tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post113641623607086546..comments2024-02-19T00:54:37.767-08:00Comments on The Columnist Manifesto: Can we ever go back to just holding hands with Bill Gates now that we've all bent over and...Oscar Madisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05558650379298098292noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136576549878102772006-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:002006-01-06T11:42:00.000-08:00Bill Gates good, Bill Gates bad, who cares? What ...Bill Gates good, Bill Gates bad, who cares? What about the fact that Bono can't sing??Mr. Gin and Tonichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03570237594535782373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136568526632852002006-01-06T09:28:00.000-08:002006-01-06T09:28:00.000-08:00Everytime I click onto your blog and see that phot...Everytime I click onto your blog and see that photo of Bono holding hands with Gates, it makes me cringe. That's an image that I'd rather not have imprinted on my psyche.Tonyahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10156140761362996117noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136511847993692112006-01-05T17:44:00.000-08:002006-01-05T17:44:00.000-08:00Thank you, Oscar, for saying something that needs ...Thank you, Oscar, for saying something that needs to be said, probably over and over again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136485894061293142006-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:002006-01-05T10:31:00.000-08:00Um, note to Anonymous 5:35: Seize the weird.Um, note to Anonymous 5:35: Seize the weird.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136485505746427492006-01-05T10:25:00.000-08:002006-01-05T10:25:00.000-08:00Agree or not agree, this is an informative post. ...Agree or not agree, this is an informative post. I'm glad to read it and do some thinking along lines I might otherwise have ignored.<BR/>So, in this new year, thanks. Look forward to continued, stimulating look into your thoughts and observations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136478128349437432006-01-05T08:22:00.000-08:002006-01-05T08:22:00.000-08:00Janelle: I'm flattered you're interested in having...Janelle: I'm flattered you're interested in having me weigh in.<BR/><BR/>Bryan: The Gateses give Microsoft stock to their charitable trust, which then liquidates the stock and doles out grants. Microsoft's <A HREF="http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=msft&d=t&submit=Get+Quotes" REL="nofollow">market cap</A> is around $290 billion, so they're minority shareholders as it is.<BR/><BR/>The economic concept to learn is deadweight loss, which is to say that if MSFT behaved competitively, Gates individually would be less rich but society o/a would be richer. (Some monopolies can be dynamically efficient -- that's the economic rationale for patents -- but MSFT's practices with respect to its IP holdings [a lot of which is junk, along with the whole software patent universe, IMHO] are hardly beyond reproach.)<BR/><BR/>I generally agree with Oscar that most Microsoft products have been good enough, at best. I'm a dedicated Mac-head, so take that as you will. Word 5.0a for the Mac actually was a superior product in its day; the main problem is that Word v.X (and its PC counterpart) is not a noticeable net improvement 15 years later (it's much better than most of the interim versions of Word for both platforms). Windows monocultures are showing itself to be a net problem, as the various security clusterf***s make me wonder why companies love [sic] Windows so much. (Though while I think OSX is superior, I don't have any illusions that I could live without virus scanners if it had 80% of the OS market.) I have a draft post with some thoughts on that which I may have to dust off and complete.<BR/><BR/>I think it's less that Microsoft beat the AD into submission (though I do wonder what the source of David Boies's reputation as a fearsome litigator is) than the change of administration led the JD to roll over. MSFT's clearly fared less well with the EU.Tom Bozzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05853926747746938925noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136426016565330382006-01-04T17:53:00.000-08:002006-01-04T17:53:00.000-08:00When I read that article, and saw how much money h...When I read that article, and saw how much money he and his wife have donated in one year, I was pretty impressed. But your article, in turn, has me thinking...Sleep Goblinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11435775690231515934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136423519198031392006-01-04T17:11:00.000-08:002006-01-04T17:11:00.000-08:00Great post, Oscar.Wish I could say that about the ...Great post, Oscar.<BR/><BR/>Wish I could say that about the 2 comments above... I look forward to hearing what Tom Bozzo has to say.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05572514705373755851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136419839920760282006-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:002006-01-04T16:10:00.000-08:00I agree with you that Gates could be doing more, b...I agree with you that Gates could be doing more, but he could also be doing less. It's not like he has $40.7 billion in cash lying around. Most of it is paper money, in Microsoft stock. He'd either have to give away stock to charity or sell the stock and pay whatever taxes aren't offset by donation to charities. In either case, he'd be in effect ceding control of Microsoft to someone else. If someone were able to buy up all his stock and get 50% of total stock, they could do whatever they wanted with Microsoft. I don't think Gates would allow that to occur. Unless Microsoft were to force Gates out similar to what happened with Time Warner and Ted Turner, it doesn't seem likely that he would liquidate any signficant fraction of his stock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8394922.post-1136417750358857752006-01-04T15:35:00.000-08:002006-01-04T15:35:00.000-08:00Um, he could just keep his money you know. He's g...Um, he could just keep his money you know. <BR/><BR/>He's giving more than you or me to these causes.<BR/><BR/>But I'm sure you are a nicer guy with better intentions and more friends. <BR/><BR/>Niece (i before e, except after c)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com