At a Microsoft Summit, Bill Gates didn’t limit his conversation just to Microsoft. He shared quite a bit of himself and what he thought of America and issues?education, science and the importance of giving.
Gates addressed the American crisis of education and where it stands. He pointed out we have the highest college drop-out rate of all first world nations. According to many articles, lower aspects of education aren’t doing much better. His Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has raised over $470 million dollars for educational matters. Gates is a huge advocate for online courses, and wants to do more so online education can reach it’s full potential.
Gates was very optimistic about computer science, claiming we live in the golden age of that field.??He believes most of us aren’t using Microsoft to it’s full potential; but to him, that’s where the excitement comes in. He looks forward to seeing how smaller and smaller devices can bridge the gap between what humans and machines can do. This?can get pretty scary of where we can go, but that’s just me. About philanthropy, Gates says, “It’s a work in progress”. Keep in mind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the largest non-profit organizations in the world. He credits billionaires like Warren Buffet for helping his charity. He also knocks US giving down a notch. Gates said that rich Chinese are more giving because there are many first generation millionaires out there. In other words, new money in China is having a huge impact on the non-profit scene.
Now comes the so what factor. Why do I even talk about what Bill Gates think? Obviously, he’s one of the most powerful men in the world. If you use anything Microsoft, you can thank Bill Gates for that. Not only is he one of the great businessmen and innovators of all-time, he’s one of the great philanthropist of our time. Is it really making a difference? Well at least he’s trying, unlike some billionaires out there who do nothing, except when it makes them look good (they know who they are). So when Gates speaks, people listen. I guess my only question is: Is he speaking the right things?