Yet another reason to get angry with Bill...

[Alan McKinnon]

On Thursday 16 March 2006 08:02, Senectus . wrote:
> http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&
>storyid=2006-03-16T011042Z_01_N15248895_RTRUKOC_0_US-MICROSOFT-GATES
>.xml
>
> "By Joel Rothstein
>
> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile,
> Research) Chairman and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates on
> Wednesday mocked a $100 laptop computer for developing countries
> being developed with the backing of rival Google Inc. (GOOG.O:
> Quote, Profile, Research) at the Massachusetts Institute of
> Technology.

The famous quote from Ghandi:

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, 
then you win.

Recently Microsoft was doing step 3. I see they have now regressed to 
step 2. He must feel under threat.

He's also clueless about how places like Africa work. There is no 
connectivity, there is no support infrastructure, and there is no 
money for software. But give these folk a cheap alternative and lets 
see what they accomplish with it. 

I know of successful analogous projects in transportation, helping 
people get from point A to point B, and it's not massive investment 
in car factories. These folk need to get to the market in the next 
town. The solution is a bicycle. Cheap, reliable, maintenance free 
and suddenly the movement of basic goods increases substantially. 
This $100 laptop is a similar class of thing.

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan at linuxholdings dot co dot za
+27 82, double three seven, one nine three five