Google finally has a way of generating revenue without ads...

bugsmi0

I guess that's why bandwidth and hosting costs are at an all time low, and home broadband speeds keep rising. Pretty soon, the costs of running a major site will be so low, only the mega-rich will be able to afford it. What scares me is that you actually believe that lol I bet you also believe they make the prices low just for you because they care. The only reasons prices may appear cheap is so that the big biz can squash the compeition out, and also they are low so that they can lock you into more contracts buying more stuff ultimately getting all your money in their greedy hands. Of course, you'll be able to afford it they will make sure you can pay them all of your hard earned cash they will make sure of this that's how much they care. geez and I thought for a moment there you were getting intelligent on me :p gatesfoundation lol that's a good one, i bet its a good profit center for him

prince_of_oreon

bugsmi0: "gatesfoundation lol that's a good one, i bet its a good profit center for him"

a. He's spending Warren Buffets money.
b. Its a tax write-off.
c. It is sure to evangelize Microsoft in developing nations.
d. It has stopped a lot of Gates / Microsoft bashing.
e. It makes them not look like greedy pigs.
f. It in part propogates the Windows OS in developing nations.
g. It's a brilliant PR move.

That's why he did it, not necessarily because he's an innate sense of altruism. There is a reason Google is doing it too.

WallPhone

Coincidence that a pair of spambots appear the same time as a pair of trolls?

Bergamot

"What scares me is that you actually believe that lol I bet you also believe they make the prices low just for you because they care."

No, they make the prices low because their cost to provide bandwidth and storage space has been falling quickly in recent years, mainly as a result of technological improvements:

Net broadband subscriptions grew at a record pace in the 3rd Qtr of 2004 (ending 9/30) to 31 million, reaching 52% of internet users. At this pace, internet homes users are converting to broadband at a rate of 1.5% per month.

On the other content producer side, costs are dropping and revenues are increasing. In May, Bernstein Research released a report in analyzing the profound implications of a continued decline in bandwidth cost:

"Over the last half decade the cost of transport has plummeted. Bit transport costs have halved each year, and are still dropping 40-50% per year... Over the last decade, the number of bits necessary to transmit the same quality (video) picture has declined by an average of 15% per year, with recent improvements of at least 200-400% as new algorithms have been incorporated into compression schemes and as faster processors have allowed faster decoding... If the current rate of reduction of transport pricing continues, then [a] data stream that costs $0.15 an hour today will cost less than one one-thousandth of a cent in 2014."

It's not in their interests to price all but the mega-rich off the internet, because that would make the net virtually worthless, as it derives most of its value from the enormous variety of content available.


"The only reasons prices may appear cheap is so that the big biz can squash the compeition out, and also they are low so that they can lock you into more contracts buying more stuff ultimately getting all your money in their greedy hands."

Nobody's being forced to sign contracts; If you don't think the terms are fair, don't agree to them.


gatesfoundation lol that's a good one, i bet its a good profit center for him"

Are you accusing him of skimming money off the top of a non-profit charity? That's a pretty serious allegation, and I'd hope you have more evidence to back that up than "omg hes so greedy lol"

Crazy conspiracy theories aside, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation appears to have been created out of a desire to get rid of large chunks of money in a productive manner.


"geez and I thought for a moment there you were getting intelligent on me "

Only for a moment?

Minisweeper

I really fail to see how giving away millions of dollars could be profitable for anyone. Unless they were giving it away to someone who was offering them 10-1 odds on 1 being equal to 1. And i'd go for some of those bets too. It is an excellent PR move, granted, but it's not like he gave away a few million dollars - in turn earning him a few million more - and then kept what his PR 'stunt' earnt him. Everyone knows it's impossible to spend his amount of money in a lifetime, and if he stopped earning anything tomorrow I'm quite sure it wouldnt stress him out too much. One might say that setting up something such as the Gates Foundation is just the right thing to do in his situation, but he still didnt have to do it.

bugsmi0

please, everyone knows that non-profit crops are created for tax advantage only and to hide money they should be reporting, geez are people so easily convinced just by a photograph ? which by the way is also made to sell you the idea that they are serving the community. Its easy to paint a picture on a website and make it as if you are doing such charity to mankind, its all a joke. Who do you think invented non-profit the big corporations, Bill Gates is as corrupt as they get. Why do you think corporations actually most business have their product made in china ? india ? because labor is cheap there which means they can hold on to more of their profit in the US. They are not there to feed the children only a fool would fall for that scam. You can be sure the foundation would not exist unless he was getting paid lots of $$$

prince_of_oreon

Not to mention the brilliance of giving away millions of cheap laptops running Windows software to poor needy kids in third-world countries. By 2020, when these countries have become developed who will wean these people off Microsoft?

To make this post relevant to the topic, I shall redeem it by saying that it is my firm belief the Gates Foundation should use Google Wallet to distribute payments. It would prove the honesty of his cause.

