Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Ecological niche attracts figurehead
We see these "what a jerk Bill Gates is" articles all the time. They really don't help us understand the problem.
It's not "Bill Gates," it's Microsoft Corporation. The standards-seeking nature of the computer business combined with our worldwide lack of meaningful antitrust laws creates a perfect ecological niche for a software monopoly. First it was IBM and them MSFT. The monopoliast needs a sympathetic public relations figurehead. If it hadn't found Gates there were plenty more who wanted the job. Gates was, as they say, born on third base and thinks he hit a home run. Despite the fact he was one of the founders and his mommy had the connections at IBM, I think it's just as accurate to say Microsoft created the person that is now "Bill Gates" as Gates created Microsoft.
How much do you really know about Walt Disney? Did you know he hated Jews and children? Disney Corporation needed that cuddly grandpa entrepreneur character for its figurehead, and the public persona of Walt Disney was about as real as Mickey Mouse. Do you actually believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? Of course not, Edison invented the engineering sweat shop and the contract where engineers work for wages and sign away their patent rights. Nobody will ever know who was on the team that developed Edison Electric's tungsten filament light bulb manufacturing machine, but you can be sure it wasn't Edison himself. So what makes you think you know any more about "Bill Gates" than you know about Edison or Disney?
It's not "Bill Gates," it's Microsoft Corporation. The standards-seeking nature of the computer business combined with our worldwide lack of meaningful antitrust laws creates a perfect ecological niche for a software monopoly. First it was IBM and them MSFT. The monopoliast needs a sympathetic public relations figurehead. If it hadn't found Gates there were plenty more who wanted the job. Gates was, as they say, born on third base and thinks he hit a home run. Despite the fact he was one of the founders and his mommy had the connections at IBM, I think it's just as accurate to say Microsoft created the person that is now "Bill Gates" as Gates created Microsoft.
How much do you really know about Walt Disney? Did you know he hated Jews and children? Disney Corporation needed that cuddly grandpa entrepreneur character for its figurehead, and the public persona of Walt Disney was about as real as Mickey Mouse. Do you actually believe Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? Of course not, Edison invented the engineering sweat shop and the contract where engineers work for wages and sign away their patent rights. Nobody will ever know who was on the team that developed Edison Electric's tungsten filament light bulb manufacturing machine, but you can be sure it wasn't Edison himself. So what makes you think you know any more about "Bill Gates" than you know about Edison or Disney?
# posted by 0.3E9m/s @ 11:14 AM 
Comments:
<< Home
Uh, Disney didn't hate Jews or children. That's just a lie that's been spread around and propagated by the likes of Family Guy and Robot Chicken (don't believe any of them). What do you expect from a man who lived in the early 20th century???
Heck, Disneyland includes Kosher food. And Disney did have children himself. And Mickey was popular with children.
True, some of his films had racial stereotypes. But wait! Other studios at the time did the same thing (Looney Tunes was far worse). I don't understand all these false rumours!
Please do research before making generalised claims against someone. You don't want to be bearing false witness, right???
Heck, Disneyland includes Kosher food. And Disney did have children himself. And Mickey was popular with children.
True, some of his films had racial stereotypes. But wait! Other studios at the time did the same thing (Looney Tunes was far worse). I don't understand all these false rumours!
Please do research before making generalised claims against someone. You don't want to be bearing false witness, right???
# posted by 
: 1:20 AM
: 1:20 AM
Now HERE's a fact: Henry Ford was deeply anti-Semitic, and even inspired Hitler's anti-Semitic ideas. This argument may be moot today, since Henry Ford is dead now (serves him right) and the current CEO of Ford is Jewish.
Post a Comment
# posted by : 1:27 AM
: 1:27 AM << Home
