5 ms·

I am guessing that most people here have apparently forgotten about the patent troll aspect of Paul Allen: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100827/120017108

by gist 8y ago

I am guessing that most people here have apparently forgotten about the patent troll aspect of Paul Allen: https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100827/12001710802.shtml https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100827/12001710802.shtml Now I am sure there are those that will think it's in bad taste to bring this up. However I am not saying this to family or friends at a funeral. I am merely raising it so people can stop lionizing him because he was a co-founder of Microsoft. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-woz-slams-paul-allen-as-a-patent-troll-2011-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/the-woz-slams-paul-allen-as-... Allen was with Microsoft for a short period of time and left pretty soon after they struck the deal with IBM for the OS. 1982. Edit: As such he contributed a nominal amount to Microsoft's success (and after all it was Bill Gates connections and hustle that got that deal). Also interesting that the wikipedia page has no mention of the patent trolling it obviously appears to be cleaned of this info (as of this moment at least): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Allen

ticmasta 8y ago
So, what's the name of your hero? I guarantee I can dig up some less-than-noble aspect about them, or cast a past action in negative light. People are pretty complicated, multi-faceted creatures. We're allowed to be grateful for their positive contributions even though we're all teeming with flaws. No one here is paying tribute because the man was a literal saint, and I've yet to see anyone praise him specifically for building Microsoft. They're simply thankful for the actions of a man that resonate directly with each individual; it's a pretty common thing to so when someone passes. So, thanks for the heads up, though I'm pretty sure anyone familiar with Allen's numerous organizations, business and charities is also aware of his less noble pursuits. There will be plenty of opportunity to focus on the negative aspects but the polite thing to do at this time is stay quiet.
- rectang 8y ago
  That Allen wielded such incredible power and influence was not due to him being exponentially more worthy than others, but due to a winner-take-all economic system which rewards marginal advantage combined with good fortune with exponential returns. > There will be plenty of opportunity to focus on the negative aspects but the polite thing to do at this time is stay quiet. To suppress Allen's destructive actions from the summary of his life is to encourage their repetition by others.
CamperBob2 8y ago
(Shrug) He did a lot of good things and a few bad things, like most of us. Because he was extremely wealthy, though, the "lot of good things" that he did amounted to a significant boon to humanity. It's a very safe bet that anyone who lives in the Seattle area has benefited from his philanthropy in one respect or another, probably several. I don't have much use for patent trolls, or (for that matter) people who give six-figure sums to Republican PACs looking to maintain control of the House. It seems weird for a philanthropist who is also a cancer survivor to donate to people who fight scientific, environmental, and humanitarian progress at every turn. But this is one of those cases where it really is more appropriate to remember his contributions that almost everyone regardless of political or technical persuasion would consider good. We are unquestionably worse off without Paul Allen, especially here in the PNW.
plandis 8y ago
I down voted you because I believe this post in is incredibly poor taste. Nobody is perfect and calling out perceived flaws is a pretty shitty thing to do right when someone dies. Especially true given that several people who have posted here knew the guy on a personal level.
- snapdangle 8y ago
  Why? Because automatic lionization of people is the proper way? Wouldn't it be incredible if someone died and we could finally speak about them honestly?
  - jacquesm 8y ago
    Well... it would be but that's not what we do. In part because people know that one day they too will pass and they hope people will remember them kindly and forgive them their trespasses. Think of it as a 'pay it forward' mechanism. "Nothing but good about the dead".
