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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Mustang / May 2005

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Bill Gates versus GM

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RichA - 27 Apr 2005 10:25 GMT
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
up
with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be
driving
$25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon"

In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
stating:

If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving
cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.

2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to
buy a new car.

3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You
could have to pull over to the side of the road, close all of the
windows, shut off the car, restart it, and then reopen the windows
before you could continue For some reason you would simply accept
this.

4. Occasionally, executing a manoeuvre such as a left turn would cause
your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would
have to reinstall the engine.

5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was
reliable,
five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only
five percent of the roads.

6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all
be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation"
warning light.

7. Before deploying, the airbag system would ask, "Are you sure?"

8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out
and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door
handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.

9. Every time a new car was introduced, the car buyer would have to
learn how to drive all over again, because none of the controls would
operate in the same manner as the old car.

10. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn off the engine.
Please share this with your friends who love - but sometimes hate
-their
computer!
memset@recorddeal.com - 27 Apr 2005 11:01 GMT
LMAO That's awesome, Rich!!!

-Mike

--
Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!
http://www.MeltAwayCellulite.com/

> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
> computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
> -their
> computer!
John H - 27 Apr 2005 20:21 GMT
>At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
>computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
[quoted text clipped - 47 lines]
>-their
>computer!

Great! Thanks.
Signature

John H

"All decisions are the result of binary thinking."

Quiet Desperation - 27 Apr 2005 22:13 GMT
> 5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was
> reliable,
> five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only
> five percent of the roads.

Yeah, but we can emulate a Windows car anytime we want by pushing it
off a cliff and letting it bounce end over end for a few hundred feet.
WindsorFox[SS] - 28 Apr 2005 02:04 GMT
> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
> computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving
> cars with the following characteristics (and I just love this part):

   You forgot to mention,
    11. Everytime you replace the oil, oil filter, airfilter and
sparkplugs, you have to call GM on the phone to get them to send you a
new key to start the car with....

Signature

There are no limits [to stupidity or kookdom], only extremes we haven't
reached yet.
                     - Quaestor

Andrew - 28 Apr 2005 03:05 GMT
>> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
>> computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> sparkplugs, you have to call GM on the phone to get them to send you a
> new key to start the car with....

.. and after waiting on the phone for the 5th time they tell you that you
have gotten too many new keys and will have to re-buy your car.
WindsorFox[SS] - 29 Apr 2005 03:20 GMT
>>    You forgot to mention,
>>     11. Everytime you replace the oil, oil filter, airfilter and
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>  .. and after waiting on the phone for the 5th time they tell you that you
>  have gotten too many new keys and will have to re-buy your car.

     Has that actually ever happened to anyone?? I have to tell you,
someone would have a serious problem. I upgrade my system a lot and
sometime change things just to change them or to do a hardware review.
Once I purchase that OS, by God it is MINE....

Signature

There are no limits [to stupidity or kookdom], only extremes we haven't
reached yet.
                     - Quaestor

Garth Almgren - 29 Apr 2005 03:59 GMT
>> Someone else whose name got snipped wrote:
>>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>      Has that actually ever happened to anyone??

It happened to an acquaintance of mine who is a friend of my cousin's,
but I didn't hear it directly from him, so it could have been BS or pure
misinformation. :)

> Once I purchase that OS, by God it is MINE....

Not according to Microsoft; you're not purchasing the OS itself, just a
license to use the OS.

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WindsorFox[SS] - 29 Apr 2005 04:43 GMT
>> Once I purchase that OS, by God it is MINE....
>
> Not according to Microsoft; you're not purchasing the OS itself, just a
> license to use the OS.

   Right, but if I change parts in my puter they have absolutly no
right to suddenly say "no".

Signature

There are no limits [to stupidity or kookdom], only extremes we haven't
reached yet.
                     - Quaestor

Thomas Cameron - 30 Apr 2005 21:33 GMT
>>> Once I purchase that OS, by God it is MINE....
>>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>    Right, but if I change parts in my puter they have absolutly no right
> to suddenly say "no".

Wanna bet?  Read the EULA.
memset@recorddeal.com - 30 Apr 2005 22:28 GMT
End User License Agreement

..I think.

-Mike

--
Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!
http://www.MeltAwayCellulite.com/

> >>> Once I purchase that OS, by God it is MINE....
> >>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>
> Wanna bet?  Read the EULA.
Thomas Cameron - 02 May 2005 04:28 GMT
You are right, sorry.  I'm in the computer biz so to me EULA is as natural
as "vert" is in this group.

Microsoft only licenses you to use thei OS and they put a wad of
restrictions in that EULA - if you can stay awake, you should really read
through it.  It's scary.

Thomas

> End User License Agreement
>
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>>
>> Wanna bet?  Read the EULA.
memset@recorddeal.com - 02 May 2005 06:45 GMT
I'm the computer biz too. What part you focus on? Web-development over here.

