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View Full Version : Bill Gates mocks MIT's $100 laptop project



saads
March 16th, 2006, 08:53 PM
I'm not a violent man, but I'd love to give this guy a smack on the head right now.

Here's the link (http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-03-16T081431Z_01_N15248895_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROSOFT-GATES.xml)

ComplexNumber
March 16th, 2006, 08:55 PM
ignore him. he's going to appear as if he's mocking everything to do with linux anyway...but we all know its just a facade.

rfruth
March 16th, 2006, 09:00 PM
The thought of a $ 100.00 laptop must scare the bejesus out of Micro$oft

newbie2
March 16th, 2006, 09:01 PM
It's hard not to see money and corporate politics at work here. After all, less than two months ago Microsoft was also trashing the inexpensive MIT computer—and suggesting that a cell phone should take its place. Intel has also been a hater, and in December an executive dismissed the new computer as a gadget.
The biggest rivals of Microsoft and Intel (AMD, Google, and Red Hat) are all substantial contributors to the new project, which does not use Intel hardware or a Microsoft operating system, and doesn't stand to make anyone a pile of money (though it will be a commerical venture). still, you would hope that such tech heavyweights as Microsoft and Intel could lend some assistance (or at least stop the usual FUD) for a project of this magnitude, but that's apparently too much to ask.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060316-6394.html


According to the Times, Microsoft Chairman and cofounder Bill Gates is "privately bitter" about Negroponte's decision to use Red Hat for the laptop. (Maybe he's not such a good guy after all.)
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060130-6078.html

:twisted:

Lord Illidan
March 16th, 2006, 09:16 PM
Ah, who cares? Being linux, and opensouce and all that, was there a chance in hell that he was going to endorse it???

BWF89
March 16th, 2006, 09:20 PM
Gates is an idiot.

The only reason he started the Gates Foundation is for good publicity, not because he cares about the people living in poverty. If he actually cared he would be glad to see the $100 dollar laptop going to help people in the third world countries get acquainted with technology and mabye have a chance at getting a good job.

blackant
March 16th, 2006, 09:21 PM
He is just jealous that his windows is not in the project. :D

Lord Illidan
March 16th, 2006, 09:25 PM
Not to mention that his windows costs more than the entire laptop.

Greyhair
March 16th, 2006, 09:29 PM
The concept of cheap computing for the children of the third world has to be applauded. To be given the chance to better themselves and their communities is (in my eyes) a fundamently human right.
The worlds richest man has the potential to help make this happen.
Unfortunately, he appears to have totally missed the plot, and shown his lack of cents (pun intended) for Humanity.

Lord Illidan
March 16th, 2006, 09:44 PM
The concept of cheap computing for the children of the third world has to be applauded. To be given the chance to better themselves and their communities is (in my eyes) a fundamently human right.
The worlds richest man has the potential to help make this happen.
Unfortunately, he appears to have totally missed the plot, and shown his lack of cents (pun intended) for Humanity.

I totally agree. These children are much less fortunate than us. They need the support of technology, and not a bunch of people quarrelling over how to help them. And Bill Gates can do it. He could do what MIT is doing right now, and it wouldn't hurt his pockets.
But he doesn't.

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 01:34 AM
The only reason he started the Gates Foundation is for good publicity, not because he cares about the people living in poverty. If he actually cared he would be glad to see the $100 dollar laptop going to help people in the third world countries get acquainted with technology and mabye have a chance at getting a good job.

I remember talking to my sister (after I switched to Linux) about how ironic that Gates was one of the chosen ones for TIME's Persons of the Year, given MS's not so ethical business practices. She said that Bill Gates helps people with his foundation, so does it matter if he's not so ethical in business practices? I wish she could read this article. :D

gord
March 17th, 2006, 01:49 AM
not to sound sour, but i don't think what the 'children of the third world' need is a laptop. allthough iv heard mr gates comments and they are indeed comments of the schoolyard nature.

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 02:06 AM
Of course, children of the 3rd world countries (where I belong) don't need a laptop only. But this would address one of the areas of concern for these countries, which is education. They're not saying "these laptops will solve the problems of 3rd world countries". They're just doing their own thing to help. I'm sure the Gates Foundation is doing its own thing, too. But does he really need to belittle or even mock the efforts of others to help in their own way? He could have said "children of 3rd world countries need food, clothing, security, education, etc. more that laptops." Instead, he chose to say "Geez, get a decent computer..."

