4 ms·
'If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete
by higherpurpose 12y ago
'If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented, and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today.' Mr. Gates worried that 'some large company will patent some obvious thing' and use the patent to 'take as much of our profits as they want.'
Bill Gates in the early 90's [1]. Pretty similar line of thought, no? Unfortunately, now Bill Gates is a defender of Intellectual Ventures [2] and Microsoft extracts billions of dollars every year from open source software by asserting "infringement" on such software patents that should've never been granted, and doing the very thing that Gates was condemning when Microsoft wasn't in the abuser's position.
[1] - http://www.networkworld.com/article/2230877/microsoft-subnet/microsoft-was-against-software-patents-before-it-was-for-them.html http://www.networkworld.com/article/2230877/microsoft-subnet...
[2] - http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/bill-gates-still-helping-known-patent-trolls-obtain-more-patents/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/08/bill-gates-still-...
- dredmorbius 12y agoPatent trolling is the final stage of the evolution of a software or tech company, before dissolution or death-merger. E.g., Sun, SCO, Wang.
- pistle 12y agoApple, Google, Facebook subsidiaries, Samsung, etc.
- dredmorbius 12y agoI wouldn't consider those to be dead or dying. Yet.
- frozenport 12y agoA distinction should be made between buyers and sellers. As we understand the trolls buy the stuff.
- frandroid 12y agoAnd clearly, with its 15 different billion-dollar a year businesses, Microsoft is at the edge of collapse.
- dredmorbius 12y agoMicrosoft ceased being a growth company in the late 1990s / early 2000s. It's now a mature to late-mature tech company. As pg called it, Microsoft lost its dominance over the tech world by the early-mid 2000s. It was no longer mandatory to have "a Microsoft strategy" (e.g., partner, out-compete, be bought out). Today the pace is set by Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook. In about that order. The Economist's cover from a year or so back highlighted this.
- CamperBob2 12y agoBe careful about criticizing Gates on here, especially if you point out contradictions between his past and present behavior. I lost a ton of karma in another recent thread simply by agreeing with another poster that the "DOS isn't done 'til Lotus won't run" mentality that ruled Microsoft's early days wasn't exactly a shining example of business ethics.
- cududa 12y agoI'm just curious, what value do you place in Internet karma. Conceptually I get why people give a damn about it- but why do you, personally, care about imaginary Internet points?
- CamperBob2 12y agoI don't place any value on "Internet karma" (and I can certainly afford the hit, in any event). But I do enjoy HN and respect its goals, and I hate to see it attacked by what amounts to moderation abuse. The Internet doesn't need another echo chamber or another game room.