Minisweeper

Ofcourse companies use cheap labour. It's a basic business model - increase income and decrease costs. That's how business works. The Gates foundation is run by Bill and Melinda though, not microsoft. And Bill has less and less to do with MS. I'm not saying it's not a major PR stunt, but I'm also fairly sure Bills income and expenditure is monitored extremely closely to make sure he's paying as much tax as possible and not laundering money. When you're the richest man in the world people tend to keep their eye on you. Obviously giving money to charity has tax benefits, but the refunded tax goes to the charity not the donator. That's the point in stuff like giftaid here in the UK.

I dont for one minute doubt that Bill didnt setup the foundation purely 100% for the charity of it, but I'm not sure anyone (even the richest man in the world) can be called 'greedy' when they're chair of a foundation with a total worth of nearly $30bn.

Dinoboff

@prince_of_oreon: Before assuming that the bill gate charity is meant to give away computer to poor children all other third world, you should check what exactly this charity is doing.

Felipe

(Google and China, Bergamot #21)

Given those options, I think they made the right decision. It goes without saying that the real culprit is the opressive Chinese government, not the people and corporations they bully into submission.

Everybody knows that the chinese government is an oppressive one, but Google wanted to be known as a somehow different company. It showed its real nature here: absolutely not different from others, whatever they say.

bugsmi0

giving away free computers to third world children is a way of getting them hooked like a candy bar, here try out someof my free drugs a trial offer then your hooked and have to pay to feed the addiction he he about the charity funds, you know damn well the money gets shifted around and will end up in the pockets of the owners of the charity org this is well known. Sure some goes to whereever its suppose to but in the end it comes right back to the owner. Most charity organizations have one goal in mind profit, its not helping people although there are some legitimate ones that do help. I think its foolish to be naive about charity, real charity begins at home with your family. I only donate to charities that I can physically go to and check it out and know exactly where the money is going. I also am against tipping in a restaurant to the waiter/waitress just because everybody does it, if they don't provide superior service they aren't getting a tip not even 1 penny :-)

Dinoboff

@bugsmi0 & prince: please just checked was are the activities of his charity... I am prety sure the priorities of: poverty, heath, education...

Bill Gates has enought money for 30 or 60 generation of Gates, why do you think he need or want to steal money???

bugsmi0

greedy rich people always want more $$$$ its never enough,when you reach that level the thirst continues

Trik

Sweet lord bugsmi0, where are you from? Talk about rich, 50% of the world lives on $2 United Statesian or less. Which in many instances makes even our homeless in the top 10% of the world. Considering you're online talking about greedy rich bastards, I bet that puts you in the top 3% of the worlds income bracket. So step back a second and ask yourself who the greedy people are? The ones that don't tip, thats who.

jesusphreak

Lol its funny to see this old thread again.

LoOkOuT

Yeah, but what have the Romans done for us?

bugsmi0

give me a break you think tipping makes a difference in the world ? lol tipping is fine if the waiter/waitress performed superior service if they didn't they do not deserve a tip do you disagree ? so if i gave you crappy service you will still tip me just becuase of some silly institutionalized belief ? you are either a fool or idget not sure which he he tips have to be earned not handed, don't tell me about people who live on $2 they choose their way of life, yes poor people are poor by choice. Nobody gets things handed to them well some do but those are the born filty rich people lol I don't feel sorry for those working at $2 jobs, they choose it if they want a tip i'll tell them to get a better job, if they want $$ tip then perform excellent service and I don't mean handing me a glass of water, they better do some serious service and do it well if they expect a tip that's the way it should work. you don't get a tip for only doing your job, you get a tip for going beyond your normal duties

WallPhone

Ask any of your waitstaff if tipping makes a difference to them before you order. It sure does for their world.

Doing 'normal duties' as waitstaff results in a sub-minimum pay rate here in the US. Tipping for 'normal duties' is understood and expected to compensate for the low wage. IMHO, witholding tips for 'normal duties' and only giving them when someone goes beyond 'nomal duties' is very selfish and rude.

Now, if someone does not perform their 'normal duties' then I can see witholding or reducing a tip. Waitstaff have a very demanding job for very little pay, they are the furthest from these 'greedy corrupt rich' that you despise, yet you show comtempt for them also.

I have never worked as waitstaff, but I still show appreciation for their service. It is too bad that what should be the most important role in a business (directly interfacing with the customer) is the least appreciated financially.

Dinoboff

Have you seen Reservoir Dog?

strawberries

I am from Ireland, and we (like the Scots) only open our wallet at gunpoint. Anyways when I was in San Francisco for a holiday in 1996, I didn't realise about this whole Merican tipping thing. After the first day or two, I found it very difficult to get a table, nevermind served. I lost 10lbs in a week. Best dietary regime I ever had.