-Mike

--
Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!
http://www.MeltAwayCellulite.com/

> You are right, sorry.  I'm in the computer biz so to me EULA is as natural
> as "vert" is in this group.
[quoted text clipped - 26 lines]
> >>
> >> Wanna bet?  Read the EULA.
WindsorFox[SS] - 03 May 2005 07:19 GMT
> I'm the computer biz too. What part you focus on? Web-development over here.
>
> -Mike

  Internet porn and webmail spam here...

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What's black and looks good on a spammer?

...Gangrene.

William R. James

memset@recorddeal.com - 03 May 2005 07:28 GMT
LOL... time for me to switch !!

-Mike

--
Melt away the Cellulite with Cellulean!
http://www.MeltAwayCellulite.com/

> > I'm the computer biz too. What part you focus on? Web-development over here.
> >
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>
> William R. James
ZombyWoof - 03 May 2005 13:04 GMT
>> I'm the computer biz too. What part you focus on? Web-development over here.
>>
>> -Mike
>
>   Internet porn and webmail spam here...

I've always wished I got into the internet porn boom earlier.  Who'd
ever realized people would pay to watch to average looking people
screw or a bunch or College girls walk around in their house in their
undies.
Signature

"Either kill me or take me as I am,
because I'll be damned if I ever change..."

The Marquis de Sade

ZombyWoof - 28 Apr 2005 16:25 GMT
>At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
>computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept
>up
>with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be
>driving
>$25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon"

While humorous, it is not true.  There was no Comdex last year (2004),
I used to go ever year until it was canceled because of very poor
attendance in 2003.  This is a very old joke with certain elements of
the truth, but not from GM nor Microsoft.

>In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release
>stating:
[quoted text clipped - 40 lines]
>-their
>computer!

Signature

"Either kill me or take me as I am,
because I'll be damned if I ever change..."

The Marquis de Sade

one80out@hotmail.com - 28 Apr 2005 18:58 GMT
> This is a very old joke with certain elements of
> the truth, but not from GM nor Microsoft.

As one who recently moved from a Windows XP office to a Mac OS X
office, I can tell you that any claim to Mac superiority is definitely
an outdated myth.  This Mac stuff sucks, both from its own slowness and
from its incompatibility with Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word
(which I presume to be intentional on MS's part).  I haven't seen so
many lockups since Windows 95, and the speed (i.e., the lack of it) is
continuously aggravating.

180 Out
Kruse - 29 Apr 2005 04:16 GMT
> While humorous, it is not true.  There was no Comdex last year (2004),
> I used to go ever year until it was canceled because of very poor
> attendance in 2003.  This is a very old joke with certain elements of
> the truth, but not from GM nor Microsoft.

I was going to keep mum about this until I saw your post. I actually
saw the Bill Gates/GM statement about three or four years ago. I don't
know if there is any truth to all of it, but it couldn't have been said
at a RECENT Comdex because of when I first read it.
ZombyWoof - 29 Apr 2005 14:25 GMT
>> While humorous, it is not true.  There was no Comdex last year
>(2004),
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>know if there is any truth to all of it, but it couldn't have been said
>at a RECENT Comdex because of when I first read it.

Nah, it's to funny to be true, an to unprofessional to be as well.
The senior folks at GM aren't known for their sense of humor.  I've
never checked it against Snopes, but I would bet it is in there.  

It really is a shame about Comdex I used to love that show, but the
company that originally put it on went belly up and the folks who
purchased the rights to the name really didn't know what direction
they were going to go in.  They have been sending out a lot of
questionnaires to previous attendees to try an identify what the IT
community would like out of the trade show.  Towards the end you had
people with absolutely no connection to the IT business at all showing
up with kids in strollers just trying to grab up the swag.  After the
economic down turn after 9/11 most exhibitors cut way back on the good
swag stuff anyways.  I always enjoyed the keynote addresses and the
training sessions.  The exhibit floor was a monster to patrol.

Since Comdex was canceled this year and I had the monies to attend in
my budget I went to the CES for the very first time instead.  I
suspect many of the Comdex activities are going to get split between
the venue and Interop.
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"Either kill me or take me as I am,
because I'll be damned if I ever change..."

The Marquis de Sade

Fao, Sean - 05 May 2005 23:58 GMT
> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
> computer industry with the auto industry

[...]

This has actually been around for quite a while.  Still good for a laugh
;-)!

Interestingly enough, this might not be too far from a reality:

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/03/1735254&tid=109&tid=126&tid=137

Is it no surprise that it was Ford rather than GM that decided to work
with Microsoft?

Scary, I tell ya!

Signature

Sean

ZombyWoof - 06 May 2005 04:16 GMT
On Thu, 05 May 2005 18:58:21 -0400, "Fao, Sean"
<enceladus311@yahoo.comI-WANT-NO-SPAM> wrote something wonderfully
witty:

>> At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the
>> computer industry with the auto industry
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>
>Scary, I tell ya!

Yeah Microsoft building anything that doesn't crash is scarier then
hell.
Signature

"Either kill me or take me as I am,
because I'll be damned if I ever change..."

The Marquis de Sade

 
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