NeoChaosX
March 17th, 2006, 02:28 AM
Weren't these laptops going to 2nd world countries that do have the infrastrucutre for computers and the Internet (but the citizens can't take advantage of it), rather than third world countries who have much more pressing needs than technology? At least, that's what I remember hearing.

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 02:33 AM
Oh yeah, correction over there. It's targetting developing countries, not necessarily 3rd world ones. According to this CNET article (http://news.com.com/The+100+laptop+moves+closer+to+reality/2100-1044_3-5884683.html?tag=nl), so far there's Brazil, China, Thailand, Egypt, and South Africa.

DigitalDuality
March 17th, 2006, 02:52 AM
Gates is an idiot.

The only reason he started the Gates Foundation is for good publicity, not because he cares about the people living in poverty. If he actually cared he would be glad to see the $100 dollar laptop going to help people in the third world countries get acquainted with technology and mabye have a chance at getting a good job.
Do you have any idea how much of his money on a % level goes to charity? Do you know why the Foundation was made rather than giving it to pre-existing charities.

Look i hate MS a ton, but he's damned genuine in his giving.

And the reason he's bitter here? B/c he's about to lose an entire continenet to open source.

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 02:59 AM
Do you know why the Foundation was made rather than giving it to pre-existing charities.

Because he doesn't want his name obscured by some pre-existing charity organization's name? Just kidding. :D

But would the end justify the means, in this case? Just because he gives a certain % of his wealth to charity means it doesn't matter if he gets that money from illegal/unfair business practices? Just wondering out aloud here, not saying that all MS practices are illegal/unfair.

I guess I'm giving Gates the benefit of the doubt. I just wished he wouldn't make such mocking statements. It hurts MS's image more than it needs to be.

DigitalDuality
March 17th, 2006, 03:07 AM
He's got share holder's to make happy, that's all this speech is. I would lay money on the fact the guy probably thinks its a great idea.

But the reality is, he can't justify giving away windows for free and not recieve huge amounts of criticizism. If africa gets it for free, why not EU, why not US?

3 of his major competitors are there doing this and he's supposedly "mr charity". So yeah, there is an image issue. His personal contributions to the world are intertwined to the MS image, as is everything the man does. So yeah, he had to speak up about it. If i was a CEO i'd want some criticism of the project too. Not b/c i think it's a bad idea, but b/c it'd be my responsibility to the company.

Believe me, in the eyes of the market, it helps his image more than hurts. I for one, like you it sounds, could give a **** about the market, but that's reality.

aysiu
March 17th, 2006, 03:21 AM
Is this the same as the Chinese laptop?
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/03/15/bloomberg/sxlaptop.php

Virogenesis
March 17th, 2006, 03:30 AM
they are different aysiu...
So i believe anyway heres the link.... http://laptop.media.mit.edu/

aysiu
March 17th, 2006, 03:34 AM
That's interesting, then, if they're different. Sub-$200 laptops running Linux must be all the rage these days...

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 04:06 AM
What's that lever thingy at the side? (from pictures in the laptop.org site).
If that comes out here (Philippines) I'm gonna get one. $100 for a functional mobile computer is worth the sacrifice, especially since it's running Linux. I wonder if it will be locked to Red Hat Linux. Just something I could carry around to read stuff and, hopefully, play some audio/video (or I just could be dreaming), since I can't afford a tablet PC, and a full laptop is too big for me.
(I wonder if the Philippines falls under the category of developing country so we will be eligible for this project :D)

bugmenot
March 17th, 2006, 09:11 AM
(I wonder if the Philippines falls under the category of developing country so we will be eligible for this project :D)
All countries that want to are eligible for this project. There's no restriction planed afaik.
And that thing on the side is probably the crank which you can use to get power in areas where reliable electricity is not available.

About Bill Gate's comments, apart from being disgusting, they are above all incredibly stupid.
It really seems like we are witnessing one of those Marie Antoinette moments:
"If they don't have bread, why don't they eat cake?"
And we all know where this ended...

tribaal
March 17th, 2006, 09:33 AM
What's that lever thingy at the side?

