Talk:Bill Gates/Archive 1

message: I think the Gates profile picture from the Hebrew Wikipedia should be restored. Perhaps its him from the early 1990's, though I am unsure. If anyone has objections to this, please talk about it on the talk page. WhisperToMe 21:48, 13 Dec 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: Another Gates portrait

message: Why the constant reverts without any discussion here? I've protected the page until the matter is settled in some way other than reverting. Cheers, Angela. 02:43, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)
replies: text: That seems a good place for now, though it'll probably be moved to Wikipedia:Current disputes over articles when the Village pump is next archived if it isn't sorted out by then. Angela. 02:54, 20 Dec 2003 (UTC)
thread_title: Social Security Number

message: The last edit claims, clumsily, that Microsoft ported QDOS from a "CP/M" (by which I presume the writer means the 8-bit Z80 platform) to the "x86 platform" (which I suppose at that stage meant the Intel 8086/88 processor).  This is inconsistent with the QDOS article, which describes QDOS in some detail.  Hence I'm going to revert unless somebody provides evidence to the contrary. --Robert Merkel 11:05, 7 Jan 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: QDOS port

message: Bill has lately (for several years since the birth of his son) been Calling himself William H. Gates, Sr.. I propose changing the name in the first paragraph to this style, and moving the {henry III) data to his birth and family detail. Thought I'd note it here first, and wait a while for comments before proceeding.  Thanks for your consideration, Lou I 08:42, 16 Jan 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Please show your source. I believe you're confusing him with his father.  Anthony DiPierro 04:27, 17 Jan 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I apologize for leaping to a conclusion. The AAAS award and note was a piece of trivia I didn't research enough. ;-(.  OTOH, thanks to you my mistake got WP a great new article about Bill's dad. :-).  About sources: I was working on the article for the American Academy, saw the 2003 inductees, and asked a friend, who is a member of AAAS, if that was the Microsoft Bill Gates. His reply was what I echoed in the above comment. He'll remain nameless here, the fault is mine for not checking. Lou I 08:37, 17 Jan 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Opening Name

message: I don't know, according to the List of billionaires the Ikea guy (Ingvar Kamprad) actually doesn't have the wealth Forbes says he does. I say we change the entry to show Bill is the wealthiest again, and then link to List of billionaries. MShonle 20:46, 18 Apr 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Wealthiest

message: What was that quote? Why is it not here under quotes?
Every version I've ever heard has 640k. It's never sourced, and Gates denies saying it. Gazpacho 00:13, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: No one will ever need more that 16k

message: *This article is about Bill Gates. Material about the history of Microsoft, but not about Gates personally, should be in Microsoft.
*I am aware of the accusations regarding Lotus 123 but have never seen it substantiated with details about how Microsoft was breaking the program and why it was considered malicious.
*"crushed competitors"  is patently POV language.
Please note that Gates is a major public figure, and inevitably there are many unsubstantiated rumors about him. In particular, Robert Cringeley has been approached twice, by two different writers about Microsoft, to explain where he got the "ice cream story" in Accidental Empires. He either refused to respond, or said only that the story sounded plausible, without describing his source. Wendy Rohm's The Microsoft File is a basic hack-job and soap opera which frequently has Mrs. Rohm playing mind-reader. Hard Drive, although careful about sourcing, contains material that has been outdated by subsequent research. Which book did you use, AAAAA? Gazpacho 00:13, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Paragraph on business practices

message: On the list of athiests, Bill Gates (Microsoft) is listed.
On the list of agnostics, Bill Gates (Microsoft) is listed.
I don't know his religious beliefs, but I do know you can't be an athiest and an agnostic. [2004.12.29]
*It depends on how you define the terms.   Atheism can be defined as "not believing in God".  By this definition Agnosticism is a form of atheism, and one can be both.    A narrow definition of atheism is that is the denial of the existence of God.  On this definition, agnostics are not atheists because they don't believe there is enough evidence either to assert or deny the existence of God.    Gates has been somewhat evasive about his beliefs, and his statements are consistent with agnosticism and the weak form of atheism.   It may be that he believes that God does not exist, making him a strong atheist, but he has not said this on the record, so far as I know. --BM 12:43, 30 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Religious Views

