Comments on: If I were Bill Gates, I'd ban iPhones too

If he were Bill Gates, Don Reisinger would ban iPhones too. Would you?

[ThatGuy2-1]

Wow you started out all normal like normal people and then just went on a tangent and went crazy!!! I LIKE!!!!

[MPB]

I disagree with article hugely!!!!!!

You might as well replace the Windows Logo with the Swastika because thats what your describing a dictatorship!!!

Do this!!! Don't do that!!! This is Band!!! You can't have this!!!!

If Bill really wants his children to use his product than GET MICROSOFT TO MAKE SOMETHING BETTER than the iPod or iPhone, instead of trying to force Microsoft's second grade products down his children's throat.

[sythara]

Sadly you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Better luck next time.

[StanislawLyzwinski]

I have 3 daughters, age 8,10,12. I love Apple products but I would not allow my girls to have any of the Apple devices yet. They have time. Youth is about exploring, developing social skills, and getting smarter. I don't think a cell phone or an mp3 player are enabler for it (whether Apple products or not)

[myles taylor]

Does anyone else notice that Don was being extreme and that this article wasn't being serious? Just wondering.

(steps back to let the flaming continue)

[WDS2]

Microsoft ran their business <on major TLA competitor> products at the same time they were trying to convince their customers that the competitor's products were inferior. Eventually they switched but I still find that humorous.

[geo825]

Why should we care about what Bill Gates uses in his house?

[t8]

We don't care. It is about what he can't have due to Microsoft politics.

[t8]

You realise that Bill is going to be very angry with Melinda's comment now that it has made IT news. I can hear him saying, "Melinda, please be careful what you say, as rogue comments like that could damage Microsoft's already battered reputation, and just because everyone else has the best doesn't mean that we have to".

[msjonker]

Do you see the families of GM execs rolling around in Fords? I bet not.

Probably for this same reason, Gates isn't allowing his family to carry around Apple products. Could you imagine how much stupid press Microsoft would get if a photo or video of one of Gates' own with an Apple product? Nevermind that maybe the iPhone caters to kids better than say a Windows Mobile phone does. No one is going to ask why they are using it, people will just make their own conclusions and treat them as fact. (Much like the writer of this article did.)

What it all comes down to is that consumer electronics is a very immature market. Look at the Mac commercials. There's no real substance there, just some biased claims about who is cooler. And that's the same kind of mindset that couldn't handle a Gates family member using an Apple product.

[MrReason]

I am not generally a microsoft basher. Frankly, I have found Windows Mobile to be a more stable environment than the iPhone's OS. When I was using it, I rarely had crashes, etc. like I do with my iPhone. Apps constantly crash and bounce you back to the home screen. That being said, Microsoft just doesn't get it as to why the iPhone is so popular. In my opinion its form factor (big screen and thin case) and ease of use. The core of the iPhone OS is not superior to Windows Mobile (windows mobile rarely crashed and it allows background processes). For Microsoft to be competitive it must dictate a thinner phone, it must make the OS easier to use by just finger touch and it must completely rewrite its internet explorer which is just awful by comparison to the iPhone. I would never give up my iPhone - not because the core OS is superior to Windows Mobile, but because of useability - there simply is no other product that is so sleek and so easy to use. I think Microsoft's chance to salvage Windows Mobile may have passed.

[eljitto]

According to this arcticle,

Shouldnt he block Cnet as well.


can u say owned???

[RompStar_420]

I want an iPhone, Microsoft software on a Phone is total crap, I used to have one, it would freeze completely, no button would work, not even the power-down button, I would have to remove the batter to reset it.

It was a nightmare, the worst phone I have ever owned. I have a blackberry right now, and it too isn't perfect, but a far cry from Microsoft SUCK poop software.

I need to save the money and buy the iPhone is what I need to do.

