toggle

AAPL Stock: 562.29 ( -3.03 )

MacNN News

Wired: Gates is a saint, Jobs a sinner

updated 03:45 pm EST, Wed January 25, 2006

Apple CEO a sinner

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is undeserving of his "saintly" reputation, while Microsoft CEO Bill Gates deserves recognition for his generosity, according to a Wired News columnist. Speaking out against Jobs, Leander Kahney says that the Apple CEO is "nothing more than a greedy capitalist who's amassed an obscene fortune. It's shameful. In almost every way, Gates is much more deserving of Jobs' rock star exaltation." The columnist cites the fact that Gates has spoken out on major policy issues and publicly donated to charitable funds, "throwing billions of dollars at solving global health problems." Steve Jobs, on the other hand, does not speak out publicly on behalf of important social issues, nor do he or his wife appear on any charitable contribution lists "of note."

Disney recently announced that it will acquire animation giant and long-time partner Pixar for $7.4 billion in stock, which promises to line Jobs pockets with over $3.4 billion from Pixar shares alone. The acquisition will make Jobs the largest Disney shareholder, with seven percent of the company's total stock.

In addition, Jobs will soon be able to cash in on more than $800 million from the restricted Apple stock grant he received in 2003, at which time it was considered "worthless."

by MacNN Staff

(54)

TAGS :

industry

Share the Article

Facebook Twitter Delious Slash Dot Digg

toggle

Comments

porieux
Baninated

Joined: Mar 2001

0

01/25, 04:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
LOL

The lunatics are sure coming out today. Can't wait to see what is next...

gregarios
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2005

0

01/25, 04:16pm | report spam | close Reply |
Health Problems...

Bill Gates IS a "global health problem!"

automorrow
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2000

0

01/25, 04:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
Duck Leander ..

.. here come the tomatoes

aristotles
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Jul 2004

0

01/25, 04:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Who cares?

Let's see Bill Gates help out people he put out of work in North American.

The rich often pick popular causes to earn praise from the world but I don't see them helping the disadvantaged in their local community.

The reason for this? Not enough press.

zenga
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 04:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
Bill Gates a SAINT?

...exactly how did this man get a fortune so big that can throw away... PRAYING?

give me a break!

jogdish
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 04:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
Please...

I don't really think that they can be compared, especially financially. Gates has billions of dollars to his name, Jobs substantially less. People were riding Gates for years about how much money he accumulated and was giving very little of it away. It was only when he accumulated around 20 billion that he began giving large sums of money away. So, if you look at the point where each individual became a philanthropist, Jobs cannot be compared to Gates because he has not reached the 20 billion dollar mark.

As far as politics go, I am glad that Jobs keeps his mouth shut. He is a CEO not a politician or political analyst. I am always amazed at how much attention we give people who speak out on social issues when their only qualification backing up thier words is their large sums of money. These days education or experience do not count, only the amount of money someone has accumulated qualifies them to speak up politically.

Zaren
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

01/25, 04:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
So...

the fact that Wee Billy G made all these billions of dollars that he's now giving away by being an evil, cut-throat, raper and pillager of all things computer related makes it all okay? (And let's not forget the whole convicted of being a monopoly thing...)

eswinson
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jul 2002

0

01/25, 04:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
wtf?

and to many Saddam Hussein and Hitler were saints as well.

ElDiabloConQueso
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2002

0

01/25, 04:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Boo hoo...

Someone's got a lot of money and they're keeping it. Might as well call him "criminal."

...which, exactly, of the world's problems has Gates solved by simply throwing money at it? I seem to have forgotten...

Speaking out about issues and actually getting actively involved in solving issues are two completely different things. Speaking out does nothing. "Raising awareness" is a cop-out -- it's what people do when they don't want to actually do the dirty work concerning the issue. Starving people in Ethiopia? Let's "raise awareness" so that the people whose awareness has been raised can fly over there and dodge bullets and lions and camp in the desert trying to fix the problem while I sit here, lazily making speeches. It's a cop-out. Talking about a problem does nothing.

