Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: Melinda, Bill, Gates, iPhone, iPod | Themes: Smartphones, Digital Entertainment, Audio/Video Players, 3GSM
It's been quite the day of iPhone bashing. This morning we reported that Steve Ballmer had trashed Apple’s smartphone during a recent midyear update in New York. Ballmer told analysts that the iPhone didn’t have the same market potential as devices running Windows Mobile or Android and it seems Mrs Bill is inclined to agree.
In an interview with Vogue magazine, the wife of the former Microsoft CEO, Melinda Gates, detailed a few of the things that were not allowed in the house and it seems Apple products are among them. Despite the fact that Melinda said that he sometimes gets a little iPhone envy when he sees his friends playing with one, the ex-Microsoft employee told Vogue that their children are not allowed iPhones nor iPods. Check out the excerpt from Vogue:
Still, being a Microsoft child does carry unusual burdens. “There are very few things that are on the banned list in our household,” Gates tells me. “But iPods and iPhones are two things we don’t get for our kids.” (…) Still, Gates acknowledges the inevitable lure of forbidden fruit. “Every now and then I look at my friends and say, ‘Ooh, I wouldn’t mind having that iPhone.’”
Does this mean Bill’s kids are stuck with Zunes? Ouch.
If you care about the more philanthropic side of Bill Gates and wonder what he and his wife are up to as of late, feel free to head on over to Vogue and read the rest of the article.
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Well, I am sure that the CEO of Pepsi feels like a coke from time to time, but its something you just don't do.
Well with this logic, there goes my theory that Jobs really isn't sick and is playing GoW2 on his 360 in his basement eating Cheetos.
"Does this mean Bill’s kids are stuck with Zunes? Ouch." This kind of reporting is 3rd Grade. Try being an adult.
It is Apple jerks that say crap like that, that lead to the hordes of non Apple-acolytes disliking anything Apple.
Bill Gates must be jealous of the ipod, especially since ipods kicked zunes asses in every way.
Well, I am sure that the CEO of Pepsi feels like a coke from time to time, but its something you just don't do.
Yeah, I understand Pepsi employees undergo regular drug tests and are fired if it comes back positive for coke.
Ha so his kids are forced to have better PMPs and phones? Not all that bad to me. Little gates has a Black Berry and a Cowon S9, OH NO THEY HAVE GOOD ELECTRONICS!
Poor Bill can’t use Apple products...
I guess hell have to find something else to do with hie 50+ BILLION!
I dunno, like just hire whatever band he likes to walk around with him playing live!
"Does this mean Bill’s kids are stuck with Zunes? Ouch." This kind of reporting is 3rd Grade. Try being an adult.It is Apple jerks that say crap like that, that lead to the hordes of non Apple-acolytes disliking anything Apple.
I don't believe that she meant it was a bummer they aren't allowed to have an iPod, just that it sucks to have a Zune. It's not an Apple fan thing to say the Zune is crap. It's just common sense...
The thing froze on new year's eve!
Think again. His kids' assistants are stuck with Zunes. A Gates has no need for plebeian manual operation of an entertainment device! Hell, I bet if you are a Gates you don't bother collecting MP3s, you simply have your favorite band or two follow you around ready to play at will.
So what's the big deal? I'd rather have a Zune or even better, a Creative Zen than an iPod/iTouch. For an iPhone substitute I'll wait till more products with Android comes out or get a Blackberry.
Personally, I'd rather have a zune over an ipod. But anyone who appriciates the work their ears do for them would get a Cowon. The D9 owns all of them.
I don't believe that she meant it was a bummer they aren't allowed to have an iPod, just that it sucks to have a Zune. It's not an Apple fan thing to say the Zune is crap. It's just common sense...The thing froze on new year's eve!
OH NOEZ the end is near!!!!! The OLD 30g Zunes froze for a day on New Years!!!!!! OMGWTFBBQ!!!1!!1!11Y&⌠╢├$♣nw╟Rü111!!jf84!one!
Funny little fanboys! Compare the Zune to the iPOD (not touch) the Zune has it beat in features, UI, price, reliability, hardware, earphones! the list can go on and on...
This is the same thing with any sponsorship deal. If you are sponsored by Bud Light, you aren't allowed to be seen drinking Sam Adams or Miller. If you are sponsored by Pepsi, you can't be seen drinking a coke.
While Bill founded Microsoft, and isn't necessarily a corporate puppet like a celeb shilling someone's product, he is still a major face of the company. Remember the backlash when it was though that Obama might be using a Zune after professing his love for his iPod? Just think how much it would hurt Microsoft's image if one of Bill's kids was seen walking around with those pretentious... er, I mean iconic white earbuds hanging from their head?
This article makes me laugh in a recession market. Thank you for posting it.
It's fair I guess. It's like a GM employee telling his kids that they cannot buy a Lexus car under his/her care.
Unless it's something you hate, I don't think you're undermining your company by buying one (or even 2.000, one for each employee for what it's worth).
If a product is good, you should be able to enjoy it, just like you can enjoy a good sandwich at Taco Bell, or Burger King, or drive a car from another brand than Chevrolet!
Besides, it's not like MS is creating an iphone like device (phone+MP3+apple soft)
How would you feel if the kids the Mercedes CEO were all driving BMWs?..... That's not a pretty picture. And, this has nothing to do with how good Apple or Microsoft products are, it's just a image thing, because Mr. Gates is a public figure, his family has to support the image he's representing, the image of Microsoft, and I applaud them for doing that.
iphone is a gay device i never liked it not for pros windows mobile has more potintial
@FrustratedRhino: I don't dislike Apple because of the Apple zealots, I dislike Apple because of Apple(although the Apple zealots certainly don't help).
oh leave Jane alone... it's this insane notion that everything should be sanitized of any irreverence that makes news so bland. it makes tom's tom's and not cnn or your blog... why does everyone insist on making each website meet their needs and specifications only? aren't you there to see wot they have to say and not only wot you want to see/hear?
