Re: Brave New World

[Dave Sieber <dsieber@terminal-impact.com>]

  Tod Landis wrote:
  
  > Big difference.  Before the acquisition the "Gates"
  > entry emphasized his competitiveness; after the
  > acquisition:  his "philanthropy"!  What philanthropy?
  > (Many of us wonder if he will EVER develop
  > a social conscience and make donation for the public
  > good)
  
  Unfortunately, the intention behind these kinds of things can't really
  be proved.
  
  Another interesting example, I believe, of this same thing is the BG bio
  on microsoft.com, wherein the unknowing reader can come away with the
  impression that Bill Gates invented BASIC:
  
  "While at Harvard, Gates developed the programming language BASIC for
  the first microcomputer -- the MITS Altair."
  
  http://www.microsoft.com/BillGates/billgates_l/billgbio.htm
  
  Anyone who doesn't know better, say, perhaps the typical home user,
  might read this and think that Gates invented BASIC. After all, when I
  write a program from scratch, I do say that I "developed" it. It would
  be more correct to say that he "implemented" the already-developed
  language.
  
  Anyway, this has little direct bearing on "Appraising Microsoft" today,
  but I dislike the slant introduced by the wording of this statement.
  
  
  --
  Dave Sieber
  dsieber@terminal-impact.com
  http://www.terminal-impact.com