Re: @Grikath Will anyone wheel out dusty Win98 CDs when Gates and Ballmer cash in their chips?
Your points are perfectly valid in the context you posit but unfortunately you completely misunderstand the intended and actual context of both the blockquote that inspired your post, and the man that inspired the obit. You need to find the time-space continuum where 40-plus years later, millions of people feel like "Abort, Retry, Fail?" error messages got them through teenage wildlife with heart and soul intact ... and swap your premise-from-an-alternate-universe and the bearded Mr. Spock ... for the clean shaven one plus a reality check.
The direct generational and emotional impact of the life and passing of Mr. Jones as a person and creator can only be compared poorly at best to their counterparts in Mr. Gates as a person and creator. Many things could be said of Mr. Gates' philanthropy, and of his direct creative coding involvement with Windows the OS, or of Windows' undeniable impact on billions as you point out ... but surely you don't think that people treasure their first Windows (or any) install CD with anything like the scale or the feelings that a favorite CD from the Bowie canon inspires.
If you do insist on a comparison in your terms, then frankly, Jesus, Gahndi, Mohammed, Buddha and the FSM would come up short in comparison to Gates/Windows in the context you propose: a major clue that perhaps your critique is windmilling at something different to what was meant.
I'd say there's rather more Bowie in the Windows98 ad shown (not to mention Bowie chum Brian Eno in the Windows95 startup sound) than there is Windows product placement in Bowie (or Eno) albums or lyrics ... and there's probably a reason for that, yes? Bill G. himself wouldn't (and couldn't) use Bill G. himself to market Windows or code Windows post-inception. In contrast, Bowie did what he did composition-wise pretty much with his own bare hands, and touched people accordingly, a different kind of genius and impact entirely than Gates'. That was the only point being made ... and now defenestrated ... and then hammered flat.
And ... really ? You passed up "sails of oblivion at my head" and friends in favor of the throwaway TARARTIG piss-take ? You do yourself and musician a disservice. Sad.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
