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59 Comments
- mastercheif, on 10/12/2007, -4/+34What Bill Gates does on his own personal time has nothing to do with Microsoft.
- cjmovie, on 10/12/2007, -10/+37I know I'll get dugg down, but I'd just like to use this as a "point-case". Most diggers are against Microsoft (personally, I feel that they're an OK company...that'll get me dugg down at least) and for Google. The effect? Everyone has a "Go Google" for forming a foundation to help with things like this, but nobody ever seems to mention the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, which has been wholly successful in many different ways. I understand that the latter was formed before Digg, but still....
Of course, at the same time, as said above: Yay Google :-) - Nachoo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20I am looking forward to see some Google-rain-forests on Google-Earth.
- synystar, on 10/12/2007, -4/+17Gates is the greatest philanthropist in history. No one can deny it. He, and his wife, are individuals and they will be respected for decades to come. Microsoft is a corporation however and although I have ultimate respect for the company's contribution to technology, I wouldn't say that MS has gone out of it's way to help "tackle the worlds greatest problems." Not intentionally any way..
Many people, including myself, have mixed feelings about Google. We followed Google with zeal, believing that they are, in many ways, the savior of the corporate world. The "do no evil" philosophy, that we want so much to believe in, has waned in our minds recently for various reasons that I don't care to expand upon in a comment.
We start to wonder... when will this fairy-tale end, and we realize that Google is probably embarking on it's conquest, as so many corporations before it have. There is no such thing as a "good" supercorp. Acquisitions, the cop-outs, the things we just don't ***** like--it all starts to make us feel as Google might just be the next in line of companies we hate to love.
But then there's this. You might say this is strategy. "Make the people believe that we really are the good guys we say we are" It's a tough call. Google has the capacity to make a difference. They are capable of making things happen--things that can't be done otherwise--which could make the world a better place. It still feels kind of creepy, at least to me. It gives so much power to a corporation. A good thing... certainly, if the world is better off then why bitch? Here's to hoping that Google is NOT a wolf in sheep's clothing, or at very least, does such a good job of changing things for the better that no one gives a ***** if they practically control our lives. - m3mn0n, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15Very cool. Go Google! :)
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12at last count microsoft had donated more than 2.5 billion to charity
- Scruffydan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12please don't compare the poor in the US, to the poor in the third world, the poor in the US have it much better than those in Africa for example.
The US has more than enough money to look after its own people, if it chooses too.
many countries around the world do not have any money to help their population, even if they choose too. - mastercheif, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12Google, saving the earth one search at a time.
- Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -5/+10Dear ignorant ***** ^^above^^.
The planet is far from fine, there may always be crazy people around, but if we're not actively aware of the issues affecting our environment then our precious earth may not be. - swoopdog, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3let me just update my resume with that 15 years experience and strong organizational and management skills in sustainable development.
- mrASSMAN, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9Actually Microsoft itself had a very large 'philanthropic arm' as well, probably much larger than Google's (so far). Microsoft is known to donate $100's of millions worth of products to needy places.. either at a discount or for free. They are also huge in education (at least in my area -- Washington State).
- trghpy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6*sigh*
They'll never take my applications with the publicity google gets on their job postings..
time to go get my phd
:( - numarc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@eoxx It doesn't matter how much money you have doing good is doing good. Also more than cash he puts in a lot of his personal time to his charities. As a man that has as much money as he does and runs the biggest corporation (and greenest) in the world that should not be overlooked. Now I am far from a microsoft fan boy I don't like their products much (except the 360), am not upgrading to vista, and am saving up for a macbook pro. However I have a profound respect for what he does for charity. And I don't know much about his wife but it seems like their charities are her full time job.
- NuPagady, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Just some stats:
Half the world — nearly three billion people — live on less than two dollars a day.
Nearly a billion people entered the 21st century unable to read a book or sign their names.
According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty.
And..:
51 percent of the world’s 100 hundred wealthiest bodies are corporations (like google).
http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Facts.asp - cjmovie, on 10/12/2007, -6/+8Yes, that is true. Replace "Microsoft" with Bill Gates. Point being, people criticize Bill Gates as the businessman and head of Microsoft, while they view Google as an entity (for the most part), the argument I place still stands.
