2 recommendations |
Mr Anon
Anon
2013-Aug-8 9:37 am
Missed the pointI think everyone talking about the article, the three commenters when I posted this and the article's poster, has completely missed the point. As if no one knows what Bill Gates does with his time and money now.
His foundation is trying to do something about it, is Google trying or do they purely see it as a test bed and business venture? Are they planning how to layout a new city while Rome is still burning? |
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El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
said by Mr Anon :His foundation is trying to do something about it, is Google trying or do they purely see it as a test bed and business venture? Are they planning how to layout a new city while Rome is still burning? I think, maybe, you're missing the point. Bill Gates was busy conquering the computing world at some point too, he may not being doing that anymore, but that doesn't change the fact that he got where he is by dominating the IT landscape for a time. So it's a bit rich for him to be preaching to Google now that he's come and left. Something about glass houses maybe? |
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ke4pym Premium Member join:2004-07-24 Charlotte, NC
1 recommendation |
ke4pym
Premium Member
2013-Aug-8 10:07 am
Water under the bridge.
Uou know, when you don't have the basics like clean running water (major cause of diarrhea for these folks and can be deadly) or capabilities to keep skeeters' at bay, you're probably not going to be worrying too much about internet access at home.
Hence wiring up schools and hospitals. |
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camperjust visiting this planet Premium Member join:2010-03-21 Bethel, CT
1 recommendation |
to Mr Anon
Gates' current activities are more likely his attempts to have history treat him nicely after he ravaged the computer industry for decades.
It is Gates who misses the point when he said, "When you're dying of malaria, I suppose you'll look up and see that balloon, and I'm not sure how it'll help you."
Gates misses the point because the connectivity provided by Google in remote areas can help those who are providing medical help and assistance to the malaria sufferers. Those providing assistance need infrastructure.
It is not surprising that Gates misses that important point. This is, after all, the person who missed the onslaught of the Internet, and who had to revise his farcically-named "The Road Ahead" book after it was written to paint the Internet as the major force it was. |
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FFH5 Premium Member join:2002-03-03 Tavistock NJ |
to Mr Anon
Gates made his billions; got bored with making more money; and like many robber barons of old is now trying to save his soul and have his place in history remembered as a great philanthropist. His attack on Google is pretty hypocritical as he now looks down on the new robber barons. |
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El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna
1 recommendation |
to ke4pym
said by ke4pym:You know, when you don't have the basics like clean running water (major cause of diarrhea for these folks and can be deadly) or capabilities to keep skeeters' at bay, you're probably not going to be worrying too much about internet access at home. Nothing is keeping Bill Gates from solving the malaria problem (or anyone else for that matter) while Google offers them free broadband. This is sour grapes by Gates nothing more. |
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firephotoTruth and reality matters Premium Member join:2003-03-18 Brewster, WA |
to ke4pym
said by ke4pym:Water under the bridge.
Uou know, when you don't have the basics like clean running water (major cause of diarrhea for these folks and can be deadly) or capabilities to keep skeeters' at bay, you're probably not going to be worrying too much about internet access at home.