The "lever" on the side of the case is indeed a crank (!), that is used to repower the battery. This might sound kind of strange, but I believe it's really clever: if you target rural places in developping countries, don't expect to find a power socket easily. And if you do, don't expect it to work 24/7 :(

I wonder how long/difficult it is to recharge the battery completely, however.

- Trib'

EDIT: Ah sorry for the double answer here.

BoyOfDestiny
March 17th, 2006, 09:52 AM
Aww... I thought Gates was a philanthropist, since he donates so much $$$... I guess people would have been better of with Windows starter edition... Mmm...

"Simplified task management. With Windows XP Starter Edition, first-time home PC users can have up to three programs and three windows per program running concurrently. Further simplification of the operating system includes setting a maximum display resolution of 1024x768 and no support for PC-to-PC home networking, sharing printers across a network or more advanced features such as the ability to establish multiple user accounts on a single PC"

Straight from MS...
http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/newsroom/winxp/08-10WinXPStarterFS.mspx

<grin>

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 09:59 AM
The "lever" on the side of the case is indeed a crank (!), that is used to repower the battery. This might sound kind of strange, but I believe it's really clever: if you target rural places in developping countries, don't expect to find a power socket easily. And if you do, don't expect it to work 24/7 :(

I wonder how long/difficult it is to recharge the battery completely, however.

- Trib'

Yikes! Might not be such a hot idea for me after all. Imagine talking it out in a coffee shop, then cranking it to read your stuff. :D
Some of the models in the Wiki page don't have cranks, though. But anyway, it's intended for the education of children. Getting one for myself would be like stealing candy from a baby... :mrgreen:

bugmenot
March 17th, 2006, 10:02 AM
Yikes! Might not be such a hot idea for me after all. Imagine talking it out in a coffee shop, then cranking it to read your stuff. :D
Some of the models in the Wiki page don't have cranks, though. But anyway, it's intended for the education of children. Getting one for myself would be like stealing candy from a baby... :mrgreen:
You are not forced to use the crank. If power is available (like in the coffee shop you mention), just plug it in. The crank is for situations where you need to recharge the battery and no power is available.

Jucato
March 17th, 2006, 10:15 AM
You are not forced to use the crank. If power is available (like in the coffee shop you mention), just plug it in. The crank is for situations where you need to recharge the battery and no power is available.

Ooooh... that's good....
But I still won't get over the fact of stealing candy from a baby... or maybe I could. :mrgreen:

But seriously, I think this is a very good project if they're able to pull it off successfully. One laptop per child is no big joke, especially for countries where even one book per child is just a fantasy.

Well, I'm sure Bill will soon start his own "charity" work. This project is good enough for him to EEE (embrace, extend, extinguish). :D

Virogenesis
March 17th, 2006, 10:26 AM
personaly I like the idea of being able to hand crank it to recharge it.
Its worked well for many devices such as Radios and to be perfectly honest we should be thinking about how to save the earth more.

This basicaly gets rid of two problems in the world which is fantasic I wish more thought would go into projects.

I'm not surpised by Bill Gates the guy has more money than sense so what would he know about a budget.
The only budget he has to worry about is how much he'll spend on his kids at christmas.

His problems isn't with the design its the fact that opensource is giving microsoft a big kick in the balls not only in the server market but also with the desktop market.

I just wonder how many of these will sell and with the UN supporting these computers we should see more and more people using computers I just wonder if they will be able to be networked or not.

BoyOfDestiny
March 17th, 2006, 10:35 AM
Ooooh... that's good....
But I still won't get over the fact of stealing candy from a baby... or maybe I could. :mrgreen:

But seriously, I think this is a very good project if they're able to pull it off successfully. One laptop per child is no big joke, especially for countries where even one book per child is just a fantasy.

Well, I'm sure Bill will soon start his own "charity" work. This project is good enough for him to EEE (embrace, extend, extinguish). :D

I believe the mentality in regard to the laptop being unique... If you see someone with it that is not a "child", it's likely they are a thief... I don't think that will cause a postive reaction if you know what I mean...