message: The following paragraph was added by a user who minutes before vandalised the [Leonardo da Vinci] page. Can this information be confirmed?
:In Early Elementary School Bill participated in sporting activities such as basketball and football. During a few years of his play Gates was teammates with Paul Fisher, they played Guard and Left Tackle on the Offensive line, respectively.
--Niels Ø 13:25, Mar 10, 2005 (UTC)
::I think it should be removed. Who is Paul Fisher? I tried to search on him and not coming up with notable results just random guys named Paul Fisher. Even if it is true, it is not notable for putting on the article. I'm an American football fan and never ever heard of "Paul Fisher." --Anonymous Cow 22:45, 10 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Someone please verify

message: In comments: "PLEASE DON'T ADD THE "640KB should be enough for anyone" QUOTE HERE. Unless you are reporting some brand new evidence, the quote is apocryphal."
I think it's so famous it should at least be mentioned! Guaka 18:50, 1 May 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It is mentioned in wikiquotes. I don't think it needs to be mentioned again here. Mirror Vax 20:27, 1 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: 640 kB

message: In this discussion, Gates outlines his view of the feasability of provision of technology in third world countries:  http://www.microsoft.com/billgates/speeches/2000/10-18digitaldividends.asp
Might it be worth referring to?
Mr. Jones 21:20, 2 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Computing on less than a dollar a day 

message: We're having a discussion at Talk:Temple_Grandin on whether or not there is supportable  evidence that Bill Gates has Asperger's syndrome.  There are many sources online suggesting that he does  .  The Temple Grandin page  currently mentions  him as a case  of  someone with Asperger's syndrome.  However, it seems odd that that page would say so, but that there is no mention of it  on the Bill Gates page.  Could people comment on whether there is anything more than idle speculation  to Gates having Asperger's, and whether the issue merits any mention on this page?  --ErikStewart 14:47, 17 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bill Gates and Asperger's syndrome 

message: I think that this photo looks more like him:
Current: 
I came across a really nice photo of 13-years-old Gates at a teletype, at ftp.microsoft.com. May I add this image to the Biography section? It's the earliest photo of Gates that I've ever seen. --tyomitch 17:56, 12 September 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  New photo 

message: Search for "Bill Gates" on http://www.roughtype.com/archives/2005/10/the_amorality_o.php. Pcb21| Pete 15:03, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  This page has a critic in the blogosphere 

message: Jimbo sez so. Lets get cleaning~! Sam Spade 21:54, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I tried the same thing with Microsoft months ago... ended up having to do it mostly myself... hopefully we'll get some volunteers here, eh? Ryan Norton T | @ | C 21:59, 6 October 2005 (UTC)

text: OK - quickly (becuase I'm in a hurry :)) I did a brutal edit getting rid of a lot of stuff, and I cleaned up the biography section, moved some more to the intro, etc. This thing is still too list and trivia-heavy. Anyway, feel free to put back anything I took out. I'll take another look later too. Ryan Norton T | @ | C 22:42, 6 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  This article is crap 

message: According to our article on Melinda Gates, they have three children, but this article says two. Which one is correct?  Majts 15:34, 12 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: BBC news item says  3 children. --2mcmGespräch 07:12, 14 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Children 

message: Bill Gates is no benefit to the society nor to humanity. Delete the article, because it is not wisdom nor knowledge but pure information on volatile human development or should I rather say undevelopment?
To put it plainly, Bill Gates and his comrades destroyed a culture, that of the computer science, and with it that of the industry and with it that of the society. They caused irreversible disruption of what we call preservation of culture and cultural intent, they commercialized culture where there was no commercialization before and they monopolized where other companies long have finally grown adult and matured by their mistakes. Bill nor Microsoft ever matured. Ever listened to one of his so-called prophetic blurbs? How come that one of that stand must always recite the "you know" at least three times between "er" and "errm" with no content whatsoever in between?
: I challenge you to write an encyclopaedic criticism of Bill. See Common criticisms of Microsoft. -- Zondor 02:48, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  One POV and another POV doesn't make a NPOV either how...--80.202.235.102 15:59, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  Delete the boring POV rant on the talk page. The idea that the computer industry was all flowers and good will before Bill Gates is mildly entertaining but that's about it. --Fastfission 01:24, 20 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Delete the article 

message: If memory serves me right... once upon a time, there was a browser called Netscape, hmmm ... Anything heard about it, huh? And then the judges and authorities wanted to divide Micro$oft into several parts, ooops... let me see, who starts finding out this secret story?
--84.172.234.13 19:50, 28 October 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Browser War ... 