So... how exactly has Bill Gates done a damn thing to solve the world's problems? And how exactly is Steve Jobs a "sinner" for being smart enough to fool every idiot in the world into buying an iPod and making him rich?

Rincewind
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2000

0

01/25, 04:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
Saint v Sinner

Neither are perfect, and neither deserve to be called a saint or a sinner. Gates is nearly universally disliked for the dominant software platform that he helped create, but he gives to charity. Jobs is revered for the alternative that he's marketed, which inspired Windows, and which he neither created nor had as a truly original idea (Xerox Parc is closer to the original idea). Calling either a Saint or a Sinner is pointless, as they have both done things that are both good and bad.

jaguar28
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 1999

0

01/25, 04:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
Bill Gates aka BigBrother

Bill Gates actively helps the Chinese dictatorship to repress it's people freedom of speech by helping them use Windows as a censorship tool... See :http://www.rogerlsimon.com/mt-archives/2005/06/democracy_is_fo.php

...and in return of course expects huge payoffs for Microsoft.

See : http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/print.php/1832381

At least Steve Jobs is not a crook.

timatthelab
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 04:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
gates the giver

Oh please...as best as I can recall, an attempt was made to embarrass Bill Gates into making any contributions, when it was revealed that he claimed $0 year after year. Then, after he married, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation began an unprecedented campaign of giving. Let's give credit where credit is due (please notice the "and" between "Bill" and "Melinda").

Also, are Jobs charitable contributions public information (as Gates had become)? If not, this is speculation.

phayd
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2002

0

01/25, 04:53pm | report spam | close Reply |
Billions

Jogdish mentioned that Gates has billions, then alluded that Jobs does not.

As of the end of 2004 (latest Forbes list,) Gates has $51B to Jobs' $3B. Both of these qualify as "Billions." This also was a year ago, and we now know Jobs is worth at least $3.5B due solely to the Pixar buyout.

While this is still less than ten percent of Gates' wealth, it is still substantial enough to make Jobs the 196th weathiest person in the world.

David Esrati
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 1999

0

01/25, 04:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
Insanely great gift?

Between the stock run-up, and the Pixar deal- Steve could throw a billion off on something- Maybe- the $100 laptop project for US schools? Maybe a cure for Pancreatic cancer? I thought I'd do a search on Steve Jobs and Philanthropy. Found this article from 2002: http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/01.03.02/cover/yir4-0201.html and my question is now- what is Steve waiting for? What insanely great gift is he going to give to the world. I've seen a lot of Bill Gates and Microsoft bashing by Mac people- but one thing stands out about Bill Gates- he's given a lot of money to good causes. When is Steve going to step up- and do his magic in the way of philanthropy?

sammaffei
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2004

0

01/25, 05:04pm | report spam | close Reply |
Part of Gates Philantropy

...was to improve the technical schools in India to create a cheap programming labor pool for the next generation of the Microsoft Empire. Thus, putting people like me out of a decent job.

Thankfully, good Indian programmers are hard to come by and there is now a demand pushing prices up in that market.

Terrin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 05:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Give me a break.

What trash. Nobody knows what Jobs gives to social causes. Perhaps he is greedy. We, however, do know Jobs is a private person when it comes to his personal life, and he politically leans towards what other's might label "liberal." We also know he likes Gandi, John Lennon, and other popular figures that cared about social causes. We know he often has celebrity friends who care about such social causes, such as Bono, who bought his New York condo from him. We also know Jobs cares about things more then money by the way he runs Apple. Finally, we have seen other hints of Job's character when he called that little boy's family who got killed for carrying an iPod. Jobs offered to do anything he could for the boy's family (please do not suggest it was to avoid liability in a lawsuit, as the family had no case against Apple).

This would lead a reasonable person to believe that if Jobs was to give money away, it is quite likely that he is going to do it without calling a press conference. In my view, that is how it should be. Last thing we need is more rich people giving money away because they want their name on a building or something so that they can feel good about themselves.

