Hear Ye! Since 1998.
Please note: This post is at least 3 years old. Links may be broken, information may be out of date, and the views expressed in the post may no longer be held.
4
Feb 98
Wed

Gates creamed by pie!

gatespie.jpg (35013 bytes)Hahahahaha. Uncle Bill (“The Bill stops here” & “and Bill’s your uncle” – My own ™s :) got hit by a pie. Yes – literally – hit by a pie! Haha. Just check out the picture to the right – yes it’s real, it’s Gates and it’s unaltered (I got it from the link below). It happened in Belgium. Now I don’t have any grudges against Gates (although many do) – I always thought that while a ruthless businessman he may be, he was a sorta down-to-earth guy – y’know, how he flies economy class (before the Lear Jet he reluctantly bought was purchased), how he eats at Hungry Jacks for lunch etc. Besides, he’s not the only one making MS’s decisions. There’s a whole board room. But after seeing the movie, and his reaction, he doesn’t seem so nice anymore. Sure, I wouldn’t like to have been hit by a pie, yeah sure it would’ve been humiliating — but — it was a joke (MS isn’t laying charges, just as well), and he could’ve taken it as a joke. I mean it wasn’t really dangerous (ruined the suit, but just buy another!). However, he looked really disgruntled, and ran off (looking like some  conman that current affairs programs chase with a camera). When they asked him for a comment, he just kept a grim face and kept walking. C’mon, that wouldn’t raise any popularity points. At least he could’ve smiled and joked about it or something. Made some witty comment. That movie will be on all over the world. Maybe he’s not as down-to-earth as I think. Oh well…

Read more about it on cnn’s website, including a QuickTime movie of his “strategic withdrawal” :
http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9802/04/belgium.gates.ap/

A profile of Gates on cnn.com reads:

Microsoft’s work environment has been shaped by Gates. There is
no bureaucracy or conformity to a dress code, but an atmosphere
of openness, flexibility and intellectual rigor.
[But…] Employee turnover is
low. Workers often take salary cuts to join the company and work
double the typical eight-hour workday. Gates himself is a
demanding taskmaster, battering his staff with technical challenges
and finding flaws in their work.
[But…] Still, he elicits strong employee
loyalty.

Interesting… Also, it is thought that the pie attack may be attributed to Noel Godin – a man attributed to his famous pie attacks on famous people. While unconfirmed, an article on Godin reads :

Good humor, in fact, is all a target need demonstrate to obtain mercy, Godin says. In May 1985, Godard was entarte at the Cannes festival, a favorite stalking ground for Godin, who claims he is now banned from entering the French Riviera town. The famed director licked thoughtfully at the thick cream on his face and played down the whole thing. He was never targeted again.

I’m still laughing.

This post has no comments. Add yours below.

Add a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.