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Bill Gates never said "640k ought to be enough for anybody." https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/operating-systems/the--640k--quote-won-t-go-away----

Bill Gates never said "640k ought to be enough for anybody." https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/operating-systems/the--640k--quote-won-t-go-away----but-did-gates-really-say-it-.html https://www.computerworld.com/article/2534312/operating-syst...

nsxwolf 9y ago
Why does this myth keep getting pushed - by tech people no less? Bill Gates emphatically denied ever saying it and no one has ever come forward with a scrap of evidence he actually said it.
- johansch 9y ago
  Guess: it was perpetuated because lots of tech people hated him and what he did to the industry and to computing progress in general. He has since gotten way, way better PR handling though. Just look at the way Reddit absolutely adores him nowadays (he's done lots of very carefully managed AMAs). Heck, even on HN there's enough young people who have no idea how much this one individual repressed computing progress over 1-2 decades through market abuse. Here's one example of many of how the pro billg PR is done: https://www.reddit.com/r/secretsanta/comments/5iphpa/i_won_secret_santabill_gates_was_my_santa_link_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/secretsanta/comments/5iphpa/i_won_s...
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - reaperducer 9y ago
    Another guess: He actually said it and a few people heard it, but when he said it was before everything in the universe was constantly being recorded, photographed, and pushed to the internet, so there's not necessarily a record of it. Back then, you could just deny something happened, and often get away with it because you weren't being surveilled 24 hours a day. It's like when someone very knowledgeable about a subject posts information on Wikipedia. Even if they were there first hand; even if they were personally involved with the event; even if they wrote magazine articles about it and did radio interviews about it, and it was covered by television — if it happened before 2000, it'll get erased from Wikipedia by someone on the other side of the planet because there's not a web link or an ancient library book to cite for "proof." /Yes, I'm speaking from experience.
    - johansch 9y ago
      I don't disagree with you. Sort of related: It's a bit distressing, in away, how hard it is to access information from before like year 2007. Most of it is locked up in government reference libraries and you generally have to bonafide "researcher" to even access physical copies of publications. Oh, and it's not allowed to make copies of the material. Thanks a lot, Disney.
  - hota_mazi 9y ago
    > (he's done lots of very carefully managed AMAs) You seem to have a pretty prominent chip on your shoulder regarding Bill Gates. Gates has donated billions of dollars of his fortune to charity and he's largely credited for having eradicated malaria through these efforts in multiple countries. It's hard to find a good reason to dislike someone like that.
    - johansch 9y ago
      How old are you? Let me just guess; not old enough to have experienced living/working in tech while Bill was doing his thing. Did you ever pause to consider how much humanity would have progressed without him stopping so much progress in the first place? (I deleted a section on the malaria stuff; I misread your comment slightly at first.)
      - briankelly 9y ago
        If not Bill then Bob. At least he's doing some good in the world with that cash instead of hoarding it for him and his family. If it weren't for him, how long would have malaria persisted?
        johansch 9y ago
        I think his primary motivation is so simple.. he wants people to like him. Many, many people disliked him after his predatory business days. This is the perfect way to a) keep doing interesting work, b) getting people to like him again, c) get some personal karma. I can quite easily see the appeal of this. Also; I'm a big fan of his current work. I loved how my country (Sweden) matched a very large billg foundation program funding the other year; I think he's way better equipped with handling that money than my government's idealistic but fumbling people. I just think we shouldn't forget his past just because he's turned into modern day santa. We should learn from history...
        qubex 9y ago
        I’m not American but I wish he would decide that the situation there warrants ’philantropy’ and would this casually pour a billion or so into getting himself the Democratic nomination and the presidential election just for the sake of ousting Trump I’m a Battle Of The Billionaires (alleged, in Trump’s case).
  - qubex 9y ago
    I’m a child of the eighties, I grew up in the nineties, I remember waiting in line for my boxed copy of Windows 95 one August night in 1995, I remember ruling at Microsoft’s antitrust case (as related in WIRED), I remember how Slashdot featured an icon of Bill Gates with Borg add-one, but... I absolutely love the guy now and wish he would run for President (I am not American, just terrified).
    - johansch 9y ago
      Do you at all remember any market abuse, or do you only remember the good stuff? (Is this an attack? I can't tell any longer.)
      - qubex 9y ago
        No it’s not an attack. I’m just stating why in good faith I disagree with your statement.
- hota_mazi 9y ago
  > Why does this myth keep getting pushed Same reason plenty of people still believe in the Loch Ness Monster or that Crop Circles were made by aliens. Some people are hopelessly refractory to critical thinking and will never change their mind, no matter the evidence presented to them.
  - PurpleRamen 9y ago
    I don't think anyone is seriously believing in the loch ness monster. Crop circles properly too. Are they still happening?
- SilasX 9y ago
  I don't think the (most charitable use of the) quote depends on whether Bill Gates specifically said it. The point is, variously: - To emphasize that the definition of "a lot of [computational resource X]" changes over time. - That people previously had to do a lot of similar computational tasks with a lot less (which this article is making use of). With that said, I agree that he shouldn't be asserted as the author of the quote like it's a fact, but that just means you should quote it as "attributed to Bill Gates".
- orionblastar 9y ago
  It is an urban legend. I used QEMM for my Dos to get access to the rest of the PC memory by loading things in high or extended memory it freed up more memory on the bottom 640K conventional memory.
gkya 9y ago
Whether he said it or not is irrelevant, the article is about something else (or, something tangentially related).