Do not get me wrong, if bragging while donatring money to worthy causes is the only way the rich are going to donate their money, well I suppose that is better than not doing so at all. It is just these people's characters are less noble, then those who need no recogition.

Besides, why would I want Jobs preaching to me about social causes? To my knowledge he is no expert, he has been rich most his life. He does enough for me as it is. He has resuricated a great company from the grave, and provides me great movies that I enjoy.

PS:

Gates certainly seems to be a generous person. I suppose it is the guilt from stealing his fortune from the true innovators.

PPS:

Part of what the Gates Foundation does is give away free PCs to poor third world country's. Not the markings of a Saint.

aubin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 2005

0

01/25, 05:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
An odd argument to make

I think the columnist is simply missing the point. People love Steve Jobs for his contributions to technology and popular culture; charitable contributions aren't the only reason people are loved.

Both Jobs and Gates are being judged using different scales and the columnist is trying to create an equivelence.

::maroma::
Addicted to MacNN

Joined: Jan 2002

0

01/25, 05:22pm | report spam | close Reply |
HAHAHHHAHAHA!

What a frickin joke this guys is. I swear some of the c*** people get paid to write is just ridiculous. I need to become a "news columnist" for a tech publication. They have some of the most ignorant people writing for them, and I tell ya I can "do" ignorant if I get paid for it. And I'd love to also get paid to bash people I don't like with no basis for my argument. What a job!

addisonx
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2002

0

01/25, 05:30pm | report spam | close Reply |
Gates Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation= tax shelter

UpQuark
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2005

0

01/25, 05:41pm | report spam | close Reply |
Hey.. it is his money

He earned it and he can do what he wants. Nananapoo poo. Jeesush...

How much as the author of the article given away?

jreades
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 1999

0

01/25, 05:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
Gates & World Problems

To answer the 'which of the world's problems has Gates solved' question...

Of course it's not sold, but he *has* given one heck of a lot of money to some very worthwhile causes in Africa *and* locally, as spending about twenty seconds here: http://www.gatesfoundation.org/default.htm would show you.

In contrast, Jobs hasn't really done much (or, at least, much that is apparent) in this area.

Of course, Gates is no saint, but he *has* set a good precedent in terms of giving away some of his gains to good causes. His father has also lobbied extensively against the repeal of the estate tax.

jon

rkadowns
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

01/25, 06:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Flaming Liberal

Leander claims: "On the evidence, he's nothing more than a greedy capitalist who's amassed an obscene fortune. It's shameful."

Yet Leander wrote beforehand: "Of course, Jobs and his wife may be giving enormous sums of money to charity anonymously. If they are funneling cash to various causes in private, their names wouldn't show up on any lists, regardless of the size of their gifts.

For a person as private as Jobs, who shuns any publicity about his family life, this seems credible."

So what is it? He's labeled sinner because Leander believes in "wealth re-distribution", which flies in the face of capitalists ideals. There is absolutely no proof Jobs is greedy other than the stereotype that business owners are so. And so what if he is? He won't live forever. The money will come back someday. The government with its tax code will ensure this, albeit delayed.

Leander just needs to let people live their lives rather than indirectly tell them how. Jobs owes him or anyone else nothing. It's sickening.

medelegant
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2002

0

01/25, 06:36pm | report spam | close Reply |
Tax returns private?

In Canada, income tax returns are private. Any tax deduction or credit I may earn from my charitable contributions are between me and the taxman.

If I choose to make public announcements about my donations, that is my choice. The motivations for my release of this information can be for any number of reasons. People can brag about their donations, or keep quiet.

Philanthropy is defined as voluntary promotion of human welfare. It can take many forms.

The money flowing through a foundation such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation may be coming from more sources than Bill's own wallet. The foundation, good works notwithstanding, is also an avenue to create, preserve, direct and transfer tax credits and deductions to it's directors. Without a doubt (in my mind) the foundation does some real good works but it is not as angelic nor as pure as the driven snow in it's motivations. (a Canadianism that may not be so readily understood by people who don't see much snow)

There are many people like myself who refuse to publically disclose what charitable contributions we make.