message: I recall reading from somewhere that BG used to go on virtual dates (b4 the inet took off obviously, he married in Jan 1 1994 after all) where he would go the a movie the same time as another women in a different city (why he went on so many dates with women in different cities I don't know) and then they would talk on the phone about it. I also recall reading that it was quite common for female MS staff to persue BG and indeed there was some standard way they signalled their interest (I have to say this because I know someone else will, it was NOT sex). Anyone have more on this? It seems quite a fascinating and bizzare aspect of his life. I do wonder what sort of prenupt he has... :-P Nil Einne 23:17, 1 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bill Gates personal life 

message: This article is over-loaded with Microsoft and under weight on his bio. Business actions in the late seventies and early eighties are gone over extensively and then nothing until an over-detailed criticism of his antitrust testimony. Balance needed. 
Also, the charity criticisms were weaselly and senseless. The 28 billion is the single largest charity endowment in history. Billions on malaria and AIDs aren't a perfidious plot to sell more software. Marskell 16:05, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: * I can't agree more. The article focuses too much on Microsoft and less on Bill Gates himself. The charity information needs expanding. Even the Steve Jobs article is better. The problem is that all the biographies I've found of Bill Gates on the Internet are as bad as this one. So theres nothing much I can really use as a good source to base my writing on to improve this. — Wackymacs 16:52, 6 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  General structure, charity 

message: Investigative journalist Greg Palast has accused Gates of using the Bill & Melinda foundation to cover up global harm that he is part responsible for.  This is a serious accusation, and Palast is a respected journalist.  The text I've added to the article is:
Journalist Greg Palast suggests that The Gates Foundation is used to make tactical donations to hide media sensitive humanitarian side effects of treaties, such as TRIPS, which have been supported by Gates and are responsible for the deaths of millions in Africa.
I added this info before, but there have been 750 edits since I first added it, so I cannot track down when which edit removed it. Gronky 20:45, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I vaguely recall removing it. I'll leave it this time, but I removed the part which states as a fact that TRIPS is "responsible for the deaths of millions in Africa". We just can't say things like that in a neutral article. Palast and radical anti-globalization groups believe that, but it's far from a fact. Rhobite 21:06, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

text: Actually Palast doesn't even make that claim in the article. Where did you get the idea that the treaty is responsible for millions of deaths? Is that just your opinion? Rhobite 21:07, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Looking in the history, you reworded it (although you may also have later removed it, but I won't search 750 edits to confirm).  I've reworded your new rewording - removing the "anti-globalisationists" remark.  Palast's explanation of how TRIPS kills is from his book "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy".  I'm not sure how to reference that though, since it's not online. Gronky 21:19, 12 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I wasn't joking when I wrote that anti-globalization groups oppose TRIPS. I think it is opinionated for the article to state on one hand that Bill Gates supports the treaty, and then on the other hand explain the supposed drawbacks of the treaty. If we say that Bill Gates supports the treaty with no explanation, we should simply say that the radical anti-WTO crowd (including Palast) opposes the treaty. Basically you are discussing who supports the treaty without going into any detail about why, then giving your personal opinion that the treaty is bad, without any discussion of who opposes the treaty. It's a tricky debate tactic. Not sure that I'm making myself clear here - please let me know if you're confused. Rhobite 23:02, 13 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Saying that "the radical anti-WTO crowd [...] opposes the treaty" is an oversimplification and is incorrect.  The majority of TRIPS-critics are not "anti-globalisationists" or "radicals" (whether Palast uses either of those words for himself, I don't know).  It's African and South American governments, it's consumer rights organisations, it's Medicines Without Frontiers, it's Free Software Foundation, it's the vast majority of civil society.  So, what would you be happy with?  How about saying that Gates and/or Microsoft strongly supports the treaty, and giving two quotes from organisations that criticise the treaty?  I'll come back in a few days to try another wording. Gronky 19:35, 14 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Greg Palast's comments 

