Bill Gates Foundation Funds Purchase Of 1,100 Palm Tungsten T2 Handhelds

[Ed Hansberry]

<a href="http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/10862_2238951">http://siliconvalley.internet.com/news/article.php/10862_2238951</a><br /><br />"Palm said executives with New York Technology, Achievement, Leadership, Knowledge and Skills (NYTALKS), are buying 1,100 Tungsten T2 handhelds for its three-year program. The statewide school leadership training initiative aimed at superintendents and principals in public and private K-12 schools expects to purchase an additional 1,600 Palm handhelds for the final year of the program, bringing the total to 5,000. NYTALKS is the result of a $7.5 million State Challenge Grant for Leadership Development awarded jointly to the three organizations by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation."<br /><br />Someone get a memo to Bill please about the mobile device division. :frusty:

[GoldKey]

:rotfl:

[JonnoB]

Someone get a memo to Bill please about the mobile device division. :frusty:

Bill Gates' foundation gave the money and had no influence on the buying decision. I wonder if the buyers even know the difference between a PalmOS device and a Pocket PC? Pocket PC still suffers badly from a branding recognition problem vs Palm. This sure makes for good press on behalf of the PalmOS zealots.

[AZMark]

Nice to see someone can give without the strings. The Gates Foundation has given to many diverse causes. In the past they have also been accused of giveing money to buy Apple computers, etc.

Unfortunaly the press, PPCT included, love to pick up on anything that paints the rich and powerful as stupid. Nice to see that Gates' continue to give without the strings and ignore the bad press that will sometimes come out of it.

[bdeli]

Read this two days ago and could not beleive it. Perhaps Bill & Melinda are too annoyed with soft resets and activesync wows to get schools use PocketPC's.

But as JonnoB said, the foundation has no influence + the products have to be non MS.

[AZMark]

They have no influence on how and where the money goes? Start donating millions of dollars and see how much influence you suddenly gain.

[burtman007]

They have no influence on how and where the money goes? Start donating millions of dollars and see how much influence you suddenly gain.

In that case, I'm willing to bet the buck stops there...

aka "NO FUNDS FOR YOU!"

[MooseMaster]

But that's not 'giving.' It's blackmailing.

[GoldKey]

I think as a recipient of funds, you have a duty, even if it was given no strings attached to respect your donors by not doing things that might be embarassing to the donor. AKA, don't bite the hand that feeds you. This was dumb on another level. If they needed PDA's and Gates was such a big donor, they probably could have used his influence to get a better deal on PPC's.

[possmann]

:jawdrop: :rotfl: :twak:

I think that about sums up my thoughts on this topic....

[bdeli]

But this is a foundation set up to HELP and not to MARKET - more info is available at the Gates foundation website - www.gatesfoundation.org

I beleive that if more people who have lots of $$$$$$$ do the same, the world would be a better place to live in.

[quidproquo]

I agree with the comment about branding and awareness in the market place. When I pull out my PPC in the grocery line to input the debit card amount I just spent at the grocery into my KeepTrack program - the cashier always says...."Wow....is that a Palm Pilot and a phone?"

I have a T-Mobile PPCPE....

EVERYONE who is not an avid PDA'er calls it a Palm Pilot.... even after Palm dropped the Pilot part years ago.

That is what branding will do for you!! :way to go:

Kind of like here in the south..... "I would like a coke please"... ok what kind? Oh...Dr. Pepper. In the south Coke=soda of any kind. :wink:

[GoldKey]

Yes, but it sends the message that the group feels that the product of their largest contributor is not as good as that of the competition. If I was part of an organization that received that much from a contributor, I would be doing everything I could to make sure the future funds keep coming in.

[cmchavez]

Couldn't Bill double his tax write-off by donating PPC's to the organization as well? :?

[PlayAgain?]

By doing it like this, nobody can accuse Bill Gates of peddling a brand, which is good and above reproach.

If he'd given a bunch of PocketPC's, the news would have been cynically indignant of a man plugging his products. This way, the only people he upsets are those who are more worried about brand exposure than they are about the charity being given to.

Bill Gates chose the option that won't put mud on the name of Microsoft in the mobile equipment market because he abstained from the appearance of evil.

You got to remember, this isn't Microsoft giving to charity, this is Bill gates giving to charity.

[qmrq]

Yes, but it sends the message that the group feels that the product of their largest contributor is not as good as that of the competition. If I was part of an organization that received that much from a contributor, I would be doing everything I could to make sure the future funds keep coming in.

So? Maybe that's true. :p

[burtman007]

You got to remember, this isn't Microsoft giving to charity, this is Bill gates giving to charity.

Unfortunately, this gets back to the issue of name branding. Bill Gates, whether he likes is or not is NAME BRANDED to Microsoft. When Bill does anything, it is associated with Microsoft. I doubt he'll ever be able to shake that stigma.

[drop]

That's ok, Pocket PC are grown-ups' toys. :grinning devil:

[jkendrick]

Bill Gates and his charities will be roasted no matter what they do. If they had given PPCs they would have gotten bad press for pushing his own stuff. They give Palms and they're laughed at.

