Various Internet news sources (such as Gizmodo) are reporting on a specific portion of a New York Times interview with Bill Gates’s wife Melinda—the portion focusing on her attitude toward Apple products in her household.
It seems that Melinda Gates has very particular attitudes toward what brand of products make it through her front door.
Do you own an iPod, which is made by Apple?
No, I have a Zune.What if one of your children says, “Mom, I have to have an iPod?”
I have gotten that argument — “You may have a Zune.”Do you have an iPad?
Of course not.Is it true that Bill works on an Apple laptop?
False. Nothing crosses the threshold of our doorstep.Isn’t there room in this world for both Apple and Microsoft?
Microsoft certainly makes products for the Macintosh. Go talk to Bill.
It’s easy to see why this story is getting so much play. The short, pithy answers are highly amusing, and we find it funny that the family of the man in charge of Apple’s biggest competitor is constrained from making use of the products that company can’t beat.
Of course, it’s not the first time that Mrs. Gates has come out against Apple. She also said in 2009 that iPods and iPhones were “on the banned list in our household.” Though in that article, she did admit that sometimes her friends’ iPhones do tempt her.
I don’t like Apple and their products either, much too expensive and proprietary.
My kids had Zunes since that was the good deal I could find one Christmas, but now that we all have Android phones, those are now their MP3 players as well. I just got them 16GB microSD cards. Android phones can do anything an iPhone can do, but ours were free with a 2-year contract extension. No iPhone is ever free.
I still have my Creative Zen 32GB. It’s not proprietary, really just a big flash drive. I’m not forced to use anyone’s software to manage it.
I think iPad’s are a huge waste of money. A netbook can do everything the iPad can but it can multi-task and you’re not locked out of downloading and installing whatever you want to. They’re also half the price. And although you can read books on an iPad, they are not eReaders. They are too big and the LCD screen is too hard to read.
An addendum… I didn’t like the Zunes either, because they were also proprietary and the Zune software sucks.
What does this “news item” really have to do with e-reading, other than very tangentially? I would love to read a blog that didn’t have its resident Apple worshiper. This site needs to stick to its subject; there are countless Mac fanboy sites for those who like Gates-bashing, breathless reports on Steve’s latest “One more thing” moment, and the like. Maybe Mr. Meadows just needs to move over to Gizmodo.
I agree with Sax. I am a long time Apple user and do find the Apple haters rather amusing … but this is not the place for this kind of banter. There are many tech sites catering to the masses, surely this site should stick to the issues of eBooks/ePublishing and directly related topics.
Great interview – she found a way to make what was highly predictable funny and interesting.