October 30, 2011 at 11:36 am
Harold PollackIt’s an irresistible comparison. At first glance, Jobs benefits enormously from the comparison. A charismatic design visionary, he built two great companies with great products. The Apple II, the Mac, the iPod, the iPad, the iStore, the iPhone, and Pixar films enrich our lives. Gates forms an almost comically anti-charismatic and corporate contrast to Jobs’ rebellious genius. Gates built a great company by developing and selling undeniably useful, generally less original or beautiful products.
Still, in my book, Gates wins by a mile. To understate things, Jobs was a mercurial and difficult man. To paraphrase George Steiner’s take on Albert Einstein, the bright light of Jobs’ genius cast its shadows on many surrounding lives.
More to the point, Gates has used his huge wealth to save literally millions of lives and to attack America’s tremendous difficulties in our education system. He’s done so in an admirable, evidence-based way that has altered the fields of philanthropy and global health. Perhaps Jobs might have done the same, had he been granted a few more creative decades on this earth. In what we got the chance to actually see, Gates was the more visionary figure in this domain.
The New Yorker’s Barry Blitt paid tribute with an inspired and touching cover of Steve Jobs at the pearly gates, with Saint Peter referencing Jobs’ records on an iPad. When Bill Gates’ own time comes to pass, St. Peter may not have access to an equivalently inspired Microsoft product. Then again, Saint Peter will have less reason to look things up. I’m told that God cares a lot more about the new malaria vaccines than he does about the iTunes store.
Comments closed
by LOL! on October 30th, 2011 at 17:17
Go READ THIS:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/30/opinion/mona-simpsons-eulogy-for-steve-jobs.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
by Barry Deutsch on October 30th, 2011 at 20:26
I agree with virtually all of this post, except one minor point: That New Yorker was not “inspired.” It was an embarrassing hack job; it was the single most cliched and obvious image imaginable, and anyhow, dude was a Buddhist.
Political cartoonist Matt Bors even drew a cartoon making fun of all the “Steve Jobs at the pearly gates” cartoons.
by David T on October 31st, 2011 at 01:52
It’s hard to know if you are serious. Jobs wasn’t an easy man but was Gates so easy? Was he driven by making good products or winning whether or not that improved people’s lives? Do you prefer the days when Microsoft dominated the software market while hurting the consumer (some may miss the Internet Explorer monopoly days but I sure don’t).
As for how Gates has spent his money that’s a whole different issue. The Rockerfeller money has done enormous good. Does that mean that John D’s business practices get a whitewash? Not to me. It’s hard to argue that the computer experience would be so much worse without Gates. And it’s hard to argue that it couldn’t have been much better in the absence of Jobs. And I’m not particularly a Mac person.
by john on November 3rd, 2011 at 06:24
Idolize Bill Gates, Not Steve Jobs
http://antiworldnews.wordpress.com/2011/11/03/idolize-bill-gates-not-steve-jobs/
by Jordan on November 17th, 2011 at 14:25
Bill Gates is one of the most charitable people in the world. Steve Jobs was the biggest conceited and degrading douche in the world.
by Johnnylei on December 28th, 2011 at 18:45
The iStore? I think you mean the app store.
by Dr.A.Jagadeesh on July 3rd, 2012 at 22:08
Both Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are unique personalities who shaped modern wold of ‘Computer Age’
Dr.A.Jagadeesh Nellore(AP),India
E-mail: anumakonda.jagadeesh@gmail.com