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I'm seeing a lot of "What Mr. Gates is doing is great BUT [insert negatives]". Timing is everything. IMO, this is the perfect timing to start a mission such as

I'm seeing a lot of "What Mr. Gates is doing is great BUT [insert negatives]". Timing is everything. IMO, this is the perfect timing to start a mission such as the one Mr. Gates is. Why? Well having just been to India last year, my cousins were complaining about how India is filled with geniuses, yet very few who want to take risks (whether it be to help fix the poverty, the political system, or just start cool companies). A couple months after I got back from India (I live in the States), I was talking to my cousins and they were telling me how some cities in the south are really starting to embrace a tech culture and were trying to resemble that of Silicon Valley. And it's grown magnitudes since then; in fact, in recent months, there have been a lot of posts on HN about India's tech expansion. So Mr. Gates says it well: "To make real progress on the problems of the poorest, you need at least two ingredients: a deep understanding of the problems, and the technical ability to solve them." He probably is going there to better understand some of the problems that exist, but I bet he also understands there are a lot more people there that can help solve these problems. He's a pretty smart guy, I trust he'll actually do good on his visit and it will be constructive to India and its people.

dwc 13y ago
He is a pretty smart guy. He set aside some "feel good" philanthropy and seems to go straight to the heart of things. He's done a lot of good, beyond the money he brings to the table.
- jacquesm 13y ago
  He's done a lot of damage too, and every pc that I buy that has some useless piece of windows junk on it he does just a little more.
  - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
    Oh come on, Gates is the least damaging Robber Baron we have ever seen and is the one most likely to produce meaningful impact in the robber baron second philanthropic life. It's one thing wishing that history had thrown up dedicated public servants who also ran vast software empires, but we play the hand we have been dealt. If we lose net neutrality, privacy, if the Internet is used against us, not for us, it's our fault. We can ensure the train runs on the lines we want. Sorry not meaning to have a rant, just I think gates has stopped being part of the problem now - there will be another one along, probably worse, and we need to engage. Just frustrated. I respect your posts here normally.
    - jacquesm 13y ago
      You have a short term memory, I don't. This plagues me in all kinds of ways but it is also an asset in many others. And Gates' most recent dip into my wallet is less than two weeks ago so in fact I don't need all that good a memory to remind me who he is and what he stands for.
      - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
        Sorry, are you literally saying you have no short-term memory? Or simply saying I should remember Gates' a toons in the 90s etc? If the former I am sorry and wish you the best
  - crusso 13y ago
    How can you categorically claim that he's done a lot of damage? How have you factored in his being a huge part of why the PC became so popular that advances were driven forward dramatically over the last couple of decades and prices have been driven down? It's like complaining about ads on the web. Without them, a lot of incredible things would have never seen the light of day. Hippies in communes rarely produce much that anyone else cares about, but they sure do a great job of recycling.
  - WayneDB 13y ago
    Oh gawd. Yeah Windows is so junky that every business on the planet runs with it.
chailatte 13y ago
Bill gates can't fix - apathy from upper/middle class towards lower classes - willingness from normal citizens to live with human feces on the streets, eat in restaurants with huge garbage piles right in front - spinelessness/cowardness from the voting public so what if there are smart people in india? they are spineless/uncompassionate/unfeeling/unprideful.
- Cherian_Abraham 13y ago
  Update - Just realized I just fed a troll. Moving on! Whoa! Hold on there cowboy! What have we told you about sweeping generalizations??!! Not every person in India wakes up every morning to fix social issues. They wake up every morning to go to work, feed their families and you know..do what you and I do - when we turn the other way to the glaring poverty and injustice that is visible in our communities.
  - iamshs 13y ago
    He does look like a troll, always getting top comments on India centric pieces.
- biggfoot 13y ago
  ... because it is fun to paint everything with the same brush?
- iamshs 13y ago
  India, Pessimism, Chailatte... jolly good combination. Spineless, apathy, unfeeling....it is like filling the keyword quota for a job description. As if Bill Gates is there to fix all of your ruses with India. How about letting him do what he is there to achieve, follow his progress, build upon it and do something even better by involving next generation. Or another option is, sit and critique without adding any value? There are lessons to be learnt in any venture, and this will be no different. Relying upon Bill Gates and a time span of even 10 years to solve all those problems you listed? We are not helping the man who made computers ubiquitous and helped eradicate polio in India. Besides, Bill Gates will be heard by the people in upper echelons and young generation and Aamir Khan will help tap the mass population. I wish them luck, I will be following this social initiative closely. More power to them.
snambi 13y ago
"To make real progress on the problems of the poorest, you need at least two ingredients: a deep understanding of the problems, and the technical ability to solve them." Is technical ability really necessary? Some problems cannot be solved by technology. It may be political solution. It may be a social solution. I think BG is trying to say "technology" can solve everything.
- jimmaswell 13y ago
  I took technical ability in a more general sense when I read that. I doubt he's saying that all of India's poverty issues can be solved by just throwing computers at them.