I do not know if Steve Jobs is privately charitable or not. I do not care because it is not my business.

I do not care if Bill Gates gets to tax shelter more of his income because of the foundation.

If Gates's foundation has some inspirational effect on other wealthy individuals to "give back to the less fortunate" that is good.

But in truth, comparing the two CEOs on the basis of press releases for public charity is simply incomprehensible to me.

It is akin to asking a politician, "When did you stop beating your spouse?" when there has been no grounds for the question in the first place.

Andy77
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 06:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
Let's reward posers

Unbelievable. Does no one else see that this article is *exactly* what Bill Gates wanted? He makes a bunch of photo ops, runs around putting his name in a bunch of charity lists publically, makes a point to let everyone know what a peachy guy he is, and these people jump to give him exactly what he wants... saint hood. Mean while Jobs doesn't play the faker game, and doesn't want his family made public and splashed all over the place, and he's so horrible.

Mr. Strat
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2002

0

01/25, 07:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
Gates vs. Jobs

Why should he have to contribute to anybody's cause or speak out about anything? He's earned the money fair and square. Let the liberal whiners stick an iPod where the sun don't shine.

Rezzz
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 08:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
Opinion / Editorial

Talk about a color analyst. Op/Ed to the the nth. He should have sent this to his local newspaper: The Daily Trash.

Sheesh! Did someone forget to tell Leander that Billy Boy, founder of Micro$oft, is the wealthiest man in the world? That he is one of the most diabolical and shrewd businessmen in history?

Hey, Wired, despite the contraversy, I didn't browse your site, I didn't order your magazine and I didn't tell anyone else about this article.

Nice ploy, though.

chirpy22
Junior Member

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/25, 08:16pm | report spam | close Reply |
I think...

they both suck, because neither of them has given ME any money! :)

Glasspusher
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2000

0

01/25, 08:42pm | report spam | close Reply |
bill is both

I applaud Bill for his foundation, trying to cure malaria and so on. Great stuff. I think where and how he got his money is pretty bad, though. He's turning into another robber baron who wants a pretty legacy. Better to do some good with the money in the end than not. Hey, he didn't hold a gun to anyone's head to buy windoze, but his company _is_ a convicted abusive monopolist. Such a paradox.

kw99
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2001

0

01/26, 12:31am | report spam | close Reply |
A sinner?

I won't comment whether Bill Gates is a saint or not... but nice headline MacNN. I don't think the article actually calls Steve Jobs a "sinner."

As for Steve Jobs, I appreciate the fact that he does not take a position on major policy issues; he's a CEO, not a politician. Taking a political position will alienate a significant portion of his customer base, so why do it. And as for his money, that's his business. Steve Jobs founded our favorite company, bought another for $10 million and turned it into a $7.4 billion dollar company (soon to part of Disney), and came back to save the company he originally founded from near bankruptcy (now a $65+ billion dollar comany). Consider all the jobs he created and money he made for investors.

doncraig1
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/26, 12:32am | report spam | close Reply |
no gates fan

If gates were as horrible a human being as some make him out to be then he'd continue to tell people to buzz off and just keep the fortune to himself.

I read an article in Time about him, his wife and Bono working hard to solve health problems in Africa. What are Gate's motives? I don't know, maybe he's not even sure himeslf, but who cares? It's not up to me to judge him.

If and when someone chooses to change his life around and act for the benefit others then I encourage him to do more of the same.

LordJohnWhorfin
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2002

0

01/26, 01:00am | report spam | close Reply |
Gimme a break

Up until less than 10 years ago Gates hadn't given c*** to charities. As it is, his total charitable giving is ridiculously small compared to the immensity of his wealth. I think most people on this board give a larger percentage of their income to charity than he does. If he weren't so worried about bad PR he probably wouldn't be giving anything at all. That doesn't get Jobs off the hook, either. Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I think when your fortune reaches past the billion you need to give back to the community. The Woz doesn't even come close in terms of wealth and he gives a lot more. Jobs is just a stingy S.O.B., just like Gates, who's also a douchebag. I hope they both choke on their fricking money.