No win for him. But I'm personally glad he's giving back so much to various charities and causes. :)

[beq]

You got to remember, this isn't Microsoft giving to charity, this is Bill gates giving to charity.
That's my take too. Bill the humanist (giving from his personal wealth) has his own non-MS-centric "big picture" priorities. I think he takes this aspect seriously as well. Besides, doesn't Melinda run the show? :mrgreen:

[bdeli]

Besides, doesn't Melinda run the show? :mrgreen:

Nope - it is led by Bill Gates’ father, William H. Gates, Sr.

[dean_shan]

This is nothing new for Gates. He bought my High School a bunch of Macs.

[Brad Adrian]

Unfortunaly the press, PPCT included, love to pick up on anything that paints the rich and powerful as stupid.
Examples of how we've unfairly done that on this site, please?

If Palm had donated Pocket PCs to a school, I'd consider it just as equally dumb. I'm not saying that everything has to have an alterior, marketing motive, but this is a PR disaster. Do you honestly think that if Coca-Cola sponsored a refreshment tent at the Special Olympics they'd be serving Pepsi?

[ECOslin]

The correct amount of force to get the task done. An organization shouldn't spend money on Armored Vehicles when a Volvo does the job needed and they can buy more Volvos than Tanks for the same money.

I feel that, if a 'paper' notepad won't do the job, maybe a Palm will do it, if a Palm device can't do it, definately a Pocket PC will.

My past experience, setting up and maintaining classrooms and demonstration areas, has shown me that some educators are not the most technical of people.

Edward

(Really sometimes my analogies work!)

[DavidRoss]

Do you honestly think that if Coca-Cola sponsored a refreshment tent at the Special Olympics they'd be serving Pepsi?


As someone said; Microsoft is not giving the money. It’s Bill Gates and his family, through their foundation. I don’t think anyone would be upset if the CEO of Coca-Cola Drank a Pepsi every now and then.

I agree with the people who have said that this is a sign that Bill is giving money to help people, not to help himself. If the schools are helped more buy Palms then PocketPc then its good they got them.

And again to take someone else’s post, if a palm will do the job, then use one. these schools are not trying to listen to MP3's while wirelessly surfing the web, and replying to e-mails while also being guided though the building using GPS. They just want to take some notes and make some appointments.


However... I think it’s still funny, and I see nothing wrong with reporting it as funny, but I think it’s wrong to report it as dumb.

[CESkins]

However... I think it’s still funny, and I see nothing wrong with reporting it as funny, but I think it’s wrong to report it as dumb.
David I agree with you on this. Bill Gates just provides the money and other individuals decide how to get the most bang for the buck. I have often advised people who asked me which PDA to purchase (especially those in the medical fields), to get a Palm b/c they are cheaper in most instances and have more available freeware software (for the biomedical field) than the PocPC. Why buy a few PocPCs and then have to buy additional software when you can purchase hundreds of Palms at the same price and obtain some pretty robust software for free off the Internet. Because Bill is so tightly linked with MS, when I 1st read the blurb, I thought that MS had lost their marbles but certainly no one would be accusing Bill of being a monopolist with this move. :)

[theone3]

Bill Gates and his charities will be roasted no matter what they do. If they had given PPCs they would have gotten bad press for pushing his own stuff. They give Palms and they're laughed at.

No win for him. But I'm personally glad he's giving back so much to various charities and causes. :)Agreed

[Mike Temporale]

The statewide school leadership training initiative aimed at superintendents and principals in public and private K-12 schools expects to purchase an additional 1,600 Palm handhelds for the final year of the program, bringing the total to 5,000.

They already have 3,400 Palms. You can't reasonable through out that investment and start over. The donation was no strings attached, and they used the money to extend their current hardware.

[peterawest]

This is nothing new for Gates. He bought my High School a bunch of Macs.

And that wouldn't have been a bad decision either. After all, isn't Microsoft still the largest software developer for the Apple OS?

[dean_shan]

This is nothing new for Gates. He bought my High School a bunch of Macs.

And that wouldn't have been a bad decision either. After all, isn't Microsoft still the largest software developer for the Apple OS?

I not sure if that is still the case. I think they only make Office and WMP. They dropped IE for Mac a couple of months ago. I don't think it is a bad decision at all. The only reason my school has a lot of new, good technology is becasue of grants. I thought at first that it was weird that Gates gave us cash to by Macs and not his product. Now I realise he was just being nice.

[rbrome]

Nice to see someone can give without the strings. The Gates Foundation has given to many diverse causes. In the past they have also been accused of giveing money to buy Apple computers, etc.

Unfortunaly the press, PPCT included, love to pick up on anything that paints the rich and powerful as stupid. Nice to see that Gates' continue to give without the strings and ignore the bad press that will sometimes come out of it.

My thoughts exactly. This is charity, folks. The idea is supposed to be giving because you want to help, not to further business goals or paint a rosy picture of yourself.

If Bill demanded that his charity donations only be used to buy products from his company, THAT would be pretty f**ked up, IMO. That would be back-door marketing under a thin veil of "charity", and it would be a very slime-ball thing to do. I'm very glad to see that is not the case, and Bill actually is giving to charity to help, not to make himself richer.

There absolutely should be a clear separation between the donor's business interests and the charity's purchasing decisions. This "news" proves that this is the case, and I'm very glad to see it. Kudos to Bill and Melinda.