dwc 13y ago

He is a pretty smart guy. He set aside some "feel good" philanthropy and seems to go straight to the heart of things. He's done a lot of good, beyond the money he brings to the table.

jacquesm 13y ago
He's done a lot of damage too, and every pc that I buy that has some useless piece of windows junk on it he does just a little more.
- lifeisstillgood 13y ago
  Oh come on, Gates is the least damaging Robber Baron we have ever seen and is the one most likely to produce meaningful impact in the robber baron second philanthropic life. It's one thing wishing that history had thrown up dedicated public servants who also ran vast software empires, but we play the hand we have been dealt. If we lose net neutrality, privacy, if the Internet is used against us, not for us, it's our fault. We can ensure the train runs on the lines we want. Sorry not meaning to have a rant, just I think gates has stopped being part of the problem now - there will be another one along, probably worse, and we need to engage. Just frustrated. I respect your posts here normally.
  - jacquesm 13y ago
    You have a short term memory, I don't. This plagues me in all kinds of ways but it is also an asset in many others. And Gates' most recent dip into my wallet is less than two weeks ago so in fact I don't need all that good a memory to remind me who he is and what he stands for.
    - lifeisstillgood 13y ago
      Sorry, are you literally saying you have no short-term memory? Or simply saying I should remember Gates' a toons in the 90s etc? If the former I am sorry and wish you the best
- crusso 13y ago
  How can you categorically claim that he's done a lot of damage? How have you factored in his being a huge part of why the PC became so popular that advances were driven forward dramatically over the last couple of decades and prices have been driven down? It's like complaining about ads on the web. Without them, a lot of incredible things would have never seen the light of day. Hippies in communes rarely produce much that anyone else cares about, but they sure do a great job of recycling.
- WayneDB 13y ago
  Oh gawd. Yeah Windows is so junky that every business on the planet runs with it.

chailatte 13y ago

Bill gates can't fix - apathy from upper/middle class towards lower classes - willingness from normal citizens to live with human feces on the streets, eat in restaurants with huge garbage piles right in front - spinelessness/cowardness from the voting public so what if there are smart people in india? they are spineless/uncompassionate/unfeeling/unprideful.

Cherian_Abraham 13y ago
Update - Just realized I just fed a troll. Moving on! Whoa! Hold on there cowboy! What have we told you about sweeping generalizations??!! Not every person in India wakes up every morning to fix social issues. They wake up every morning to go to work, feed their families and you know..do what you and I do - when we turn the other way to the glaring poverty and injustice that is visible in our communities.
- iamshs 13y ago
  He does look like a troll, always getting top comments on India centric pieces.
biggfoot 13y ago
... because it is fun to paint everything with the same brush?
iamshs 13y ago
India, Pessimism, Chailatte... jolly good combination. Spineless, apathy, unfeeling....it is like filling the keyword quota for a job description. As if Bill Gates is there to fix all of your ruses with India. How about letting him do what he is there to achieve, follow his progress, build upon it and do something even better by involving next generation. Or another option is, sit and critique without adding any value? There are lessons to be learnt in any venture, and this will be no different. Relying upon Bill Gates and a time span of even 10 years to solve all those problems you listed? We are not helping the man who made computers ubiquitous and helped eradicate polio in India. Besides, Bill Gates will be heard by the people in upper echelons and young generation and Aamir Khan will help tap the mass population. I wish them luck, I will be following this social initiative closely. More power to them.

snambi 13y ago

"To make real progress on the problems of the poorest, you need at least two ingredients: a deep understanding of the problems, and the technical ability to solve them." Is technical ability really necessary? Some problems cannot be solved by technology. It may be political solution. It may be a social solution. I think BG is trying to say "technology" can solve everything.

jimmaswell 13y ago
I took technical ability in a more general sense when I read that. I doubt he's saying that all of India's poverty issues can be solved by just throwing computers at them.