Xiaopangzi
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2003

0

01/26, 02:34am | report spam | close Reply |
Ridiculous claim

This guy obviously doesn't know anything about computer history. Gates was the one who insisted on making money on software while all the other developers at that time believed that software�particularly the operating system�should be free and open source. He was greedy from the beginning and has shown proven his desire for world domination. Certainly he can afford to give money now. After all, he's got free time on his hands while Steve Jobs is busy innovating and actively running a company.

climacs
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2001

0

01/26, 02:59am | report spam | close Reply |
Rockefeller

John D. Rockefeller was a shameless monopolist (it was, of course, legal back then to monopolize an industry).

He used what we would today consider 'unfair' and 'illegal' tactics to create a monolithic corporation to control the petroleum industry, from drilling right on through to retailing. Even in his days of laissez-faire capitalism, his methods were considered unfair and illegitimate.

If Rockefeller wanted to buy your oil company, his people came to you and issued an ultimatum: sell us your company, we'll buy it with our stock. Or, if you say no, we'll crush you.

Pretty f****** arrogant, and totally unfair, right?

Those who did not sell out were indeed crushed.

Those who did sell out, became wealthy with their Standard Oil stock.

Rockefeller also brought discipline to a chaotic and inefficent marketplace, where a barrel of crude might be worth a lot one week and worthless the next week.

After he made his fortune, he gave away about half of it by the time he died, chiefly to educational and medical causes and institutions. He founded the University of Chicago. He helped found the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Go to wikipedia.org and read up on his other philanthropic endeavors.

My point? Reality is complicated, as are people, especially people of great accomplishment like Rockefeller... or Gates... or Jobs.

climacs
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Sep 2001

0

01/26, 03:05am | report spam | close Reply |
not black and white

and, I forgot to add in closing, people are seldom, if ever, black or white, saint or sinner, 1 or 0. Oskar Schindler was a son-of-a-b****, you most certainly wouldn't have liked him. He was a shameless womanizer and all around just not a very likeable guy. Spielberg's movie totally whitewashed his faults.

He also took great risks to save over 1,200 Jews from death.

People are not all good or all bad. It's simple-minded hack 'journalists' who insist on forcing a story to fit a pre-conceived narrative who inflict this tripe on us so we won't be bothered to think for ourselves.

That, I believe, is the single biggest failing of the human race, the lack of willingness to think for ourselves. One need look no further for proof than the mindless followers of the George W. Bush cult.

PookJP
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

0

01/26, 03:15am | report spam | close Reply |
Bothersome

What's so bothersome about this to me are the arbitrary judgments on an individual's actions that are intended to be passed off as quantifiable statements. To say that Bill Gates is "good" and Steve Jobs is "bad" based on which charitable donation lists each appears on is absurd. It's very unlikely any of us are able to actually comment on either man's character; we only know their public personas and the work they produce. Sure, we have opinions on that work and like to infer things about the men behind it, but the fact remains that to make a polar judgement on a person takes intimate knowledge of them. I find it offensive anyone would come out and write an article like this, especially in a publication that purports to have high journalistic standards. This is nothing more than gossip rag tripe.

MarcoF-Foto
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2005

0

01/26, 03:46am | report spam | close Reply |
businessmen

Both are business men, not more not less. That Gates publicly supports charity doesn't mean anything. Who knows what Jobs does in secrecy. And if he doesn't, so be it, who really gives a sh*t. They're both a******* with too much money, but everyone would be the same in that position.

HeatherEcsedi
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2001

0

01/26, 05:13am | report spam | close Reply |
Wealth

I'm just wondering how different you every-day life can be when you 'only' own $3B instead of $51B...

geraldartman
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2003

0

01/26, 07:34am | report spam | close Reply |
Lest we be judged...

It has been interesting to see the "GESTAPO" tactics of those who set themselves up to be judges and render judgement on a person's soul based on their percieved donations to charity.

