Ha....I don't care how monopolistic Gates is, he is still a smart cookie.

Smart, and evil.

Of course, the same can be said of Steve Jobs.

Gates has no tact or class. Sony, like M$, have made many good and bad business decisions. Afterall, when you look at MS stock prices and it's paultry performance, a lot could be said about several of Gates' new product failures. It seems that Microsoft has made its living making "me too" products and sueing in court. After al Sony = games, Apple = music, no matter what Gates does IPod and Playstations are hear to stay, and millions of people prefer them over Microsoft products.

I think you put words in Bill's mouth regarding the Xbox being a year late and a dollar short in terms of games. What I read was that MS wanted the Xbox 360 to be the first next-gen console out of the gate with a small-affordable box AND they wanted to switch roles with Sony, which I interpret as market share.

Whether or not they achieved these goals is a different topic.

It's interesting to see such a candid discussion, mostly PR-speak free, from such a major company head. The reporter's redundant questions on the IPTV deal with AT&T get tedious though.

Smart? That is debateable, certainly he is not business smart, look at his stock perfromance. It's stayed around $25 a share for YEARS. There are lots of smart people in this world, it is what you do with that intelligence. that matters. Bill Gates' entire whole business is built on something he stole from Jobs, his high school friend, there is not much to admire.

I'm not surprised that he would take the opportunity to rag on Sony, although I don't know how true his comments are. I am surprised that he would be honest about the shortcomings of the XBox launch.

It's gonna be a shame when he's no longer the face of MS (or M$, as some prefer). Is the next guy in line (whoever he is, can't remember) going to be as candid about the performance (positive and negative) of Microsoft's various divisions and products (final parenthetical reference)?

Dark13,

I find it slightly ignorant to criticize the intelligence and business savvy of the single wealthiest man in the world. Whether you are trolling or just poorly logic arguments is tough to decide, but stock value is not a sole indicator of business revenue or success (case and point, Google, whose shares run $500+ but whose revenue is far outpaced by MS). Stock price is what someone is willing to pay to own a piece of the company, and this depends on a number of factors. Your arguments regarding the Xbox360 look like shrill fanboyism.

Say what you will about the man or the company, but their products are ubiquitous, they must be doing something right.

Interesting read. Sony really does look like they flubbed it, based on all the rumblings from top-level designers and coders who are working on both platforms. Say what you want about Microsoft ... but when they "get into something" (whether it be Windows, Console Games, Media Players, Word Processors, Email Systems, etc) - they eventually "get it right" and knock the competition right out of the box.

And what exactly did Gates steal from Jobs. I've been around a while, but I haven't heard that one before. He built his fortune on licensing DOS, but he didn't steal that from Jobs. He did get some sap to sell it to him for a pittance, though.

I always love how people make it sound as if you can become the world's richest man by having no brains, no original thoughts, and nothing go for you but shear luck.

Dark13,

I want to assume that you are a 13yr old and end this discussion about people stealing things from the great oh so great Steve Jobs. Please! Grow up!

I'll take a steady stock price every day if it splits as much as M$ has over the years.

As for the Jobs thing ... last I checked "Apple" was cofounded by a guy named Wozniak. You wan't to talk about being screwed over, read the Woz's life story. Smart Hippie never saw the knife at his back.

Blah blah blah...let's say lots of things so people will go out and buy the 360.

Well at least it isn't 100% moronic things like Sony's PR says all the time.

=\ It was all stolen from Xerox in the first place. Most people don't hear that part thought because well... There apparently isn't alot of Xerox fanboys out there.

Hail the Woz

If Microsoft ever had a chance to stomp on the steaming pile of poo Sony created, it's now. If they can manage to put out their next-gen console with even modestly improved specs and better cosmetics, they'll stomp Sony. And I never thought I would say that.

At least he didn't say the 360 was going to cook you breakfast and show you discipline.

