Bill Gates Promotes Vaccine Projects, Swipes At Google 481
Nerval's Lobster writes "In a new interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Bill Gates discussed his Foundation's work to eradicate polio and malaria, while suggesting that vaccine programs and similar initiatives to fight disease and poverty will ultimately do much more for the world than technology projects devoted to connecting everybody to the Internet. While Gates professes his belief in the so-called digital revolution, he doesn't think projects such as Google's Internet blimps (designed to transmit WiFi signals over hundreds of miles, bringing Internet to underserved areas in the process) will do the third world nearly as much as good as basic healthcare. "When you're dying of malaria, I suppose you'll look up and see that [Internet] balloon, and I'm not sure how it'll help you," he said. "When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there's no website that relieves that." Gates then sharpened his attack on the search-engine giant: "Google started out saying they were going to do a broad set of things. They hired Larry Brilliant, and they got fantastic publicity. And then they shut it all down." Google focusing on its core mission is fine, he added, "but the actors who just do their core thing are not going to uplift the poor." The Microsoft co-founder also has no intention of following Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and other tech entrepreneurs into the realm of space exploration. "I guess it's fun, because you shoot rockets up in the air," he said. "But it's not an area that I'll be putting money into.""
not really a "fight" - thank God... (Score:5, Informative)
Bill Gates does not waste his time "attacking" Google - he just answers questions.
-question: "One of Google’s (GOOG) convictions is that bringing Internet connectivity to less-developed countries can lead to all sorts of secondary benefits. It has a project to float broadband transmitters on balloons. Can bringing Internet access to parts of the world that don’t have it help solve problems?"
-answer: "When you’re dying of malaria, I suppose you’ll look up and see that balloon, and I’m not sure how it’ll help you. When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there’s no website that relieves that. Certainly I’m a huge believer in the digital revolution. And connecting up primary-health-care centers, connecting up schools, those are good things. But no, those are not, for the really low-income countries, unless you directly say we’re going to do something about malaria.
Google started out saying they were going to do a broad set of things. They hired Larry Brilliant, and they got fantastic publicity. And then they shut it all down. Now they’re just doing their core thing. Fine. But the actors who just do their core thing are not going to uplift the poor."
The same about the "shooting rockets" thing!
-question: "There are other successful businessmen who are orienting their extracurricular interests around space exploration. Is that interesting to you? Is that worthwhile for humanity?"
-answer: "Everybody’s got their own priorities. In terms of improving the state of humanity, I don’t see the direct connection. I guess it’s fun, because you shoot rockets up in the air. But it’s not an area that I’ll be putting money into."
Keep saving the world Bill - God bless you!
Re:Idea (Score:5, Informative)
Or he's trying to drag other very wealthy people out of their comfort zone.
He doesn't have to do any of this, you know.
Bill Gates is not the philanthropist he pretends to be.
The Gates Foundation has an endowment of $30 Billion making it the largest philanthropic organization in the world. But one third of that money is invested in companies whose practices run counter to the foundation’s supposed charitable goals and social mission.
In Niger, the Foundation has invested more than $400 million dollars in oil companies including Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil Corp, and Chevron. These firms have been responsible for much of the pollution causing respiratory problems and other afflictions among the local population.
The Gates Foundation also has investments in sixty-nine of the worst polluting companies in the US and Canada, including Dow Chemical.
It holds investments in pharmaceutical companies whose drugs cost far beyond what most patients around the world can afford and the Foundation often lobbies on behalf of those companies for "Intellectual Property" protections that make obtaining low cost medicines more difficult.
Other companies in the Foundation’s portfolio have been accused of forcing thousands of people to lose their homes, supporting child labor and defrauding and neglecting patients in need of medical care.
In the mean time, Bill Gates' net worth has gone from $50 Billion to $70 Billion over the last 3 years.
Re:Idea (Score:5, Informative)
The Soviets tried that process. Look how well it worked for them.
That's not the approach that the Soviets took, they went with single provider (like the UK or the VA). Switzerland has the individual mandate, and they are 20 years in and spending 11% of their GDP where we spend 16% of ours.
Re:not really a "fight" - thank God... (Score:4, Informative)
"When you’re dying of malaria, I suppose you’ll look up and see that balloon, and I’m not sure how it’ll help you. When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there’s no website that relieves that.
When my kid gets diarrhea the first thing I did was went online to lookup what the causes could be, what the home remedies (if any) were, at what point I should be concerned enough to schedule a doctor visit (or an ER visit for that matter). If a doctor visit is necessary I can then look up what doctors are nearby and accepting patients, or schedule an appointment with our existing doctor, or check wait and travel times to an emergency center. So... yes, there is in fact a website (several actually) that helps me cope with my child being sick, it can't magically cure them, but it can help manage resources (both parental and medical network resources) much more efficiently.
Re:He's right, of course. (Score:5, Informative)
FFS, can you people bother to RTFA?
Say it with me: RTFA
Once more, all together now: READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE!
He didn't compare himself to Google, he was specifically asked to comment on Google's internet-blimp initiative and whether he thought it would help poorer countries.
Stupid sensationalist summary begets stupid irrelevant comments. Another typical day on Slashdot.....
Re:Idea (Score:3, Informative)
Been there as well and I can tell you that you hit the mark with your comment.
Go to Africa and you get a real sense of how puny mortal people are. Simple things can kill people. Heck, drinking the wrong water can kill you there. All the while, people are killing each other. So it's not enough that mother nature wants you to die, but you've got a whole sect of people out to gun you down as well.
Internet blimps are just a whole hearty dumb idea that'll serve no one there. There has to be a minimum level of quality of life for the Internet to be anywhere in the remote sense useful and pretty much the entire continent of Africa just isn't there.
The Slashdot crowd gets on here and says that Internet would empower them. There just is no way, at least not at this point in history. There are just too many basic things missing for the Internet to serve any good.