[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
This question is rife with problems, not the least of which is that the "Americans" who are up for consideration are only Americans who are part of US history, which leaves aside the vast majority of Americans south and north of the US border.Everyone knows what an American is, Christian. And that is someone from the United States.
No, Christian, they are not. Google ads are not made by Google, neither are they edited for content by Google. Google is in direct competition with Microsoft, as pointed out by this list, they would have no reason to suggest Bill Gates is the greatest American.Nonetheless, Google, which runs Linux, is probably hinting to us that Bill Gates might be in the running to win the "Greatest [US] American" award, and implicitly asking if that is an honor that is appropriate.
Michael Raynor, co-author of "Innovator's Solution" with Clayton Christensen, said in his Digital Tipping Point interview that Microsoft initially solved some hard problems concerning the coordination of vastly different technologies and players in popularizing the PC, and I would agree with him to a point. However, the lock down tactics that Microsoft has employed to achieve its monopoly raises a serious question in my mind as to whether Bill Gates deserves such an honor. For those who are interested in voting in this poll, the link is here.As you can see, AOL is responsible for the poll - *not* Google. AOL pays Google for their content-specific ads. Even the wording of the question was not intended to directly suggest that Bill Gates is worth of such a title. In fact, your belief that it was and your consequent following of the link is exactly what AOL wanted. I'd be willing to wager good money that more people would click the link because they completely disagree with it. Few would consider Bill worthy of the honor, and only those who think he deserves the opposite title (ie worst American) or close to it would bother clicking the link (as you did) to voice their opposition.
http://tv.channel.aol.com/greatestamerican
In the end, your reaction is better than AOL could have hoped - not only did you respond, but you posted it on a Googleable link on a list with a number of surscribers. And they don't have to pay Google for the publicity. But Billy Boy, I doubt he stands a chance - so an anti-Bill campaign won't affect him much.
-Chad Smith