It's still the same in PR, if you look at it like that. - emja, on 10/12/2007, -8/+9@mrASSMAN
"Microsoft is known to donate $100's of millions worth of products to needy places.. either at a discount or for free. They are also huge in education (at least in my area -- Washington State)."
err, no. They are known to donate $100's of millions - if you look only at the sale price, not the actual value to them. This affords Microsoft an awesome tax break, at practically zero cost to themselves. This is a clever rort, however certainly not a donation. - wastern, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4The poor in the US are still some of the richest people in the world. Don't be such an ignorant American, you're making us all look bad
- IvanB, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Little Zdnet article on the matter:
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Google/index.php?p=401 - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@harbinger
I suspect you are being dug down because at least Google is trying. Yes, people do indeed suck and that suckage is probably hard-coded right into our genetics. From a evolutionary standpoint, mega-societies happened in the blink of an eye. Human Genetics Firmware v1.0a1a was never meant to cope with the current situation. v2.0 may be the longest delayed software upgrade in history (Duke Nukem notwithstanding). - 0gleth0rpe, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3Gates has led the way, I'm glad Google has decided to follow.
I too have grown a little suspicious to the Google company (seems like every other program I install wants me to accidentally install Google Toolbar as well these days f.ex.), but this is a well needed initiative. - atreyue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Google.org begins shameless stunts to help their PR and allow them to make more money from the goodwill of sheep who post how great google is in this thread and how microsoft and other evil companies are creating horrible monopolies in others. Google is a business. All they care about is making money, and to that end are doing all they can to create an internet monopoly. Just like apple created an mp3 monopoly. Funny that microsoft is vilified for doing that in the os business...
I'm not even going to comment on the idiocy of these job postings in the 1st place. Anyone living in reality should be able to see that. - Ozymandias42, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I live in reality and I don't see why looking into helping solve some of humanity's larger problems is a bad thing, even if Google's doing it for PR.
Wait...we can't both be right. That must mean...oh my god, I'm in the Matrix! - dugyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Good to see more and more companies
pushing for social issues and changes.
Yahoo is doing something similar to this too:
http://brand.yahoo.com/forgood/
Hopefully, these things make a positive impact. - neave, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Google doesn't hate America. Google is just more liberally thinking than the majority of businesses. Whether you see the US as a liberal country or not depends on your perspective I suppose.
- macatak, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1They've hired Mr Brilliant? Oh man, poverty is doomed!
- Toshibi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It's not so much about publicity. Seriously, you can not give away as much money as these folks are capable of without EVERYONE knowing about it.
And what's wrong with getting a hardy clap on the back and saying "Wow, that is really kind!" to these people. They realisticly don't have to give anything at all back, but they do. - rhettnyedotorg, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1(from the sidebar:)
Q: "What's it like to work at Mountain View?"
A: "Well, firstly, you'll gain 15 lbs in the first year from all the free trans-fats and high-fructose corn sugar treats..."
STOP BEING EVIL GOOGLE - banderbe, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3The way out of poverty is through free market capitalism, not hand-outs and charity from Google. Help these countries to build sustainable economies that leverage their natural resources and then and only then will they have a chance of escaping poverty.
- neave, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3You seem to know what you're talking about... I agree, education is more important than anything else. Are you applying for a job then?
- helenan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2I'm waiting for Google's online free university!
- Ozymandias42, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1The anti-fusion bomb we'll invent in 1000 years or so begs to differ with you.
- doodlebumm, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I worked as a contractor for a company that was being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to provide internet access to remote locations. One day they cut all funding and left the company without any means. I ended up having "donated" $8000 (that's how much they owed me for the work that I had done that I have never been paid for) to a worthless cause (because they could no longer do any work on the project without the Foundation's money). This could make one think that I'm a bit biased against that Foundation. That sort of thinking is probably quite correct.
Now to my real point - I think that the B&MG Foundation is a good PR front for Microsoft. I'm sure they have done many fine things (as most charities do, otherwise they wouldn't be charities), but it is really a PR front. Most of the modern philanthropists are more interested in the positive PR they get and the number of times that future generations will see their names than they are truly helping those in need. If you really want to help people, you probably aren't interested in people knowing about it. Sure there are acceptions. I think there have been five such people in recorded history.
