Bill Gates

Bill Gates Pledges $120M to Fund the Next Green Revolution

Ariel Schwartz — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:24:14 -0400

Apple Tablet Timeline

Kit Eaton — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:14:40 -0400

The excitement in the tech world about Apple's rumored iTablet (iPad?) is getting close to fever pitch, culminating with an article in The New York Times today. But all the evidence suggests that the seeds of the iTablet were planted decades ago--so we've made a timeline for you.

Rust Never Sleeps: How Bill Gates Might Save the World

Jamais Cascio — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 00:38:38 -0400

The Real Reason for Bill Gates' Success

GL Hoffman — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:55:45 -0400

Meet the Famous Faces at Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Meeting

Kate Rockwood — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

ERNIE BANKS, Baseball Hall of Famer: This retired Chicago Cub met Buffett at a golf tourney in Omaha. From 1998 to 2001, he stepped into the batter's box each year when Buffett, wearing a uniform with "The Whip" emblazoned on the back, threw out the first pitch at an Omaha Royals game -- a meeting tradition.

Seattle: City of the Year

Garth Stein — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:00:00 -0400

When Fast Company named Seattle its 2009 City of the Year -- based on the city's creativity, the editors said -- surely, I thought, the weather and the winters must have had something to do with it. Our winters are dark: At 47 degrees latitude, the winter solstice brings sundown at 4:21 p.m. and sunrise at 7:54 a.m. Our winters are gray: While we get only 38 inches of rain per year -- less than New York or Boston, Houston or Atlanta -- we average 154 days of precipitation.

Bill Gates Patents Electromagnetic Hybrid Engine

Chris Dannen — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 09:54:53 -0400

Microsoft founder Bill Gates appears as a principal applicant on a patent published last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, but the concept in question isn't computer-based; it's an electromagnetic combusion engine. The patent appears in the name of a Delaware-based LLC named "Searete," a purported shell company for joint-patent filings.

Bill Gates Sends Mosquitoes Into Crowd

Chris Dannen — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 15:39:11 -0500

Whether or not you think Bill Gates is a sadist probably has a lot to do with whether or not you're a Vista user, but we can all agree that freeing a swarm of mosquitoes into an auditorium is downright cruel. Yet that's just what Microsoft's [MSFT] founder did yesterday at the ever-popular TED conference in California.

When You’re Counted Out Remain Patient And Focused

Kaihan Krippendorff — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:28:27 -0500

I just read an interesting article on Yahoo! about Microsoft's Zune. The article expresses some surprise that Microsoft is continuing to support its MP3 player even though it experienced a 54% drop in sales from the Zune and is cutting its workforce.

It seems logical that Microsoft would cut its support of the Zune. This is what most companies would do.

Macworld Vs. CES

Fast Company staff — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:30:10 -0500

To the dismay of many, 2009's Apple Macworld Expo and the International Consumer Electronics Show yet again take place at the same time. So where's a geek to go? To both, if you're truly dedicated. Here's a primer on the pair.

MacWorld: January 5-9

CES: January 8-11

MacWorld: 50,000

CES: 150,000

MacWorld: Macworld is public. Buy a pass, lace up your New Balances, and show up.

Tech Watch: Music on Facebook; Bill Gates's Rumored Think Tank; Amazon's Q3 Earnings Bad, But Good

Chris Dannen — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:00:08 -0400

Is Music Facebook's Savior?

If it's one thing that MySpace has over Facebook, it's music. MySpace Music has no real successful equivalent on Facebook, and the latter company's path to profitability looks unlikely without some kind of tunes application as a part of the strategy. If Facebook ever hopes to go public, it may have to sidle up to one of its developers and ink a music deal.

I'm a PC...and I Fund Crazy Ideas that Might Save Millions of Lives

Chuck Salter — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:01:28 -0400

Now there's a line that would fit nicely in Microsoft's unusually moving new ad campaign. This week the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced that it had spent $10 million on 104 global-health research projects considered too risky for traditional funding. It hopes that placing relatively smaller bets will lead to a major medical innovation.

Microsoft’s Leader in Web Apps: Meet Dr. Flakenstein

Chuck Salter — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:45:20 -0400

"Can I get you a Coke?" Bill Gates asked.

It was 2005, and Gary William Flake, the head of research for Yahoo, was visiting Microsoft. Finally. Senior executives had been calling for a year, trying to coax him to come meet a few people, hear them out. But Flake thought he already had the best job in the industry.

He hadn't agreed to fly from his home in San Jose, California, to Redmond, Washington, and trade up from his usual T-shirt, until he heard that Gates wanted to meet. That was an offer no self-respecting geek could turn down.

Is Apple Planning Touch-screen Macs?

Chris Dannen — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 20:10:41 -0400

Many a wide-eyed fanboy would love for Apple [NASDAQ:AAPL] to release a touch-based tablet. Fortunately for them, the touch technology coming out of the company's iPhone team makes the possibility of a touch Mac more likely than ever. Now new patents are revealing that the Cupertino computer maker is at least considering the idea.

The US patent application appears to cover a tablet-like computer, which seems to operate using the same multi-touch functionality that made the iPhone an international star.

WWBGD- What Would Bill Gates Do Part 2

Stephen L Rose — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:13:51 -0400

I had asked my readers a few weeks ago, that if they had the opportunity to ask Bill Gate’s any question, what would they ask. I was amazed at not only the amount of responses, but the quality and range of questions offered.

The Affleck Rule

Kevin Ohannessian — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:39:44 -0400

On Nightline last night, they had a mini-documentary about Ben Affleck visiting the Congo and sharing stories of what he saw in the conflict-torn country. As I watched his sunburned face, as he tearfully described atrocities he witnessed, I realized that we need to adjust our perceptions. Like many, I assume a celebrity is all good-looks and little else. That assumption is wrong.

FastCompany's July/August 2008 Calendar

By Fast Company Staff — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:50:04 -0400

July

Apple vs. Microsoft -- Who is Winning the Epic Battle

Rachel King — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:25:09 -0400

It was 1975 when Bill Gates founded Microsoft to develop and sell the BASIC programming language for the Altair 8800, a microcomputer based on an Intel CPU. The following year, the first Apple fell from the tree … or emerged from Steve Wozniak's Los Altos bedroom. Priced at $666.66, the first Apple computer ran on BASIC as well, and wasn't even fully assembled – it lacked a keyboard, monitor and even a case. Fifty of the early models were sold to a local retailer, giving Apple's founders enough capital to keep their fledgling company afloat.

WWBGD- What Would Bill Gates Do?

Stephen L Rose — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:33:54 -0400

In the past my articles have been centered around technology, products and applications used within the business world. This weeks entry is a bit different. My friend and business partner at Odyssey Consulting Group, Daniel Egan has a once in a lifetime opportunity this week. To be one of fifteen people who get to have lunch with Bill Gates.