[Klug-general] [OT] Bill Gates: the last day at Microsoft

[Karl Buckland]

Karl Lattimer wrote:
> On Fri, 2008-01-11 at 13:14 +0000, Margot wrote:
>   
>> Karl Buckland wrote:
>>     
>>> George Prowse wrote:
>>>       
>>>> Of course i'd give credit for building a strong business and making 
>>>> decisions that are good for said business. If I were him i'd probably 
>>>> have done the same, but i'm not and therefore it is my right to get 
>>>> annoyed about them :)
>>>>         
>>> I think the way I'd put it is this:
>>> I can respect the hard work and great sales and marketing strategy that 
>>> Bill has essentially used to get MS to where it is. We all know that 
>>> Microsoft has never provided the best technical solution, or even the 
>>> best support solution. It just came down to a bit of luck and some good 
>>> sales and marketing. Now I don't agree with Microsoft's business methods 
>>> but I can still respect that in the big corporate world those methods 
>>> are generally quite smart. Microsoft has got where it is, without 
>>> significant penalty and continues to perform really rather well. Purely 
>>> from a business/results perspective that's good. Now I wouldn't have 
>>> done it, because it's not the sort of person I am, but I can still 
>>> respect it. And at least in the case of Bill Gates, he gives quite a lot 
>>> to charity. He could do worse...
>>>
>>>       
>
> This is where I draw the line, I cannot on one hand have respect for
> someone for one thing, then despise them for another. They are either
> worthy of respect or not, and if you unbalance the equation too far in
> one direction you loose that.
>
>   
I don't remember saying I despise anything? I think it's perfectly fair 
to respect someone/something, even if you disagree with it. If my boss 
makes a decision I disagree with I can still respect it.