OH NOEZ the end is near!!!!! The OLD 30g Zunes froze for a day on New Years!!!!!! OMGWTFBBQ!!!1!!1!11Y&⌠╢├$♣nw╟Rü111!!jf84!one!Funny little fanboys! Compare the Zune to the iPOD (not touch) the Zune has it beat in features, UI, price, reliability, hardware, earphones! the list can go on and on...
You know it's funny, I get the feeling you're a hater of apple if choosing a well established piece of hardware raises so much of your ire. |fanboy|=|hater|:: roughly, the absolute value of a fanboy is equal to the absolute value of a hater. I don't see the difference between the two, simply one is positive and one negative.
I read about this on Engadget earlier today. This article reads like it was written by someone who also read the article then wrote stuff down from memory.
"the wife of the former Microsoft CEO, Melinda Gates"
Why don't you be a little more unclear?
I'd also like to second the comment about the Zune thing. Is Tom's Guide a news site or a blog?
The iPod touch is the ONLY apple mp3 player I've ever wanted. I would consider getting it, but I still have a perfect condition COWON D2 that had a touchscreen long before apple.
I don't have a iPod or iPhone, and I'm managing perfectly fine.
One doesn't need an iPod or iPhone to live a life. I have a Cowon S9, perfectly fine with that...
wow, i guess bill doesn't want to see how bad jobs is eating his lunch. zune anyone?
"forbidden fruit"!!! That's a funny line.
I like Apple just fine, but I would like them better if they would stick to ipods and keep the iphone and imac commercials off of my tv.
I have an ipod even. I wouldn't mind a zune, the ipod just looks a little bit smaller to me, but after the nighmare of installing itunes I was wishing for a zune.
You better believe if I was creater of Microsoft my kids would be forbidden from owning an apple product. And if I was president of GM or Ford I would drive through the company parking lots with a tow truck and eliminate any competitor's products.
It only makes sense that they would be not allowed or urged not to buy Apple product. You wouldn't see people from Intel using AMD in their home computers. If they did, they should be fired as they are too stupid to be involved in the industry.
"Does this mean Bill’s kids are stuck with Zunes? Ouch."
Sometimes I think that TH writes certain articles just to stir up both sides of the MS/Apple cold war. Are you guys at TH having some kind of fanboy Olympics? Is this an organized event with prizes? If so, Where do I sign up? I choose to be on team Microsoft. I am certain that I can write articles to stir up Mac fanboys.
The reason I speak in jest is that the above statement in quotation marks does not belong in any serious article. You may as well have articles that are titled " Macs suck when it comes to value" or "Microsoft is an evil corporation" or " Apple, the most expensive obsolete parts that money can buy"
All of the above is true but has no place on a serious site.
You follow?
You know it's funny, I get the feeling you're a hater of apple if choosing a well established piece of hardware raises so much of your ire. |fanboy|=|hater|:: roughly, the absolute value of a fanboy is equal to the absolute value of a hater. I don't see the difference between the two, simply one is positive and one negative.
WHAT!?!?!? NO COMMENTING ON MY AWESOME USAGE OF "&⌠╢├$♣nw╟Rü" THE CLEVERNESS ALONE SHOULD HAVE EARNED ME MY OWN COMDEY SPECIAL!!!!
Hahaha, in all seriousness though. Im not a hater of Apple products by any means, I have owned and still own a few apple products. However, in my personal experience, I enjoy my Zune much more than my previous iPODs! Maybe its because I have never had a problem with the battery life being half full after an entire night of charging my Zune, or the unexplainable reoccuring Sad Faces that cause for me to format my entire device, or the freezing/restarting, or the slow uninspiring interface. No product is perfect, but MY experience with BOTH products makes me a fan of one over the other. If the Zune were to do me wrong, I would most definitely look elsewhere and possibly move over to another product, especaially if it did it continuously regardless of which generation product I paid my hard earned money for! I can understand a bit of brand loyalty if it comes from years of happy reliable service, but to blindly follow Apple or MS or Sony or Chevy or ____ just beacuse its the in thing, thats just plain stupid!
However I must state that I absolutely cannot stand people that like to post nonsense talking trash about a product in which they most probably have never used let alone touched, because its from a competing company than who they hold some insane allegiance toward.
Bottom line is that they both offer something to their users, IMO the Zune does it at a better price with better hardware and software, again that is my personal opinion that comes from my personal experience.
I love my Zune!!!
Bottom line is that they both offer something to their users, IMO the Zune does it at a better price with better hardware and software, again that is my personal opinion that comes from my personal experience.
It's good that you say that, because your first post sounds as if it were objective...
I love my zune too. I walk in the door and my favorite shows (which I record for free with media center) automatically sync with my zune.
When I am at the gym, my favorite shows are there with me. So I watch my 3 inch screen zune. It holds about 250 hours of video.
I agree with MrF430, I think people should resist comparing two products without having experienced both.
I am not stuck with any one brand. And I will not go down with a sinking ship. I can jump at anytime. Show me better value along with performace, and I will jump ship.
I was a fan of AMD for 6 years, but then core2duo came along.
Now all Apple has to do is offer a I7,6 gigs of ddr3,4870x2, a fairly fast hard drive with a 25.5 1080p monitor for $2400. You would also have to put this into a high end case with great cooling.
Too much to ask?
Since when is Gates an ex-microsoft employee? I thought he just stepped down from day to day operations.