The only place I would say Tesla really 'lost' was not being credited with invention of radio. Marconi erroneously got that honor. Tesla's patents cover just about every electric motor in existence today. He and Edison were definitely bitter enemies. Funny thing is, we are now with modern inverter technology actually using DC on big transmission lines because even the inverter losses are in some cases less than the loss of sending AC power long distance.
I think we discussed business ethics and price gouging on here not too far back. As for Gates, I can't imagine it would be possible to amass that kind of fortune without screwing some people over and as you said, he is a brilliant marketing guy. I would say he's no better than an oil or pharmaceutical company executive. But if the story as told to me were 100% true, the guy who did it would no longer draw breath. My friend was not prone to exaggerate for effect, so I tend to think he told it as he believed it. Since he is now dead, we cannot ask him for more detail. Allen's new book sounds interesting though. I may pick it up and read it. With respect to laws, when you have that much money, there are none that really affect you. On Fri, Dec 30, 2011 at 11:33 AM, Raymond E. Feist <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Dec 30, 2011, at 7:18 AM, Nick Andrews wrote: > >> Nothing to do with any OS or brand, just human nature. Polio, eh? >> Must be an attempt to assuage part of his guilty conscience from all >> the people he has screwed over. I had a friend named Gerald Abear who >> worked with Gates in the early years and got royally hosed by him as >> just one person out of many. I am quite sure he was a much better >> programmer, etc. than Gates. But maybe not a great businessman. Like >> Nikola Tesla, he was taken advantage of by the other guy... > > > Tesla bitched and moaned because he didn't get rich, not because he lost. > Remember, it was Edison who wanted direct current, not alternating, but when > he saw the handwriting on the wall, he switched over. > > Gates was the Borg of Silicon Valley; if he liked it, he assimilated it. > > And he was never a programmer. That was Bill Allen. Gates was always the > marketing guy. And a good one. > > His advantage was he saw things other people missed. He took advantage. > After he got hugely wealthy, other people complained. The guy who sold DOS > to gates for $50,000 was really happy when he did so. Years later after he > saw Microsoft make billions from DOS he bitched and moaned. Gates saw how to > tie DOS into the "IBM Compatible" meme and work it, while the creator of DOS > didn't. That's how it works. > > Now, did he get close to breaking the law. Absolutely in many cases, but the > lawsuits and fines were the cost of doing business. Ethical? Hardly. But > it didn't rise to the test of many crimes and so the Justice Department never > prosecuted. In the end, he's a billionaire, but Microsoft is no longer the > 900 lbs gorilla. There isn't one any more, but Apple gets close by being the > wealthiest company on the planet. > > But don't look at Bill's charity work as assuage guilt; look at it for what > it is, trying to save lives and keep kids from suffering. > > Best, R.E.F. > ---- > www.crydee.com > > Never attribute to malice what can satisfactorily be explained away by > stupidity. > > > > > > > -- Nick A "You know what I wish? I wish that all the scum of the world had but a single throat, and I had my hands about it..." Rorschach, 1975 "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759 "Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them." Bill Vaughan "The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." Plato
