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Disrespecting the Bill

I was really put off by this post by Ajay Juneja. I don't care so much about what he did or didn't do, or what he said, it was his classmates in general.

As I mentioned in the feedback there, in my college days (if they happended a few years later than they actually did), I would've killed to see Gates, Ellison, McNealy, Fiorina, Wozniak, Jobs or any of these people even if I couldn't stand what they stand for or disagree with their opinions. Ellison comes off as the biggest jerk in technology, but that doesn't mean I couldn't learn something from him.

When I was in school at little Ashland University in Ohio, the school's conservative political institution brought in Margaret Thatcher, Dan Quayle, Colin Powel, Dick Cheney (weird how those two came back to light), among others, and I couldn't see them because I wasn't in the right circles. That crap aside, and disregarding that I don't care much for the policy of any of those people, I would've done anything to see them speak. You don't get a lot of opportunities like that.

I think it reflects poorly on CMU and the kids that will graduate from it. I run into similar nonsense in the real post-academic world all of the time, and it's astonishing to see how much energy people put into platform religion or Microsoft hating. Do any of these people ever write software or solve problems?

Posted: Feb 26 2004, 09:28 AM by Jeff | with 10 comment(s)
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Comments

Thomas Tomiczek said:

Very well said. When I saw the pictures, I thought immediatly that the people working there must by the "typical american idiots" as they are envisioned in the world. Kids which have achieved nothing in their life and date to disrespect someone who built one of the most successfull businesses in history.

You do not have to agree with him, but you could at least show some respect.
# February 26, 2004 10:39 AM

R said:


I agree with Thomas .. but surely it's harmless fun? Is Mr G really likely to get *that* upset about some jibes about ancient history? He's a target BECAUSE of who he is, in the same way that celebrities are the target of the papparazzi ...
# February 26, 2004 10:47 AM

Jason Alexander said:

Yeah, I was really pretty disgusted with Ajay's post, as well, and really thought it threw a bad light on his University, personally.

I'm always of the mind, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.", but unfortunately not everyone is engrained with the manners that they once were.
# February 26, 2004 10:48 AM

Jeff said:

At issue isn't if someone hurt his feelings. The real issue is that a bunch of snot-nose know-it-alls think they know better in the face of one of the most influential people in the history of our industry. It doesn't even matter if you think he's brilliant. Few people have ever had more influence on anything.

I think George Bush is a moron, but he is the president, and if I could hear him speak in person, I wouldn't miss the opportunity and I'd be respectful. It's just what we do in a society like ours.
# February 26, 2004 11:07 AM

George Chernyha said:

I wanted to read Ajay's post but it seems to have gone missing.
# February 26, 2004 1:52 PM

Ajay Juneja said:

http://weblogs.asp.net/ajuneja

It's right here :)

Oh and Jeff, cut it with this disrespect thing -- you need to lighten up and have some fun sometimes.

Also, a talk entitled "Solving the Hardest Problems in Computer Science" should have more content on that topic than be a marketing spiel.

I'd also argue Steve Wozniak had as much influence as dear Bill, and he wasn't smacked down cause his talk had CONTENT in it.

You're right, students at CMU don't take well to sales pitches whether they are from Gates or otherwise.
# February 26, 2004 8:14 PM

Ajay Juneja said:

Oh, and I made the most talked about posts list... 1400+ hits... not bad :)
# February 26, 2004 8:15 PM

Jeff said:

Whatever dude... you don't know anything about me or my ability to have fun. If you're going to make an argument, do so as a grown up and try not to resort to personal attacks.
# February 26, 2004 9:34 PM

Ajay Juneja said:

Where was there a personal attack on anyone?
I made reference to his talk being bad, not Bill being bad.

Bill's a huge philanthropist, and I certainly admire and respect that.
# February 26, 2004 10:37 PM

Jeff said:

Not to him, to me! Move along now...
# February 27, 2004 7:49 AM
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