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Just because the friendship remained, it doesn't make that particular event any better.

adventured 8y ago
Had they gone through with it, it certainly would have been despicable. As it was, it was nothing more than a conversation that was hurtful to Allen. You can't indict someone for an action they didn't take, as though they did take it. It's entirely impossible to know if Gates would have gone through with that action. Allen retained his full Microsoft stake and yielded tens of billions of dollars from the Microsoft that Gates, Ballmer and others proceeded to build up in the coming 15-20 years. I suspect there are few here that haven't had insulting conversations about other people. Said negative, rude, belittling things that they later regretted. Hurled a very mean statement in the middle of a fight. Discussed leaving a spouse behind their back. So on and so forth. It's not necessary to excuse the behavior of Gates, it was a crass mistake by a 27 year old. Allen retained his ownership, forgave Gates, and that's that.
- 2_listerine_pls 8y ago
  > As it was, it was nothing more than a conversation that was hurtful to Allen. Or maybe they didn't do it because got caught?
  - mynameisvlad 8y ago
    Does it matter? The point is that they didn't do it. Yes, it could've happened, nobody is disputing that, and nobody is disputing that it would've been a shitty thing to do. But at the end of the day, it didn't happen. You're arguing a hypothetical and adding even more hypotheticals on top. Nobody will know why it didn't happen, what the motivating factors might have been, but we all know that the conversation took place and then it was dropped. That's what's important.
    - pretendscholar 8y ago
      Yes it matters. It says a lot about someone that they would even entertain the idea of cheating their cancer ridden friend.
      - sbuk 8y ago
        Perhaps, once they’d reflected on it, they decided it wasn’t fair, just like you have. It seems as though a few here want to demonise Ballmer and Gates for something they ultimately didn’t do. So they had a conversation about it.
        lmm 8y ago
        You don't think that to have a conversation about maybe doing something blatantly evil, instead of dismissing it out of hand, reflects poorly on someone's character even if the conclusion of that conversation is not to do the evil thing?
        sbuk 8y ago
        Not partituclarly. Evil is planning mass genocide and executing it. Besides, why judge when we only have one side of the story? Demonising people for having thoughts or discussing actions that you personally find distasteful is tyrannical and repressive.
        pretendscholar 8y ago
        Demonizing != distaste for cheating a friend. There is no both sides to this story. Gates and Ballmer didn't argue against Allen's telling of the story. Can you even name a hypothetical scenario where its ok to be annoyed that your cancer-ridden friend isn't contributing what he used to?
        sbuk 8y ago
        Wow. Were life as simple as you see it... And what does "Demonizing != distaste for cheating a friend." even mean? You are attempting to defame Gates and Ballmer because of an uncomfortable conversation that they had 30+ years ago that they ultimately didn't act on! So no, they weren't evil. Cold, perhaps for having the conversation. I'd actually argue that they are merely human, just like the rest of us; wonderfully imperfect.

Had they gone through with it, it certainly would have been despicable. As it was, it was nothing more than a conversation that was hurtful to Allen. You can't indict someone for an action they didn't take, as though they did take it. It's entirely impossible to know if Gates would have gone through with that action. Allen retained his full Microsoft stake and yielded tens of billions of dollars from the Microsoft that Gates, Ballmer and others proceeded to build up in the coming 15-20 years. I suspect there are few here that haven't had insulting conversations about other people. Said negative, rude, belittling things that they later regretted. Hurled a very mean statement in the middle of a fight. Discussed leaving a spouse behind their back. So on and so forth. It's not necessary to excuse the behavior of Gates, it was a crass mistake by a 27 year old. Allen retained his ownership, forgave Gates, and that's that.

2_listerine_pls 8y ago
> As it was, it was nothing more than a conversation that was hurtful to Allen. Or maybe they didn't do it because got caught?
- mynameisvlad 8y ago
  Does it matter? The point is that they didn't do it. Yes, it could've happened, nobody is disputing that, and nobody is disputing that it would've been a shitty thing to do. But at the end of the day, it didn't happen. You're arguing a hypothetical and adding even more hypotheticals on top. Nobody will know why it didn't happen, what the motivating factors might have been, but we all know that the conversation took place and then it was dropped. That's what's important.
  - pretendscholar 8y ago
    Yes it matters. It says a lot about someone that they would even entertain the idea of cheating their cancer ridden friend.
    - sbuk 8y ago
      Perhaps, once they’d reflected on it, they decided it wasn’t fair, just like you have. It seems as though a few here want to demonise Ballmer and Gates for something they ultimately didn’t do. So they had a conversation about it.
      - lmm 8y ago
        You don't think that to have a conversation about maybe doing something blatantly evil, instead of dismissing it out of hand, reflects poorly on someone's character even if the conclusion of that conversation is not to do the evil thing?
        sbuk 8y ago
        Not partituclarly. Evil is planning mass genocide and executing it. Besides, why judge when we only have one side of the story? Demonising people for having thoughts or discussing actions that you personally find distasteful is tyrannical and repressive.
        pretendscholar 8y ago
        Demonizing != distaste for cheating a friend. There is no both sides to this story. Gates and Ballmer didn't argue against Allen's telling of the story. Can you even name a hypothetical scenario where its ok to be annoyed that your cancer-ridden friend isn't contributing what he used to?
        sbuk 8y ago
        Wow. Were life as simple as you see it... And what does "Demonizing != distaste for cheating a friend." even mean? You are attempting to defame Gates and Ballmer because of an uncomfortable conversation that they had 30+ years ago that they ultimately didn't act on! So no, they weren't evil. Cold, perhaps for having the conversation. I'd actually argue that they are merely human, just like the rest of us; wonderfully imperfect.