Hence wiring up schools and hospitals. So to make Africa healthy why is most money not put into infrastructure? Are they building roads, hyrdro dams, solar projects, hospitals that will stand for decades, sealed deep ground wells for water, municipal water systems??? They buy mosquito nets, they give away pharmas, they give shots, they give computers, they give shanty shack kits, tents, clothes, they give all sorts by the boat load of consumable goods that typical consumers would buy and use and throw away but give the hint of good healthy aid when the reality of it is an attempt to create an economic market. Rome had roads and those roads conquered the world. Infrastructure is what makes great societies, not cheap shit to buy multiple times in a lifetime so someone can make money off your poor ass. Not for-profit healthcare, not monthly paid subscriptions, not anything that an economist would recommend. Just infrastructure and the people to support it. |
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to El Quintron
said by El Quintron:So it's a bit rich for him to be preaching to Google now that he's come and left. Not at all. If anything, the fact that he used to spend his energies on computing technology gives his views added weight. It indicates that he's thought carefully about whether it's the most important goal to achieve with his money. And come to the conclusion that other things are more important. He can -- and should -- be telling the world why. Suppose a father tells his son, "You should study in college -- don't play beer pong." Except that the father got drunk every night when he himself went to college. That's not hypocrisy -- that's just age and experience. It's a great thing to be able to draw on other people's experience, and not repeat their mistakes. |
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tanzam75
1 recommendation |
to camper
said by camper:Gates misses the point because the connectivity provided by Google in remote areas can help those who are providing medical help and assistance to the malaria sufferers. Those providing assistance need infrastructure. How did we eradicate smallpox throughout the world? How did we eliminate malaria in the Panama Canal zone? What does balloon Internet achieve for the malaria-eradication effort that a satellite phone does not? Or, for that matter, a long-range radio? |
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tanzam75 |
to firephoto
said by firephoto:So to make Africa healthy why is most money not put into infrastructure? Are they building roads, hyrdro dams, solar projects, hospitals that will stand for decades, sealed deep ground wells for water, municipal water systems??? The Chinese are already building roads, and railroads, and dams, and schools, and hospitals in Africa. I somehow doubt that Bill Gates can do better at this kind of stuff than the Chinese. Thus, perhaps it's best that he focus on malaria eradication. Suppose the Gates Foundation sprays the houses in a village with DDT. A year later, a Chinese road crew comes by the village. The workers don't drop dead of malaria, because Bill Gates has killed the mosquitoes. The road is finished that much more quickly. The French tried to build the Panama Canal, but their workers died of yellow fever. When we Americans took over, we got rid of the mosquitoes first. We were then able to finish the Canal in good health. |
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to firephoto
Yeah! They need the bridge! |
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firephotoTruth and reality matters Premium Member join:2003-03-18 Brewster, WA |
to tanzam75
said by tanzam75:said by firephoto:So to make Africa healthy why is most money not put into infrastructure? Are they building roads, hyrdro dams, solar projects, hospitals that will stand for decades, sealed deep ground wells for water, municipal water systems??? The Chinese are already building roads, and railroads, and dams, and schools, and hospitals in Africa. I somehow doubt that Bill Gates can do better at this kind of stuff than the Chinese. Thus, perhaps it's best that he focus on malaria eradication. Suppose the Gates Foundation sprays the houses in a village with DDT. A year later, a Chinese road crew comes by the village. The workers don't drop dead of malaria, because Bill Gates has killed the mosquitoes. The road is finished that much more quickly. The French tried to build the Panama Canal, but their workers died of yellow fever. When we Americans took over, we got rid of the mosquitoes first. We were then able to finish the Canal in good health. You keep going on about the malaria thing and it needing to be first, but we're how many decades into this? a century or more even? We've been bandaging malaria forever and I can't get behind an effort that doesn't smell of profit first. Bill Gates might have good intentions but his money is making people rich. The fight against malaria in Africa in headlines. Where's the headlines about all this infrastructure going in? Where's the coverage of the great expanding cities where people might migrate too some day? The wilds of America popped up pretty fast into a modern society, what's the problem with that in Africa in all the areas that are not full of mosquitos and malaria? It is a big continent you know. Malaria is a people thing, it's devastating, and it's many layered issue, this unfortunately makes it a great cover to hide all the exploitation that goes on in Africa. |
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ArrayListDevOps Premium Member join:2005-03-19 Mullica Hill, NJ |
to tanzam75
The balloon has nothing to do with the malaria-eradication. |
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1 recommendation |
to firephoto
said by firephoto:You keep going on about the malaria thing and it needing to be first, but we're how many decades into this? a century or more even? We've been bandaging malaria forever and I can't get behind an effort that doesn't smell of profit first. Bill Gates might have good intentions but his money is making people rich. That's exactly the problem. Bandaging malaria doesn't work. If you treat people after they get malaria, the only thing that achieves is that the malaria parasites to develop resistance to the drugs. Bill Gates is going after a very different goal -- he's trying to eradicate malaria. We know that eradication works. The term "malaria" comes from the medieval Italian words for "bad air." Ever hear of malaria in Italy today? They eradicated malaria after World War II. During the Battle of Yorktown, half the British troops had malaria, which they picked up in the Carolinas. You don't take anti-malarial drugs to visit South Carolina today -- and that's because they eradicated malaria. |
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El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
to tanzam75
said by tanzam75:If anything, the fact that he used to spend his energies on computing technology gives his views added weight. It indicates that he's thought carefully about whether it's the most important goal to achieve with his money. And come to the conclusion that other things are more important. I disagree completely, I admire Gates resolve to deal with malaria, but it's really only one of many issues that plague Africa. Google providing cheap, ubiquitous broadband is going to help them, even if it is on another front. Gates' criticism on the other hand is thinly veiled contempt, because he (and by proxy Microsoft) doesn't want Google to gain a foothold there while he can't/won't compete. |
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dra6o0n join:2011-08-15 Mississauga, ON |
to tanzam75
Then he would have done something about AIDS... But I don't think they'll cooperate because it mainly spreads through body fluids and there's this one thing they would surely not want to give up. |
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dra6o0n |
to El Quintron
The reason why cheap internet would help a nation, is the communication and education that comes with it.
