Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Printable Version

Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Printable Version

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Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Dismas - 06-30-2016

The origins of the original Xbox are quite interesting. Apparently Gates was abhorrently against the idea of the console running anything other than Windows (big surprise?).

Code:
"So we go into the meeting and four o'clock Valentine's Day--Bill walks in he's holding a Powerpoint deck and yells, 'This is the blanking insult to everything I've done at this company' and that was the start, so we all looked at [Xbox director and designer J Allard] because we knew Bill's mad about the no Windows thing, because we forgot to 'pre-disaster' him, so J is in shock for a minute and Bill yells at me and shuts me down and Robbie steps up and Bill shuts him down anyway, and then Ballmer goes through and says we're gonna lose a lot of money and he's beating us up about that, hours go by its five o clock, its six o clock, it's Valentines Day! Most of us have something going on!

"So we spent years working on this and looking at each other and convincing them this is the best plan, so finally one of the observers at the meeting just raises his hand and says, 'What about Sony?' and he says, 'Sony is slowly invading the living room with a processor here software there, they could be a threat to Microsoft.' So Bill and Steve stop and look at each other and go, 'Yeah...what about Sony?' And so Bill turns and says, 'I'm going to give you guys everything you want' and Ballmer repeats the same thing. And I turn to Robbie and say, 'That was the weirdest meeting I've ever been in.'"

(Definitely watch this. It interested me.)

Read More: Gamespot

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - zorrophreak - 06-30-2016

Interesting read and video. It doesn't really surprise me that he disliked the idea, but it is kinda stange. And the eventual compromise is just weird as hell.

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Dismas - 06-30-2016

(06-30-2016, 10:08 PM)zorrophreak Wrote: Interesting read and video. It doesn't really surprise me that he disliked the idea, but it is kinda stange. And the eventual compromise is just weird as hell.

I just find it funny he wanted to have the console run Windows. You can build a computer with Windows, for cheaper than a console. You can play games on said computer. I don't think anyone would buy the Xbox One now if it ran Windows, aha.

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Skullmeat - 07-01-2016

Bill may have been on to something. Microsoft is a software company, not a hardware company. I think bill knew that.

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Dismas - 07-01-2016

(07-01-2016, 12:02 AM)Skullmeat Wrote: Bill may have been on to something. Microsoft is a software company, not a hardware company. I think bill knew that.

They are a software company, but software companies don't normally go and sell video game consoles. It'd be a pre-built PC, basically. What's the point? Why not just build your own and plug it in to a TV for less?

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - zorrophreak - 07-01-2016

Spoiler:

PC gamers could only dream

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Aeolian - 07-01-2016

Interesting watch, hour later.

Thank you.

RE: Bill Gates Initially Hated Idea of Xbox - Despised - 07-01-2016

Interesting read.

Might watch the video later and update.