TommySez, Bill Gates. Evil? A man that personally gives more to Charity every year than you'll probably ever see in your lifetime. I question if you'd be more evil than Bill Gates if you'd reached his position.

In other news. . . Apple disses Microsoft, Sony disses Nintendo, and Gizmondo publishes more day-old troll articles.

jackfrost132, Apple got proper clearance from Xeros, and if I'm not mistaken, they paid for the license as well. Apple never claimed to have invented the mouse/icon system. They've always credited Xerox for the original idea.

Don't be so sure that Playstations are here to stay. The videogame market can be fickle. Remember the Sega Genesis? It was huge during it's time, but neither the Saturn nor Dreamcast could catch on even though they were great systems - Sony swooped in and beat them. Nintendo has been around for a LONG time, but they've never been able to recapture the market of the original NES with anything except for their handhelds (although that will hopefully change this time around). Brand loyalty doesn't seem to be a huge factor in the gaming world. I've owned a PS1 and still use (and love) my PS2, but I am on the fence about the PS3. I already have a Wii, XBox 360 and PS2, and I won't be considering the PS3 for at least a year.

My prediction for this round (at least in the US): XBox 360, Nintendo Wii, then PS3. I'd be shocked if the PS3 sells even half as well as the PS2. They went WAY too high-end - a Blu-Ray drive is only going to sell systems to a handful of people. It's about 3 or 4 years too soon.

Bill Gates and his cohorts loves to bash other competitors. If they would only innovate as enthusiastically as they malign, the company and stock would be much better off.

As far as the PS3 is concerned, the cell processor runs circles around the 360 processor so what's his point exactly? Perhaps he should be more forthcoming with his strategy for the 360. Most 360 users are too dumb to realize that they will have to buy a new 360 every 12-18 months as Bill Gates continually upgrades the 360 over the years. They purposely underpowered the 360 vis a vis the PS3 in order to sell the console at a lower price point. PS3 owners will be able to use their machine for the entire life cycle of the PS3.

This is just like they purposely didn't tell people before they launched the Zune that only about 50% of the songs are squirtable. Hey, but if you want to get butt Fu%$ed by Bill while you scream, "thank you sir, may I have another?" then go right ahead.

can someone tell me why fanboys constantly use '$' as a replacement for the letter 's' when complaining about their 'rival' companies?

i'm pretty sure the PS3 will fail this time around. too expensive, not powerful enough, and doesn't have the ginormous userbase and exclusive title list as the PS2. every console has its problems and its critics when it's released. however, i haven't seen a console with such a huge list of problems- price, availability, games... hell, TV compatibility is a problem too, and it's something nobody ever thought could have been a problem. has any console in history had TV resolution problems?

the playstation line won't die from this, though. if PS4 is done properly, they'll gain back marketshare.

if PS4 is also a dud, i'm going to have to say bye. saturn + dreamcast killed sega, and it could do the same for sony.

wow jcc. i have no idea where that fanboyism comes from. every single sentence in that second paragraph of yours is wrong.

i still say the sega saturn was a vastly superior gaming system than the ps1. while i was devastated when they decided to kill the saturn, i was also aware i was one of only about 40 people nationwide to own a saturn so i knew the decision was inevitable.

I'm not sure where he's getting his information from. All the news sources I recall said that the Cell was going to be the CPU for the PS3, with the traditional inclusion of graphics and sound processors.

Fluidity: His charity efforts are an attempt to fool others regarding his evil nature.

If were as rich, I would be considerably less evil. Go on. Try me.

Dark 13,

That's some interesting child-logic you have goin' on. And yeah, Bill isn't that smart. Not much to admire there.

Well, when you finally manage to become the wealthiest man in the world AND the greatest philanthropist the world has ever known, be sure to let us know. Because Lord knows, there's nothing more dull and dishonorable than achieving those two things.

Unbelievable.

***********

In other news, Sony's just taking a real beating these days.

I think Bill Gates is surprisingly "ok" for being one of the world's richest men.

The guy is alright.