I didn't see in the book that you would be damned because pharasee's did not observe you giving to others.

How much credit should be given to Mr. Jobs for saving the jobs of thousands of Apple employees, creating new jobs and creating jobs in the music industry? Of course, those people, their families and Apple's investors are enabled to give to charity more than ever before because of his hard work.

It is this very fact, that everyone, acting in their own self interest benefits the general whole. This is the truth of capitalism.

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

0

01/26, 08:26am | report spam | close Reply |
it's a sin

gates was ridiculed by philanthopists for years and years, he did NOTHING for charity. it was only after he married and his wife got that ball rolling that he learned what philanthropy means. the man was dragged into charity.

LouZer
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2000

0

01/26, 08:42am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: ridiculous claim

This guy obviously doesn't know anything about computer history. Gates was the one who insisted on making money on software while all the other developers at that time believed that software�particularly the operating system�should be free and open source.

What a load of bull. First, its not a crime to want to make money. Second, no one was saying the OS should be open source back in the 70's/80's. No OS was. And they were 'free' only in the sense you had to buy the computer to use it, and the computer cost money.

And how would you expect a software/OS company to make money if they give away the OS free?

He was greedy from the beginning and has shown proven his desire for world domination. Certainly he can afford to give money now. After all, he's got free time on his hands while Steve Jobs is busy innovating and actively running a company.

Yeah, because Jobs was kicked out of his job back in the early 80s because his 'vision' of computing was so ridiculous, it almost drove Apple to bankruptcy. He thought 128K was enough memory (and people laugh at bill's 640K line), and then wouldn't go past 512. He was so against customers upgrading computers that his computers didn't have any upgradable parts (couldn't even upgrade memory). He was gone before the first Mac II came out.

Oh, and Apple's OS has never been Open Source (except Darwin, which is based on FreeBSD and so already was opensource), and they started charging for their OS when OS 7 came out. Blasted greedy company!

wmcraver
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Dec 2005

0

01/26, 11:23am | report spam | close Reply |
Bloat!

Bill Gates is just trying to compensate! He can't come up with a worthy operating system so he throws the R&D money at charities. Please, I'm sure that Steve could do the same.

"Well looks like we have another problem with Vista... Let's donate some money to make us look better. Yea, we'll do that, that'll work!"

dpaanlka
Junior Member

Joined: Nov 2004

0

01/26, 12:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
way to be

whoever wrote that is an idiot... probably being paid by bill gates

wooky
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

01/26, 01:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
Gates Foundation for Libs

I helped a library decide on how they were spending their Gate Foundation grant. They received somewhere around $5-6K. Along with the money they received a catalog with computers they could buy. All of the computers, printers and hardware they listed in the catalog were about 200-300% higher than retail (and Windows only, of course). They ended up with 2 Windows machines and a Laser Printer(B/W). They could have had 6 eMacs and a color laser printer....

Bill Gates sucks... he makes money even when he gives it away....

jayparry
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2005

0

01/26, 02:27pm | report spam | close Reply |
LIberal?

Why is this columnist a 'liberal' whiner?

Also, you can give anonymously (the true mark of a philanthropist, seeing as some companies spend more ADVERTISING that they gave money, exceeding the gift itself.)

Plus, Jobs is a vegan, that makes him more of a saint right there.

Interlard
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Oct 2005

0

01/26, 04:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
Saint $$$$s

Sh*t! I need to give billions to "fight HIV" and speak out on important issues or I'm going to h***.

Does THIS count as speaking out? How much money do I have to give? Can I put it on a credit card??

Monstermind
Junior Member

Joined: May 2000

0

01/26, 04:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
Waaah waaah

Is it true that naming your kid "Leander" is a sure way to ensure that s/he grows up to be a total f*g? This article would seem to back up that theory.

And don't worry, honey, if Steve Jobs doesn't speak out about your precious social issues; there are plenty of dumbf*cks like George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg and Tim "Grave Robber" Robbins to open their overly-moneyed yaps about things they have no clue about.