nsxwolf 9y ago

Why does this myth keep getting pushed - by tech people no less? Bill Gates emphatically denied ever saying it and no one has ever come forward with a scrap of evidence he actually said it.

johansch 9y ago
Guess: it was perpetuated because lots of tech people hated him and what he did to the industry and to computing progress in general. He has since gotten way, way better PR handling though. Just look at the way Reddit absolutely adores him nowadays (he's done lots of very carefully managed AMAs). Heck, even on HN there's enough young people who have no idea how much this one individual repressed computing progress over 1-2 decades through market abuse. Here's one example of many of how the pro billg PR is done: https://www.reddit.com/r/secretsanta/comments/5iphpa/i_won_secret_santabill_gates_was_my_santa_link_to/ https://www.reddit.com/r/secretsanta/comments/5iphpa/i_won_s...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- reaperducer 9y ago
  Another guess: He actually said it and a few people heard it, but when he said it was before everything in the universe was constantly being recorded, photographed, and pushed to the internet, so there's not necessarily a record of it. Back then, you could just deny something happened, and often get away with it because you weren't being surveilled 24 hours a day. It's like when someone very knowledgeable about a subject posts information on Wikipedia. Even if they were there first hand; even if they were personally involved with the event; even if they wrote magazine articles about it and did radio interviews about it, and it was covered by television — if it happened before 2000, it'll get erased from Wikipedia by someone on the other side of the planet because there's not a web link or an ancient library book to cite for "proof." /Yes, I'm speaking from experience.
  - johansch 9y ago
    I don't disagree with you. Sort of related: It's a bit distressing, in away, how hard it is to access information from before like year 2007. Most of it is locked up in government reference libraries and you generally have to bonafide "researcher" to even access physical copies of publications. Oh, and it's not allowed to make copies of the material. Thanks a lot, Disney.
- hota_mazi 9y ago
  > (he's done lots of very carefully managed AMAs) You seem to have a pretty prominent chip on your shoulder regarding Bill Gates. Gates has donated billions of dollars of his fortune to charity and he's largely credited for having eradicated malaria through these efforts in multiple countries. It's hard to find a good reason to dislike someone like that.
  - johansch 9y ago
    How old are you? Let me just guess; not old enough to have experienced living/working in tech while Bill was doing his thing. Did you ever pause to consider how much humanity would have progressed without him stopping so much progress in the first place? (I deleted a section on the malaria stuff; I misread your comment slightly at first.)
    - briankelly 9y ago
      If not Bill then Bob. At least he's doing some good in the world with that cash instead of hoarding it for him and his family. If it weren't for him, how long would have malaria persisted?
      - johansch 9y ago
        I think his primary motivation is so simple.. he wants people to like him. Many, many people disliked him after his predatory business days. This is the perfect way to a) keep doing interesting work, b) getting people to like him again, c) get some personal karma. I can quite easily see the appeal of this. Also; I'm a big fan of his current work. I loved how my country (Sweden) matched a very large billg foundation program funding the other year; I think he's way better equipped with handling that money than my government's idealistic but fumbling people. I just think we shouldn't forget his past just because he's turned into modern day santa. We should learn from history...
        qubex 9y ago
        I’m not American but I wish he would decide that the situation there warrants ’philantropy’ and would this casually pour a billion or so into getting himself the Democratic nomination and the presidential election just for the sake of ousting Trump I’m a Battle Of The Billionaires (alleged, in Trump’s case).
- qubex 9y ago
  I’m a child of the eighties, I grew up in the nineties, I remember waiting in line for my boxed copy of Windows 95 one August night in 1995, I remember ruling at Microsoft’s antitrust case (as related in WIRED), I remember how Slashdot featured an icon of Bill Gates with Borg add-one, but... I absolutely love the guy now and wish he would run for President (I am not American, just terrified).
  - johansch 9y ago
    Do you at all remember any market abuse, or do you only remember the good stuff? (Is this an attack? I can't tell any longer.)
    - qubex 9y ago
      No it’s not an attack. I’m just stating why in good faith I disagree with your statement.
hota_mazi 9y ago
> Why does this myth keep getting pushed Same reason plenty of people still believe in the Loch Ness Monster or that Crop Circles were made by aliens. Some people are hopelessly refractory to critical thinking and will never change their mind, no matter the evidence presented to them.
- PurpleRamen 9y ago
  I don't think anyone is seriously believing in the loch ness monster. Crop circles properly too. Are they still happening?
SilasX 9y ago
I don't think the (most charitable use of the) quote depends on whether Bill Gates specifically said it. The point is, variously: - To emphasize that the definition of "a lot of [computational resource X]" changes over time. - That people previously had to do a lot of similar computational tasks with a lot less (which this article is making use of). With that said, I agree that he shouldn't be asserted as the author of the quote like it's a fact, but that just means you should quote it as "attributed to Bill Gates".
orionblastar 9y ago
It is an urban legend. I used QEMM for my Dos to get access to the rest of the PC memory by loading things in high or extended memory it freed up more memory on the bottom 640K conventional memory.

gkya 9y ago

Whether he said it or not is irrelevant, the article is about something else (or, something tangentially related).