Re: Jobs vs. Gates


"whjones" wrote in message news:463a0e00$0$19091$4c368faf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 2007-05-03 03:18:27 -1000, jerryeveretts <ifreeley@xxxxxxxxx> said:

Until recently, Bill Gates has been viewed as the villain of the tech
world, while his archrival, Steve Jobs, enjoys an almost saintly
reputation.

Gates is the cutthroat capitalist. A genius maybe, but one more
interested in maximizing profits than perfecting technology. He's the
ultimate vengeful nerd. Ostracized at school, he gets the last laugh
by bleeding us all dry.

On the other hand, Jobs has never seemed much concerned with business,
though he's been very successful at it of late. Instead, Jobs has been
portrayed as a man of art and culture. He's an aesthete, an artist;
driven to make a dent in the universe.

But these perceptions are wrong. In fact, the reality is reversed.
It's Gates who's making a dent in the universe, and Jobs who's taking
on the role of single-minded capitalist, seemingly oblivious to the
broader needs of society.

Gates is giving away his fortune with the same gusto he spent
acquiring it, throwing billions of dollars at solving global health
problems. He has also spoken out on major policy issues, for example,
by opposing proposals to cut back the inheritance tax.

In contrast, Jobs does not appear on any charitable contribution lists
of note. And Jobs has said nary a word on behalf of important social
issues, reserving his talents of persuasion for selling Apple
products.

According to Forbes, Jobs was recently worth $3.3 billion which puts
him among the 194th richest in the world, and makes him the 67th
richest American. But the standings were shuffled on Tuesday with
Disney's $7.4 billion acquisition of Pixar Animation -- a deal that
makes Jobs' Pixar holdings alone worth some $3.7 billion.

But great wealth does not make a great man.

Giving USA Foundation, a philanthropy research group which publishes
an annual charity survey, said Jobs does not appear on lists of gifts
of $5 million or more over the last four years. Nor is his name on a
list of gifts of $1 million or more compiled by Indiana University's
Center on Philanthropy.

Jobs' wife is also absent from these philanthropic lists, although she
has made dozens of political donations totaling tens of thousands of
dollars to the Democrats, according to the Open Secrets database.

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. If so, however, this would make Jobs
virtually unique among moguls. Richard Jolly, chairman of Giving USA
Foundation, said not all billionaires give their money away, but a lot
do, and most do not do it quietly.

"We see it over and over again," he said. "Very wealthy individuals do
support the organizations and institutions they believe in."

That's certainly true of Gates, who not only gives vast sums away, but
also speaks up in support of the organizations and institutions he
believes in.

This is not the case for Jobs. To the best of my knowledge, in the
last decade or more, Jobs has not spoken up on any social or political
issue he believes in -- with the exception of admitting he's a big Bob
Dylan fan.

Rather, he uses social issues to support his own selfish business
goals. In the Think Different campaign, Jobs used cultural figures he
admired to sell computers -- figures who stuck their necks out to
fight racism, poverty, inequality or war.

Jobs once offered to be an advisor to Sen. John Kerry during the 2004
presidential election, and he invited President Clinton over for
dinner when Bubba visited Silicon Valley in 1996 -- hardly evidence of
deep political convictions.

Jobs can't even get behind causes that would seem to carry deep
personal meaning, let alone lasting social importance. Like Lance
Armstrong, he is a cancer survivor. But unlike Armstrong, Jobs has so
far done little publicly to raise money or awareness for the disease.

Given Jobs' social detachment, I'm confused by the adulation he
enjoys. Yes, he has great charisma and his presentations are good
theater. But his absence from public discourse makes him a cipher.
People project their values onto him, and he skates away from the
responsibilities that come with great wealth and power.

On the evidence, he's 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.

In the same way, I admire Bono over Mick Jagger, and John Lennon over
Elvis, because they spoke up about things bigger than their own
celebrity.

It's time for Jobs to do the same.


(From wired.com)

And with respect to Macintosh advocacy (to keep this thread ON TOPIC), what has your whining to do with the price of tea in China? Please don't tell me that you're one of the crowd that wishes to control how one spends their hard-earned monies. I could care less how many rich people give any or all of their money to charity - it's THEIR money, not mine, and they should have the freedom to use it as they wish. That's the problem with you liberals - you think that only YOU know better, and feel the need to push YOUR values on the rest of us.



Bull***, Liberal or Convservative has NOTHING to do with it. At a certain point when you earn that much it becomes your responibility to give back to the human race. Jobs is a complete scumbag

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