Do I think that Bill and Melinda Gates are altruistic? No. They are just trying to spin their fortune as a way to help other people. When Bill and Melinda have a total net worth of only $50 million because they gave everything else away to charity, then I'll believe they they actually care about other people like they make you think that they do. After all, *WHO* needs more than $50 million?????? (Widows mite, you know.) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I'm not sure that birth control should always come before food and water. However, from what I have read, much of the problem is related to the fact that women in these countries have very little power. There is also the well known correlation between wealth and birth rates. I would suggest that wealth probably correlates with education and empowerment of women and this is what yields lower birth rates.
- banderbe, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Hey, you sound like a little Hitler! Google should just form a military and start genocide in those countries to stop the breeding!
It's funny people like you are the same ones crying about saving Darfur. - Ireland, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3I was wondering what all the searching was about! :P
- TyRaNNOus, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1All hail ingsoc! .... I mean google.
- atreyue, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0the environment isn't one of humanity's larger problems. It's a byproduct of a failing of man. Poverty is either an inescapable fact of the human condition or is a byproduct as well. Were there any postings for jobs helping to combat human greed or teach people each self-reliance, self-responsibility and industriousness that a monopoly becomes impossible because we no longer live in a global society that promotes laziness? Nope. Because then google and all the companies like it would no longer be able to profit so easily from us.
- JoshDuffMan, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2I can legally buy Windows XP from the univsersity I attend for only $5. The money I'm NOT spending certainly shouldn't count towards Microsoft's philanthropic dollars, right?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2This hunk of rock will be here long after the human race is gone, and some other species will rise to fill our niche, killing themselves off in the same fashion. Whatever we do, there is nothing that the earth, and eventually the sun, won't be able to recycle.
- asTer0id, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0If they actually do some good, then I don't care if they make some profit out of it. Its better than twiddling your thumbs and criticizing those who do try to make a difference.
Its obvious the people here who claim that poverty and environmental issues are unavoidable byproducts of the human condition are out of touch with reality. - garthvh, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Setting up your philanthropic arm as a for profit company is just wrong.
They can take the money back for corporate purposes at any time.
What a scam. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1@harbinger
I suspect you are being dug down because at least Google is trying. Yes, people do indeed suck and that suckage is probably hard-coded right into our genetics. From a evolutionary standpoint, mega-societies happened in the blink of an eye. Human Genetics Firmware v1.0a1a was never meant to cope with the current situation. v2.0 may be the longest delayed software upgrade in history (Duke Nukem notwithstanding). - Ozymandias42, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Lemme see if I understand. Your plan is to say "I heard you were about to die of dehydration. I'll give you water, but only if you promise not to have children?" Yeah, that doesn't sound evil at all.
- spankaccount, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Lets hope they don't resort to hand-outs and flawed climate control initiatives that help nobody.
- Coronagold, on 10/12/2007, -2/+0(on the back of Soylent Green box) - "Get Your Own Box"
- banderbe, on 10/12/2007, -6/+4@Harbinger
Brilliant. Dugg! - Eoxx, on 10/12/2007, -7/+5Bill Gates and Microsoft are connected ...
What Bill does in his free time comes back to Microsoft as a positive image ... So even if Microsoft and Bill Gates are "separate products" they have similar interests ...
The "Bill Gates give to the poor" is some kind of stupidity for me . If he does give so much why does he make publicity of it ? What's his goal - being recognised or make poverty and illness history ?
There are a lot of people that give money for a better world ... Some give a lot of money .. but they do it without publicity .. Bill Gates wants what money can't buy - he wants to be remembered as a good guy that helped others instead of the guy that invent the "reboot machine" or that made a computer and entertainment systems with screen of death possible ..
Let be clear , what he gives to charity is I hope good use of his fortune but when you have everything you need, charity is nothing in comparison even if the amount of money given is big ... There are people that aren't rich that give their time and money to help others - these people are the anonymous heroes - Bill Gates is just a rich man looking for a new toy .. - treelovinhippie, on 10/12/2007, -7/+4http://www.google.org/
"Don't be evil" .... damn I love Google!
I think all the major corporations of the world should get together and solve issues such as poverty... something which is solve-able, but which governments purposely hold back on (they want to increase GDP rather than help the poor). - Harbinger67, on 10/12/2007, -13/+9Dear Google,
The planet is fine. The PEOPLE are F*CKED.
Signed,
A Realist - banderbe, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1So?
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