toomanybeersies 8y ago
Most comments here seem to be remembering him for his philanthropy and contributions to science and humanity, rather than for being a co-founder of Microsoft. It's an interesting contrast to the thread from 7 years ago about the death of Steve Jobs [1]. Steve Jobs was a visionary, but he wasn't a philanthropist. His legacy is Apple, Allen's legacy is his contributions to charity. Gates will be the same, he will be remembered as the man who tried to eradicate malaria, not the man who made Microsoft Windows. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3078107 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3078107
- cyborgx7 8y ago
  phillantropy is a marketing ploy by rich people you don't amass this much wealth without profiting off of the work of others by exploiting a position of power, usually gained through ownership
  - youcantseeme 8y ago
    Exactly. The world's a better place now that this leech has died.
    - moccachino 8y ago
      Well, I can't see you but I would wager Paul Allen made the world a better place than you do. The real leeches are the ones you don't condemn because you've never heard of them. They amass their wealth and live lavish lifestyles in private, never doing anything worthwhile that would bring attention. Someone with real wealth tries to use it to make some positive impact on the world - Oh look, he has so much money! Kill the leech!
danso 8y ago
I'm genuinely interested in how you think Paul Allen's untimely death should be discussed on HN. Do you think he's getting too much respect, with the HN black bar and the 1300+ upvotes? How much should his post-Microsoft accomplishments be negated enough by Microsoft's bad deeds?
- gist 8y ago
  > I'm genuinely interested in how you think Paul Allen's untimely death should be discussed on HN. I don't have a particular opinion on how it should be 'discussed'. People can pay whatever respect that they want. Incidentally I do like the way you posed that question. In a respectful way and not attacking as some of the other comments (as well as replies on a similar comment I made). People who say things like 'so what have you done???'. Like unless you are that great nothing you say matters you peon. I find it strange when people will defend a person like Allen and trash someone (like me) who simply states an opinion when we know that Allen would not have given any of us the time of day or cared about us in any way. On the other hand many of us here would actually do something for a random HN stranger or help if they could (don't mean jump on the railroad tracks kind of help). The 'upvotes' don't mean much either. Most likely many of those upvotes don't know about the early days of Microsoft (sans Allen of course). Microsoft is the 'don't be evil' company that Google was talking about. They would and will do anything to squash competition (Netscape only one example) that they could. Antitrust lawsuit by government. Etc. So the money that Allen used came from that company and that way of doing business.. Fine. I don't take a position on that just to stop lionizing the guy as if he is some kind of saint. Noting also that he is being celebrated not because he died and gave money away but because he was linked to a tech company that we all know (and some of us hate). That's all. When does HN talk about this type of thing? So the irony is that he had a very small part of the money that Msft made over the years that he gave away. He didn't work there for that long. And guess what? Despite what anyone thinks he is not 10 times as great (just like Woz) than dozens of people on HN who were simply not in the right place at the right time. So we are really celebrating luck more than anything. > How much should his post-Microsoft accomplishments be negated enough by Microsoft's bad deeds? Once again and in particular it's this 'fawning' that people do. It's over the top.
rectang 8y ago
Allen led an incredibly fortunate life and undertook many actions which made life worse for others -- as illustrated by this patent trolling history. While he's a fellow human being and we're all united by the certainty of death, canonizing him is not his divine right; revisiting the sordid aspects of his life is worthwhile reflection and will not even the ledger, not even close. Thank you.