[Perry_Clease]

So MicroSoft didn't get a good a good return on that mobile software. :)

[CrazyMundo]

In my honest opinion, I think this whole news coverage frenzy over something so trivial is insane. Bill Gate's wife simply mentioned that she liked the product. The fact that they are being banned at their house is far from anyone's business. Isn't it, your house, your rules. Let it be. Like someone stated earlier, I'm sure the only reason they ban their kids from using Apple products is simply for PR. Look at this whole situation right now, she only said she like it. Could you imagine if they saw Bill or his wife or any of his kids for that matter with an Apple product? If Melinda just mentioned she liked it and not necessarily envious of it, and look at the coverage that it's getting. I think it's truly ridiculous. Get a life people!

[SteveW928]

Finally Don.... a good article with a good bit of humor... and not predicting the demise of Apple or PS3, etc. Kudos!

[sting7k]

I think this entire thing was just blown completely out of proportion. Mainly because this wasn't an interview on CNN, CBS, Fox, NBC, or any news outlet. This was an interview with Vogue magazine, how serious was she really being? And who cares anyway, they can buy or not buy anything they want for THEIR kids.

[Outside_Looking_In]

Is everyone forgetting that MSFT is primarily, first and foremost an (operating) software company? I mean, when you go out and buy a PC, what EXACTLY is it you buy? You buy a Dell, HP, Sony, Gateway or whatever your freedom of choice is. You don't go to Best Buy and say, "I'd like to buy a MSFT computer." They are a software company; first and foremost. Apple on the other hand, has a say in everything that their name is going on. They create a product with components that will further aid in their products performance. Whether it be an iPhone, iPod, etc. Yes, I know MSFT makes their own mp3 player, gaming console, but their phones are made by other companies running their SOFTWARE. Which I can attest to being JUNK. Freezing, crashing, etc.- everything everyone experiences with their operating software.
And if he doesn't want his family to own Apple products, then that's his prerogative. But I can sure bet the government's stimulus package that every one of his family members have gotten their hands on an Apple product at one point or another and envy their friends who have them. He may be able to control his family, but he can't control his family's friends and what they buy...

[artistjoh]

Let us contrast a few salient facts that I would assume probably mean that there is no similar ban on competitors products in the Jobs home. Apple is proud of the fact that their computers can run not just Windows but Linux as well. It demonstrates a confidence and an invitation to people to use competitors products safe in the (perhaps smug) belief that the comparison will make the user glad to get back to OS X.

Apple famously uses Windows devices in their stores and the fact that PC's are used in manufacturing plants is also well documented. Office software has always been available for Macintosh and the connection between Apple and the early days of Office is well known.

Considering the relaxed attitude to using Microsoft products at Apple and the fact that Microsoft has a substantial profit from Macintosh users who use their products it seems surprising to me that a ban on competitors products is in force in the Gates household. Surely the fear of paparazzi snapping pics of white earbuds in Gate's ears is no big deal - after all Apple is not harmed by its embrace of Microsoft products and while Steve Jobs using a Zune would be news, his family doing the same thing would be seen as no big deal.. Prior to this the same would be said of the Gates family but after this story Mrs Gates has made it an issue. Pity.

[ewelch]

Yep, like I said, pathetic. But you have a very good point. The nosey press would find out his kids are using iPhones and iPods and they'd NEVER hear the end of it and there goes the retirement fund.

If I were Gates, I'd have bought Apple when it was affordable and kept Jobs on. I could have retired much earlier and spent more time and money eradicating polio from India and Macs from libraries everywhere.

[mathue_tax]

>You certainly would not espouse Apple to use Dell servers in their internal infrastructure

Actually, I could have sworn that one of the keynotes years ago had two Dell monitors on the stage.

[JCPayne]

Hmmm. The Chinese government could always bann Microsoft products too in favor of their own Red Flag Linux O/S. Wouldn't that make the most sense too?

[DarkerRaul]

"You certainly would not espouse Apple to use Dell servers in their internal infrastructure despite opinions of what is 'superior' or otherwise, right?"

Maybe not Dells, however, If you've visited an apple store since they did away with the registers and moved on to hand held payment devices, you'll notice that they run Microsoft software for their payments.