Bill Gates in 2004: “Two years from now, spam will be solved”

Posted December 12, 2006 at 09:42 PM by Darrick Rochili

Section: Communications, Email / IM, Computers, Security

I’m a Microsoft guy. Always have been and probably always will be. From the days of BASIC, MS-DOS, Windows 3.1 up until now when I’m developing web applications with .NET and SQL Server. Although I may not agree with how they do business at times, I keep defending them from all the attacks that my friends or co-workers hurl at them. I’ve seen how Microsoft has changed its attitude towards criticism within the last few years. Whereas previously they would just ignore it and act with arrogance, these days Microsoft seems more open to suggestions and are adopting a more customer centric approach to their products.

My affinity for Microsoft products cannot be separated from my respect and admiration for one of its founders and most recognizable face, Bill Gates. Call him what you may, the devil (try Googling “Bill Gates 666”), a thief (people claim he just steals ideas and builds on them, case in point – Mac OS & Windows), arrogant, builder of a monopoly, and much more, but nobody can deny what he’s accomplished. He’s built an empire from scratch, withstood so many blows against Microsoft, provided a great working environment to thousands of loyal Microsofties, and set up the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where he puts quite a fortune into charity work. To me, Bill Gates is a visionary; I believe that without such vision, he wouldn’t have been able to accomplish what he has.

And yet, when I see quotes like this from 2004:

Two years from now, spam will be solved.

I cringe and question whether his vision was distorted at the time, or has just been delayed. No disrespect to Mr. Gates at all, but he has been known to throw a vision curveball at the world (remember the now infamous 640K ought to be enough for anybody quote back from 1981?). Of course, in 2004, he was talking in the context of Microsoft’s Caller ID technology (now called the Sender ID Framework), supposed anti-spam technology that would cause a major dent in spammers’ livelihood worldwide.

It’s currently December 11th 2006, and I really doubt this particular vision of Mr. Gates will come to pass. The spam that comes through my mailboxes (Hotmail, Yahoo and GMail) still haven’t shown any signs of slowing down. It looks like this quote will go down in history alongside that 640K quote as ones that will be used against him (and Microsoft undoubtedly) over and over again.

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