STFU, Leander. Emphasis on FU.

chas_m
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

01/26, 10:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Nonsense

Leander Kahney's article only serves to illustrate how completely out of touch he is with working Americans.

Bill Gates deserves applause for his charitable contributions, even if he did have to be coaxed into giving them. It doesn't make up for how he earned the money in the first place, but that's not the point.

Steve Jobs isn't uncharitable, he simply takes a different approach -- he aims to make the world a better place.

(he does, in point of fact, give money to worthy causes, I know this for a fact because a charity I work for was a recipient of his largesse. He just doesn't like to call attention to it, and of course it's not generally on the scale of BG because he's not as wealthy as BG.)

IMHO, Bill Gates' approach is (or at least was when he started) "spend money to improve my PR." I think that's still true to some extent, though I'm more than prepared to believe that he has discovered the joy of giving and his and Melinda's choices of causes I believe are sincere.

Jobs is a big-picture person, and consequently doesn't think in terms of trying to outspend a particular problem. He seeks an overall goal that will leave the world a better place, and I think that's what really drives him at Apple (and Pixar, come to that).

ISTR that after the Sept. 11th attack, Apple donated laptops to ALL the families of the victims. The company continues to make LARGE donations to scientific, research, educational and charitable institutions.

In short, I think both do their part in this world regarding charity.

bjurasz
Baninated

Joined: Mar 2003

0

01/27, 11:27am | report spam | close Reply |
Please....

Man I really hate it when the Liberal Media gets its panties in a bunch about what "evil" rich people do with their money. (And yes I'm all for a repeal of the evil estate tax as well). Liberals like to claim they don't tell others what to do but love to complain when they don't do what they want them to.

Its Steve's money, he can do whatever he wishes with it and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. And Bill isn't a saint, he was SHAMED into giving his money away.

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

0

01/27, 12:19pm | report spam | close Reply |
liberal media?

my goodness man, why don't you go back to your talking heads on fox news and get some more misinformation? there is no liberal media, there shure as h#@k is a conservative media. however, to realize this would require an original thought and an original thought is not one put into your head by a radio host. so i guess you're kinda stuck ain't ya? too bad.

bjurasz
Baninated

Joined: Mar 2003

0

01/27, 04:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
yes, liberal media

Nat, National Public Radio is biased to the left. I know this because I listen to them for an hour every morning. Guess that surprises you huh? Air America is liberal media. Dan Rather is definitely left biased. Katie Couric, oh my god that woman has two left arms. The opinion page of my local mainstream paper is siginficantly more left than right. The local alternative paper, which does a pretty good job at reporting local news, is without a doubt left biased (and they admit it).

Yes Fox News is biased. I see the bias and take that into account. Just as I do when I listen to NPR, read CNN.com, read the Wall Street Journal opinion page, etc.

Bias is everywhere, it cannot be avoided. Bias is only harmful when people refuse to acknowledge the bias is there. Don't hide your head in the sand.

But I guess you decided to skirt my real objection which was that liberals don't like people telling them what to do with their bodies but have no problem whatsoever with telling rich people what to do with their money.

No, back to the original post: why is it some people (usually liberals) have this intense burning desire to tell rich people (usually conservative) how to spend their money? I guess in their mind Bill Gates can spend away his sins. The Catholics once held that view as well...

ravikhalsa
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

01/27, 11:48pm | report spam | close Reply |
good take on this article

http://theocacao.com/document.page/220

nat
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 2002

0

01/29, 07:55am | report spam | close Reply |
liberal media

there's a big difference from someone BEING liberal and still doing their job and someone being conservative and foisting it on the masses. you can say what you want about these liberal personalities you quote, they're not out there telling outright lies like o'reilly, lumbaugh, et al. yeah, there's air america. the right has decided to make liberals the enemy and they pushed and pushed so now, finally, the left is pusing back. do you know that kahney is a liberal? or is this just another easy way to bash the "liberal media"? odd how your post suddenly found the word "usually".

bjurasz
Baninated

Joined: Mar 2003

0

01/29, 11:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
Liberal media never lies?