by gist 8y ago

ticmasta 8y ago

So, what's the name of your hero? I guarantee I can dig up some less-than-noble aspect about them, or cast a past action in negative light. People are pretty complicated, multi-faceted creatures. We're allowed to be grateful for their positive contributions even though we're all teeming with flaws. No one here is paying tribute because the man was a literal saint, and I've yet to see anyone praise him specifically for building Microsoft. They're simply thankful for the actions of a man that resonate directly with each individual; it's a pretty common thing to so when someone passes. So, thanks for the heads up, though I'm pretty sure anyone familiar with Allen's numerous organizations, business and charities is also aware of his less noble pursuits. There will be plenty of opportunity to focus on the negative aspects but the polite thing to do at this time is stay quiet.

rectang 8y ago
That Allen wielded such incredible power and influence was not due to him being exponentially more worthy than others, but due to a winner-take-all economic system which rewards marginal advantage combined with good fortune with exponential returns. > There will be plenty of opportunity to focus on the negative aspects but the polite thing to do at this time is stay quiet. To suppress Allen's destructive actions from the summary of his life is to encourage their repetition by others.

CamperBob2 8y ago

(Shrug) He did a lot of good things and a few bad things, like most of us. Because he was extremely wealthy, though, the "lot of good things" that he did amounted to a significant boon to humanity. It's a very safe bet that anyone who lives in the Seattle area has benefited from his philanthropy in one respect or another, probably several. I don't have much use for patent trolls, or (for that matter) people who give six-figure sums to Republican PACs looking to maintain control of the House. It seems weird for a philanthropist who is also a cancer survivor to donate to people who fight scientific, environmental, and humanitarian progress at every turn. But this is one of those cases where it really is more appropriate to remember his contributions that almost everyone regardless of political or technical persuasion would consider good. We are unquestionably worse off without Paul Allen, especially here in the PNW.

plandis 8y ago

I down voted you because I believe this post in is incredibly poor taste. Nobody is perfect and calling out perceived flaws is a pretty shitty thing to do right when someone dies. Especially true given that several people who have posted here knew the guy on a personal level.

snapdangle 8y ago
Why? Because automatic lionization of people is the proper way? Wouldn't it be incredible if someone died and we could finally speak about them honestly?
- jacquesm 8y ago
  Well... it would be but that's not what we do. In part because people know that one day they too will pass and they hope people will remember them kindly and forgive them their trespasses. Think of it as a 'pay it forward' mechanism. "Nothing but good about the dead".

toomanybeersies 8y ago

Most comments here seem to be remembering him for his philanthropy and contributions to science and humanity, rather than for being a co-founder of Microsoft. It's an interesting contrast to the thread from 7 years ago about the death of Steve Jobs [1]. Steve Jobs was a visionary, but he wasn't a philanthropist. His legacy is Apple, Allen's legacy is his contributions to charity. Gates will be the same, he will be remembered as the man who tried to eradicate malaria, not the man who made Microsoft Windows. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3078107 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3078107

cyborgx7 8y ago
phillantropy is a marketing ploy by rich people you don't amass this much wealth without profiting off of the work of others by exploiting a position of power, usually gained through ownership
- youcantseeme 8y ago
  Exactly. The world's a better place now that this leech has died.
  - moccachino 8y ago
    Well, I can't see you but I would wager Paul Allen made the world a better place than you do. The real leeches are the ones you don't condemn because you've never heard of them. They amass their wealth and live lavish lifestyles in private, never doing anything worthwhile that would bring attention. Someone with real wealth tries to use it to make some positive impact on the world - Oh look, he has so much money! Kill the leech!

danso 8y ago

I'm genuinely interested in how you think Paul Allen's untimely death should be discussed on HN. Do you think he's getting too much respect, with the HN black bar and the 1300+ upvotes? How much should his post-Microsoft accomplishments be negated enough by Microsoft's bad deeds?

gist 8y ago
> I'm genuinely interested in how you think Paul Allen's untimely death should be discussed on HN. I don't have a particular opinion on how it should be 'discussed'. People can pay whatever respect that they want. Incidentally I do like the way you posed that question. In a respectful way and not attacking as some of the other comments (as well as replies on a similar comment I made). People who say things like 'so what have you done???'. Like unless you are that great nothing you say matters you peon. I find it strange when people will defend a person like Allen and trash someone (like me) who simply states an opinion when we know that Allen would not have given any of us the time of day or cared about us in any way. On the other hand many of us here would actually do something for a random HN stranger or help if they could (don't mean jump on the railroad tracks kind of help). The 'upvotes' don't mean much either. Most likely many of those upvotes don't know about the early days of Microsoft (sans Allen of course). Microsoft is the 'don't be evil' company that Google was talking about. They would and will do anything to squash competition (Netscape only one example) that they could. Antitrust lawsuit by government. Etc. So the money that Allen used came from that company and that way of doing business.. Fine. I don't take a position on that just to stop lionizing the guy as if he is some kind of saint. Noting also that he is being celebrated not because he died and gave money away but because he was linked to a tech company that we all know (and some of us hate). That's all. When does HN talk about this type of thing? So the irony is that he had a very small part of the money that Msft made over the years that he gave away. He didn't work there for that long. And guess what? Despite what anyone thinks he is not 10 times as great (just like Woz) than dozens of people on HN who were simply not in the right place at the right time. So we are really celebrating luck more than anything. > How much should his post-Microsoft accomplishments be negated enough by Microsoft's bad deeds? Once again and in particular it's this 'fawning' that people do. It's over the top.

rectang 8y ago

Allen led an incredibly fortunate life and undertook many actions which made life worse for others -- as illustrated by this patent trolling history. While he's a fellow human being and we're all united by the certainty of death, canonizing him is not his divine right; revisiting the sordid aspects of his life is worthwhile reflection and will not even the ledger, not even close. Thank you.