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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: checkbutton]
#178415
01/18/08 19:42
01/18/08 19:42
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 8,177 Netherlands
PHeMoX
Senior Expert
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Senior Expert
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 8,177
Netherlands
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edit: There's some weird script running on that page sending information around... be advised. Interesting! But checkbutton, who would be the greatest man in modern history according to you then?  Cheers
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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: checkbutton]
#178417
01/18/08 20:41
01/18/08 20:41
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Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 952 Cologne
padrino
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Posts: 952
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Calling Bill Gates the greatest men in mordern history is a little bit far-fetched and to be completly honest - geeky  Let me just name the greatest men of the past two decades - at least he is for me - Michail Gorbatschow. Though Bill Gates surely has done some things that are of high importance to us.
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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: padrino]
#178418
01/18/08 21:10
01/18/08 21:10
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 8,177 Netherlands
PHeMoX
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True padrino, that would be very geeky indeed, but I personally think it doesn't make any sense anyway to say that someone is 'THE' greatest person of modern history. If someone says Bill Gates is not him, then I was simply wondering who they were thinking of instead, what kind of people, hence why I've asked the question. I agree that Gorbatschow has been very important. Michail Gorbatschow did some great things, like re-uniting Germany, but he also single-handedly made sure the Soviet Union collapsed (with all it's consequences for entire countries). I think a lot of Russians and ex-Soviet states would definitely disagree with you thinking he was a great man doing so. In fact, when I was in Berlin about two years ago I met some people from the Eastern part of Berlin who said they would rather have it back the way it used to be actually. Probably communists you say? I wouldn't know actually. I personally do not quite agree with the idea that he 'ended' the Cold War by the way, if that's among the things why you think he's a great person. Don't forget that with the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was simply one of the inevitable things that Russia had to change. Spending unlimited funds on their war machine simply wasn't possible anymore and the situation of the US wasn't that different actually spending billions and billions more each year. I don't think Reagan was responsible for ending the Cold War either... at times I'm pretty confident the Cold War is still going strong, but just much less noticeable, perhaps on a slightly smaller scale, but definitely even more behind the screens. I'm not saying all this because I disagree with your opinion about Gorbatschow, actually I don't disagree, but I just think it's impossible to really say that one person was the most important...  Cheers
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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: PHeMoX]
#178419
01/18/08 22:07
01/18/08 22:07
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Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 290 Latvia
Leonardo
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Posts: 290
Latvia
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Whoah, whoah, whoah.... I don't know what kind of people you have been talking to, but the collapse of the Soviet Union brought us freedom and got the Commy bastards off our necks! And I should know...  Of course, saying that good-old Misha was the man responsible for this, is not very accurate, but as a president he was the tradition-breaker in Russia! None of it's presidents (Not then, not even now) don't even come close to him! And I believe that in Russia, a president who embraces democratic values, needs to have enormous courage, so we should at least give him credit about that! 
"Things of the mind left untested by the senses are useless."
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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: Leonardo]
#178420
01/18/08 23:35
01/18/08 23:35
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264 Wellington
Nems

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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,264
Wellington
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Bill Gates opened communication to the entire world! Like him or not, he is the man that enable instant contact, home conviniance and so on. Nothing geeky about that at all  (even though I wear reading glasses now  ) Thanks to his efforts, computing power and ease of use is now standard.
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Re: Bill Gates last Day at Microsoft
[Re: Leonardo]
#178421
01/19/08 00:11
01/19/08 00:11
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Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 8,177 Netherlands
PHeMoX
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Off topic: Quote:
I don't know what kind of people you have been talking to, but the collapse of the Soviet Union brought us freedom and got the Commy bastards off our necks!
Right, but it also ruined many economies that depended directly on it. It took a lot of countries a long time before they were able to recover from the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Personal freedom might be cool and all, but what good is freedom when you're broke and knee-deep in debts?
Besides, in most ex-Soviet Union countries people aren't exactly "free", I mean there's loads of corruption, human rights violations and so on going on in most of those countries even to this day. I think Latvia might be one of the few exceptions, if it even is an exception ,
Quote:
And I believe that in Russia, a president who embraces democratic values, needs to have enormous courage, so we should at least give him credit about that!
True, that's something that he should receive credit for indeed. Still, I can't help but think about how now there's Vladimir Putin someone that won't give his power and wealth away, corrupt as he is. Needless to say there's probably not much left of the democratic values, so really what's Gorbatschow actual legacy? I also think the post-Soviet Russia wasn't quite uhm how should I say "forward compatible" with democracy or at least not quite suited for it anyways. Change is good, but did the transformation actually succeed? I think despite all effort made by Gorbatschow it did not.
Cheers
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