Nat, just two examples to show how you have your head in the sand.

Rodney King. The media only showed theportion of the video that made the police look bad. I only remember seeing the entire video only once, where you see Rodney charge and charge and charge and charge and charge. When you see that you start to side with the police. This is why they were aquitted. The media didn't want this. "Why can't we all just get along"? Please... do you know the rap sheet of that man? He never wanted to get along...

Point two, that idiot Cindy Sheehan. The only member of her family who is against the war, who thought her boy died in vain. Do you hear any place else other than Fox News the side of this story that is pro-war rather than anti-war? Fox may not be fair and balanced, but don't for a second think that the rest of the media is. Maybe O'Rielly tells some lies, but CNN, NPR, NYT lie through ommission. Editorial bias in what you decide to not cover, or what to emphasize.

Wake up.

loudpedal
Forum Regular

Joined: Oct 1999

0

01/30, 12:09pm | report spam | close Reply |
Remember

1) You may recall that it wasn't until Bill Gates got married that he started giving all the money away. I believe it's the good Mrs. Gates that started all the philanthropy with the Gates fortune.

2) I have actually come to admire Bill a little more since he's begun giving some of his money away to worthy causes. I'm just not sure if this rise in opinion is because Steve Ballmer is such an a$$.

3) Just because Steve Jobs doesn't have a foundation that trumpets all of its contributions doesn't mean that Steve doesn't give any money to worthy causes. It would more fit with my vision of Steve if he gave it away quietly.

Show More Comments

Login Here

toggle

Network Headlines

05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/25	Apple hiring new chip engineers for...
05/25	Third-gen iPad coming to Philippines...
05/25	Apple to integrate Baidu search into...
05/24	Apple submits surprise optical stylus...

Show All

05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/25	Apple to integrate Baidu search into...
05/25	Google picks up webOS Enyo team, Open...
05/24	Apple submits surprise optical stylus...
05/24	Yahoo releases Axis 'visual search'...

Show All

05/25	Sotheby to auction Jobs Atari memo,...
05/23	Google launches redesigned Search app...
05/22	Leaked next-gen iPod touch part hints...
05/22	Hulu Plus updates with iPad Retina...
05/22	TiVo Stream to push TV to iPhones,...

Show All

03/02	Save $330 on refurb. 15.4-inch, 2.4GHz...
03/01	Pre-owned 8GB iPod touch 2G, drops...
02/29	$150 off Nikon Coolpix S80 Compact...
02/28	Plantronics BackBeat 903 Bluetooth...
02/27	Refurb. Seagate 1.5TB GoFlex Portable...

Show All

toggle

Wired: Gates is a saint, Jobs a sinner

updated 03:45 pm EST, Wed January 25, 2006

Apple CEO a sinner

Related Articles

Recent Articles

LOL

Health Problems...

Duck Leander ..

Who cares?

Bill Gates a SAINT?

Please...

So...

wtf?

Boo hoo...

Saint v Sinner

Bill Gates aka BigBrother

gates the giver

Billions

Insanely great gift?

Part of Gates Philantropy

Give me a break.

An odd argument to make

HAHAHHHAHAHA!

Gates Foundation

Hey.. it is his money

Gates & World Problems

Flaming Liberal

Tax returns private?

Let's reward posers

Gates vs. Jobs

Opinion / Editorial

I think...

bill is both

A sinner?

no gates fan

Gimme a break

Ridiculous claim

Rockefeller

not black and white

Bothersome

businessmen

Wealth

Lest we be judged...

it's a sin

Re: ridiculous claim

Bloat!

way to be

Gates Foundation for Libs

LIberal?

Saint $$$$s

Waaah waaah

Nonsense

Please....

liberal media?

yes, liberal media

good take on this article

liberal media

Liberal media never lies?

Remember

Login Here

Register for our weekly email newsletter:

Connect tools:

Subscribe

to our RSS

Follow us

on Twitter

10 Most Read

10 Most Discussed

MacNN Marketplace