Posted by Charlie S (206.159.160.79) on July 12, 2001 at 06:17:32:
> BILL GATES AND GM
> >
> > At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates
> > reportedly compared the
> > computer industry with the auto industry and
> stated,
> > "if GM had kept up
> > with the technology like the computer industry
> has,
> > we would all be driving
> > $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
> >
> > In response to Bill's comments, General Motors
> > issued a press release stating:
> > >
> > If GM had developed technology like Microsoft; we
> > would all be driving cars
> > with the following characteristics:
> > >
> > 1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash
> > twice a day.
> > >
> > 2. Every time they repainted the lines in the
> road,
> > you would have to buy a
> > new car.
> > >
> > 3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway
> > for no reason. You would
> > have to pull over to the side of the road, close
> all
> > of the windows, shut
> > off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows
> > before you could continue.
> > For some reason you would simply accept this.
> > >
> > 4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a
> left
> > turn would cause your
> > car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which
> > case you wouldhave to
> > reinstall the engine.
> > >
> > 5. Only one person at a time could use the car
> > unless you bought "CarNT",
> > but then you would have to buy more seats.
> > >
> > 6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by
> > the sun, was reliable,
> > five times as fast and twice as easy to drive-but
> > would only run on five
> > percent of the roads.
> > >
> > 7. The oil, water temperature, and alternator
> > warning lights would all be
> > replaced by a single "General Protection Fault"
> > warning light.
> > >
> > 8. New seats would force everyone to have the same
> > sized butt.
> > >
> > 9. The airbag system would ask, "are you sure?"
> > before deploying.
> > >
> > 10. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your
> car
> > would lock you out and
> > refuse to let you in until you simultaneously
> lifted
> > the doorhandle, turned
> > the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
> > >
> > 11. GM would require all car buyers to also
> purchase
> > a deluxe set of Rand
> > McNally road maps (now a GM subsidiary), even
> though
> > they neither need nor
> > want them. Attempting to delete this option would
> > immediately cause the
> > car's performance to diminish by 50% or more.
> > Moreover, GM
> >
> > would become a target for investigation by the
> > Justice Dept.
> > >
> > 12. Every time GM introduced a new car, car buyers
> > would have to learn to
> > drive all over again because none of the controls
> > would operate in the
> > same manner as the old car.
> > >
> > 13. You'd have to press the "Start" button to turn
> > the engine off.
> >
Smiles.......Charlie S :^)