See, powerful warlords fear the masses that communicates with the outside worlds, they lose power when that happens. They also fear the masses 'gaining power' with the gift of education, knowing how to act and treat things out of knowledge learnt on the internet.
The knowledge you get off the internet may be tiny, but it would change you in ways you won't realize.
For instance, you might learn a few tips or tricks when it comes to cooking, maybe a few science pointers to know about insulation and temperatures, maybe learn to wash your hands after using the toilet. |
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tshirt Premium Member join:2004-07-11 Snohomish, WA |
to El Quintron
said by El Quintron:I think, maybe, you're missing the point.
Bill Gates was busy conquering the computing world at some point too, he may not being doing that anymore, but that doesn't change the fact that he got where he is by dominating the IT landscape for a time.
So it is ok he is diss'ed because he was incredibly successful at business? or only because it was in IT? said by El Quintron:So it's a bit rich for him to be preaching to Google now that he's come and left.
Something about glass houses maybe? Perhaps, he is trying to impart knowledge/wisdom he learned along the way/particularly since leaving the ego driven dot com world, and seeing the "I can HELP people" side of being a human being. |
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El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
to dra6o0n
said by dra6o0n:The knowledge you get off the internet may be tiny, but it would change you in ways you won't realize.
For instance, you might learn a few tips or tricks when it comes to cooking, maybe a few science pointers to know about insulation and temperatures, maybe learn to wash your hands after using the toilet. Especially if this knowledge comes to young people that pass it on to other youngins and children. |
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to dra6o0n
said by dra6o0n:Then he would have done something about AIDS... But I don't think they'll cooperate because it mainly spreads through body fluids and there's this one thing they would surely not want to give up. Bill Gates is indeed funding AIDS research. However, he's focusing on malaria. The reason is that malaria is being neglected compared to AIDS. AIDS has high visibility, because it affects developed countries as well. Thus, a lot of money is already being spent on AIDS, with or without Bill Gates. Plus, as you say, AIDS is a tougher problem -- one that will be difficult to solve. In contrast, malaria is known to be a solvable problem. Even developing countries like Brazil have successfully eliminated malaria. But because the developed countries have already gotten rid of malaria, they're less interested in spending money to eradicate it in Africa. That's where Bill Gates comes in. Here's a problem that is solvable, important, and underfunded. Bigger bang-for-the-buck. |
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tanzam75 |
to dra6o0n
said by dra6o0n:The knowledge you get off the internet may be tiny, but it would change you in ways you won't realize.
For instance, you might learn a few tips or tricks when it comes to cooking, maybe a few science pointers to know about insulation and temperatures, maybe learn to wash your hands after using the toilet. Paint a big sign in the village saying, "Wash your hands to prevent cholera." That'll reach a lot of people, at lower cost, and it'll provide employment for the local guy painting it. Besides, if you don't have a toilet, that won't do much good. Without toilets and sewers, human waste goes directly into the water supply. You can wash your hands all you want, but your village will still get cholera. So it is more important to get them the toilets first. As for cooking, Africans need high-efficiency enclosed stoves more than they need Internet. There is such a thing as a hierarchy of needs. The reason it's called a hierarchy is that things depend on the stuff lower down in the hierarchy. Give them something from way on top of the hierarchy, and it gets largely wasted. |
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El QuintronCancel Culture Ambassador Premium Member join:2008-04-28 Tronna |
Broadband is on par with electricity or running water, so even if I agree that cheap malaria pills and sanitation and nourishment comes first, broadband is probably second on that list, and has the benefit of greatly aiding logistics and planning amongst the people themselves and not just aid providers.
Bill is still blowing it out of his ass, probably because he didn't think of it first. |
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