4 ms·

It seems you can't be successful, especially in tech/web, without a dozen people hanging onto your coattails claiming that you stole the idea or that you were l

by bl4k 16y ago

It seems you can't be successful, especially in tech/web, without a dozen people hanging onto your coattails claiming that you stole the idea or that you were lucky. MySpace were written off as lucky spammers, Zuck a theif, Bill Gates stole MS-DOS, etc. etc.

pyre 16y ago
Bill Gates stole MS-DOS? So far as I know, he bought DOS to license to IBM. There's a difference between being a skillful hacker and being a shrewd businessman. Claiming that someone isn't a skillful hacker doesn't mean they are completely without brains/skills/etc. MySpace were 'lucky' in that people latched on to their horrible interface because it had features that they wanted (to put music, videos, media on their 'homepage'). People could have easily rejected the interface despite yearning for the features. Zuckerberg isn't necessarily a thief, but he certainly should have covered his ass a lot better with contracts and such. Though, with the amount of money that's on the line, there would be people coming out of the woodwork no matter how airtight of a contract they had. > It seems you can't be successful, especially in tech/web, It's the "I thought of that too, so where's my money" syndrome. "I thought of The Clapper first! I should be the one making money!"
- bl4k 16y ago
  I didn't say I agree with it - I said that is what you hear a lot of. Zuck and Bill deserve absolute credit for their successes.
- Luc 16y ago
  Better yet, Bill Gates was a great hacker too, having written portions of Basic for several CPUs. I like how he shows up to comment on this pagetable post - I would like to believe it's really him, anyway, still with geeky interests... http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43 http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43
p_nathan 16y ago
Bill Gates is, in my mind, a phenomenal businessman who also evidently was a pretty hotshot coder before MS got rolling. I see Gate's/Microsoft's genius as being able to bring a usable computer into every household. Of course there are other factors, but, man, it's impressive what Microsoft helped bring about. Think of it! We live in a SF world today, and Microsoft, for all their flaws, helped it come to pass.

by bl4k 16y ago

pyre 16y ago

Bill Gates stole MS-DOS? So far as I know, he bought DOS to license to IBM. There's a difference between being a skillful hacker and being a shrewd businessman. Claiming that someone isn't a skillful hacker doesn't mean they are completely without brains/skills/etc. MySpace were 'lucky' in that people latched on to their horrible interface because it had features that they wanted (to put music, videos, media on their 'homepage'). People could have easily rejected the interface despite yearning for the features. Zuckerberg isn't necessarily a thief, but he certainly should have covered his ass a lot better with contracts and such. Though, with the amount of money that's on the line, there would be people coming out of the woodwork no matter how airtight of a contract they had. > It seems you can't be successful, especially in tech/web, It's the "I thought of that too, so where's my money" syndrome. "I thought of The Clapper first! I should be the one making money!"

bl4k 16y ago
I didn't say I agree with it - I said that is what you hear a lot of. Zuck and Bill deserve absolute credit for their successes.
Luc 16y ago
Better yet, Bill Gates was a great hacker too, having written portions of Basic for several CPUs. I like how he shows up to comment on this pagetable post - I would like to believe it's really him, anyway, still with geeky interests... http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43 http://www.pagetable.com/?p=43

p_nathan 16y ago

Bill Gates is, in my mind, a phenomenal businessman who also evidently was a pretty hotshot coder before MS got rolling. I see Gate's/Microsoft's genius as being able to bring a usable computer into every household. Of course there are other factors, but, man, it's impressive what Microsoft helped bring about. Think of it! We live in a SF world today, and Microsoft, for all their flaws, helped it come to pass.