Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates

[bigboss]

Hey guys, I was just browsing the internet doing some research on a question that was burning me. What does Steve Jobs do with his immense wealth and position of power? The answer? Not much besides promote his own company (he may have donated anonymously, read below ). Instead, we view Steve Jobs as an angel, saint and saviour when compared to Bill Gates. Yet Bill has given 28 billion dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which helps promote awareness of issues affecting the world and funds agenices which attempt to cure afflictions like AIDS. Now this should all be taken with a grain of salt as back in the days, Bill wasnt exactly the most generous person either. Infact, his attitude on distributing his wealth only changed after he married his wife in 1994 and the effort really went into full swing after he stepped down as CEO of Microsoft. Gates didnt think much of promoting philantropic endeavours until later in his life when he attained the position of wealth and power he is now known for.

 

Coming to Steve Jobs... He may or may not give to charitable causes. It is true that while he is not on any lists for giving large donations, he may do so anonymously and we wouldnt know about it. Steve Jobs also attempted to promote a philantrophic endeavour in the 1980s but he gave it up when he realised the work it would detail and how it would affect his company's development. Steve Jobs also doesnt appear to have much respect for the environment either (IMO). For example, in 2005, Steve Jobs responded to criticism of Apple's poor recycling programs for e-waste in the U.S. by lashing out at environmental and other advocates at Apple's Annual Meeting in Cupertino in April. When asked by a representative of a socially responsible investment fund why Apple's programs lagged behind Dell's and HP's, Jobs wound up his critic by calling the advocates' complaints "{censored}".

 

Anyways, I suggest you read the articles posted below to gain a more complete perspective. Give me your opinions.

 

http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,70072-0.html - This article flames Jobs for being a greedy capitalist pig

 

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060126-6062.html - This article (written by mac lovers ) is a review of the above article and it draws its own conclusions about SJ (not all too pretty either...)

[jonajona]

Jobs is the loser... he only cares about making more money and pushing for "HIS" products.

[Sabr]

Jobs is the loser... he only cares about making more money and pushing for "HIS" products.

 

Well, he's rightfully earned it, so it's his to do what he likes with it. Who knows whether Steve Jobs has donated any money, given it to the poor, or just kept it all to himself!

 

What I do know, is that I'm not gonna sit here and read an article about who is worse between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

 

Whatever Bill and Steve do, is totally up to them. They have a job, and they'll keep at it, to earn a living. Just because Steve said "{censored}" to someone, doesn't mean we should think any less of him. I'm sure there are plenty of times when we've gotten outraged and let it all spill out.

 

I'm not criticising you guys, just showing my opinion on this matter, just as everyone else will

[bigboss]

SABR, no one is saying what he does is right or wrong, and Steve Jobs has every right to spend his money and use people for his personal benefit. It is simply my opinion that people in such high places should atleast consider helping those who are less fortunate. I'm just questioning the way a lot of people look at Bill Gates (because of his Microsoft history). My whole purpose of starting this thread was to challenge the negative perception of Bill Gates which is fairly commonplace.

[mac sussed]

i have a negative view of both bill gates and steve jobs cause they are excessively rich and all western corporations are responsible for third world suffering. But i especially do not like apple because of the ridiculous way they market their products and the way a lot of their consumers believe the product is better than ordinary pc. Arrogant brainwashers. Bill Gates donating money - think tax break and spin.

[Baal]

They're both corporate money grubbers, the most selfish and arrogant people in the world.

[slipstream]

to answer your actual question as in the heading

 

Neither

 

the deveil is a fallen angel

 

these creatures are mere mortals so dont even come in anyway shape or form close to being the devil..

 

silly question.. silly answer

[A Nonny Moose]

Neither one is the devil/antichrist/etc.

 

They each have a job to do and they both do their jobs admirably. In terms of taking sides, I'd rather be with Jobs than with Gates, but there are times Billy boy has a good product.

[bigboss]

to answer your actual question as in the heading

 

Neither

 

the deveil is a fallen angel

 

these creatures are mere mortals so dont even come in anyway shape or form close to being the devil..

 

silly question.. silly answer

 

haha.. very funny smartass

 

i meant it metaphorically but i guess you couldnt surmise that.. no problems

[bjr1028]

Bill Gates is a master of taking other people's ideas and making money off of them. Steve Jobs is the master of innovation, but is excentric to say the least. He can't think past his own ideas and fully expects people to come to him. If we could only combine bill's business sense with Steve's innovation sense.

[Darth Circuit]

Bill Gates is a master of taking other people's ideas and making money off of them. Steve Jobs is the master of innovation, but is excentric to say the least. He can't think past his own ideas and fully expects people to come to him. If we could only combine bill's business sense with Steve's innovation sense.

 

what about the apple lisa? wasnt that originally xerox's idea?

 

i personally would rather be with gates. i think that people are just jealous because he has a good enough product that people will buy, and becomes wealthy on. they criticize him because he's rich. he is good at his job, and he rightly earned his money. let him keep it! hes a very smart person!

[G_G]

Poor choices. This is like the computer equivalent of the US presidential seat. Of course those who grow up on either camps are going to pick their most recognised figurehead. Except here, the leaders don't get voted out of office, which is a shame. Jobs will forever be known as the guy who pushes MP3s on the internet and exploit cheap Chinese labour, whereas Gates will be the guy who exploits the sheep mentality. If you want inspiration, look towards those who slave away in their cubicles, whether in India or the US.

[John the Geek]

what about the apple lisa? wasnt that originally xerox's idea?

 

The Xerox Palo Alto Research Center invented the GUI (Graphic User Interface) and used a "mouse" to control it. Xerox scrapped the idea because they thought no one would ever want a computer in their home. Steve Jobs met with them, liked the idea, and hired many of their developers to come work at Apple to make the original Apple computer. This is why Apple can claim to have invented the mouse, because the guys who invented the mouse were working for Apple when it finally saw the light of day. Most of the Mac Finder, user interface, the menus and windows, were developed at Apple after the Xerox project was scrapped.

 

Microsoft never saw the Xerox project, and simply copied what Apple eventually released.

[bongoman]

something to consider....

 

I read somewhere that Apple only pays Jobs $1 a year as a salary (of course that doesn't include things like benefits and stock options which, and it's not uncommon for some companies to pay their exec's better in benefits)

[XanthraX]

Did you seen the movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley"? Is verry educative.

[bongoman]

Funny that you mention that movie I saw it last week, and I got a sense both have this eccentric personality as been mentioned perviously in this thread. I suppose if those two created some sort of formal alliance all hell would break loose (thank goodness that's not bloody likely)