message: Does everyone actually like the  template recently placed in the page? It looks a bit out of place. I'll put it at the bottom for now. Shawnc 08:47, 19 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: It should go on the Talk page, it doesn't look right in the article. — Wackymacs 09:03, 19 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Ratings

message: it might sound like i'm joking about this, but i'm serious.  in the video of gates getting hit with the cream pie, you can see how forcefully it was thrown.  honestly.  i think the guy is kind of a tool, but i felt bad for him.  that pie was WHIPPED.  it was slammed.  it looked painful, aside from the embarrassment.   my point is, it should be noted in the TRIVIA section that the pie was thrown with impressive force.  or even excessive force.   or with frightful velocity.    somebody:  please find the right words to describe it, and add it to the wiki.  thank you.  128.119.232.173 05:52, 20 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: How about "thrust into his face"? --anetode╔╝ 06:08, 20 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: qualification of pie in the face

message: "Historically, successful men and women in America have fallen into one of two classes: conspicuous consumption or a continuing focus on their business. William Randolph Hearst seems to have lost his passion for the newspaper business and instead wasted his fortune on a mansion in San Simeon, and Larry Ellison of Oracle is well known for his lavish yachts. Whereas Thomas Edison and Henry Ford continued to pursue the interests that enriched them, alongside, in Ford's case, an eleemosynary interest in world peace.
Bill Gates appears to fall into the latter category and his central passion remains technology and his company, and philanthropy."
Is there some kind of historical theory that divides successful people into these two classes? I sure don't know of any. These sentences just seem awfully arbitrary and seem to violate NPOV.
--Perlman10s 22:41, 22 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed, and most of it is just off-topic, too. I'd vote for simply deleting it. — Matt Crypto 01:27, 23 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I concur.  The above section reeks of "cultural history" analysis and may violate the "No original research" policy. Unless someone can link it to some famous historian, it should go. --Coolcaesar 04:07, 23 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Can we please delete this? 

message: "Bill Gates' great coup in his deal with IBM was retaining the right to license the DOS to other computer makers—in the long run a major mistake by IBM."
This looks like POV. Does anyone else think so? TheDarkArchon 19:28, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: * That is obvious POV, that sentence needs to be rewritten. — Wackymacs 20:47, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: * Removed the great coup part TheDarkArchon 23:49, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Gates in Coup?

message: I just added a paragraph to the intro and before anyone gets uppity...
*It needed to be longer given the length of the page.
* Comparing to Rockefeller and Hughes is on topic.
* He is THE iconic figure of late 20th century, American capitalism. 
I don't like throwaway intros generally, but where the subject warrants a little bit of extra "ya, this guy is damn important" I don't have a problem. Gates definitely warrants a para of this sort. Marskell 22:33, 24 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Expanding intro 

message: According to the article, Gates was "Ranked at 28 in the 'Top 100 most powerful people in sports' by The Sporting News in 1997"
Can we work on verifying or removing this?  I have a lot of difficulty understanding why Gates would win such an award, and every search I've done on this phrase has just turned up Wikipedia mirrors.  :)
Starwiz 18:44, 25 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Powerful person in sports? 

message: 20 years ago I learned that Bill Gates has eidetic memory (also know as photographic memory); specifically, that he could recall huge slabs of his source code. Since he was only a few years away from his coding days at the time, the casual statement was just something I filed away at the time. Can anyone else confirm this? It is unreasonable to claim that he still does, but in 1984? (I know of at least 3 other people with this mental faculty, so I know 'photographic memory' is a valid article.)  --Ancheta Wis 01:09, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Eidetic memory 

message: As part of Bill Gates' persona, is it worthwhile to mention his habit of rocking back and forth when he is straining to think?  --Ancheta Wis 01:22, 29 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I don't think so because it's not really connected to his work. Players in competitive games such as chess and Go, where we will see them doing their distinctive habits while thinking, must have how they come up with their best moves. But except for rare public events that might make him think hard, it's not important what he does while thinking. Now suppose that Bill Gates fell from his chair because of his habit and had to be hospitalized or something, then it deserves a mention. --Revth 05:42, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Persona