford my UMPC? let them use alienware. -
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