History's verdict: Bill Gates, yes; Steve Jobs, no

I'm a year late to the party, but...

I'm a year late to the party, but...

Both men have incredible technological and business talents they have used to build empires from silicone. Both companies have achieved great success based mostly on the skills of their respective man and could quickly falter without their leadership.

They have each taken different paths and along the way have been both allies (against IBM) and enemies.

Each and their respective company has been good and evil. I won't waste time with Microsoft's evil since that's all anyone here can write about, but how about Apple? Their ridiculous lawsuit about windowing against MS & HP? Xerox invented windowing not Apple -- all three have licenses from Xerox and all three innovated (not as much as MIT did...) How about the recent "upgrade" to iTunes that prohibits synchronization with the Palm Pre? Kinda like a "Microsoft" tactic, isn't it?

I used to *hate* Microsoft, but now appreciate the value I get from of all their products. I used to root for Apple as the little guy, but have to acknowledge that they too have gotten ruthless to protect their intellectual property and most importantly their profits.

Both men and their companies have changed the world in a positive way. At the current time, I have to applaud Bill Gates and his wife for their dedication to fighting HIV/AIDS and how they and others have helped reshape the face of the epidemic.

I'm sure when Steve Jobs is ready to hand over the reins, he will other ways to change the world as well.

Someday, historians will put

Someday, historians will put Gates into proper context for the masses:

The ruthless nerd for whom mediocrity was "good enough," who thought business ethics were optional, and who plunged the world into the Dark Ages of Personal Computing.

That history will be written on a Macintosh. And even Gates knows it.

HAHAHA

Hate too point this out, but both of them at this point are practically useless for the actual company. Right now they have hired people to do the work for them, all they do is get the money.

History's verdict: Preston Gralla? Who?

Try as I might to resist this flame bait, I cannot. I know Gralla is a hack of a writer, but this is a new low... Read this sentence again: "When history is written about the late twentieth and early twenty-first century, Bill Gates will be remembered for his potentially historic contributions..."
Not just stylistically atrocious, but also nonsensical. Gralla knows how "history" will honor Gates, because of his "potentially historic" contributions? Huh?

"History" cannot judge the measure of a man until a generation or so after they are gone. As it is not a zero sum game; both men may seem great from that distant perspective, or insignificant, or one of each. I grant you Gates philanthropy will likely greatly exceed that of Jobs, both because of the latter's disinterest and fundamental lack of the kind of resources Gates has. But until the Gates Foundation actually sees results of their "new" approach, it is too soon to predict history's verdict. Both these guys have made great contributions to IT. But guys like Gralla can't stand that Steve is also a master marketer and showman, and that results in petty, pretentious, and poorly-written articles like this one.

You are correct. Apple will

You are correct. Apple will be a footnote in history compared to Microsoft unless Apple does something really big in internet t.v. or something else.

They simply don't have enough time to take the "desktop" (doesn't that sound a bit 20th century already?). Bill won, Jobs didn't. That's capitalism. :/

Purpose or Charity

After reading the article, it seems to me that the author believes that philanthropy is the only honorable thing left in this world.

Mr. Jobs has led 3 technolgy revolutions in his lifetime (and there's more to come?). He is doing what he thinks he is BORN TO DO. That, I believe is the more laudable purpose. Why shouldn't he continue doing what he does best? If only everyone in this world was passionate about ONE thing in life and dedicated his life excelling at that one thing, the world would be a much better place than giving away 100 billion in charity!

Woah, Clueless Much?

Wow, this editor has really no clue does he? Both men have made great contributions. Growing up and devoting my life to the IT industry showed me as well as my father the transition between these two intelligent giants. To put it bluntly, I find this article rather disturbing. More homework needs to be done on the editors part. To me, it looks like he is trolling for people to look at his blog. Both parties have contributed to the greater good and have worked together to change our world dramatically. Thank you for all your hard work Bill and Steve -- you guys are an inspiration to all of us to build off your work to create new and wonderful things for the future. ;)