VIDEO: Bill Gates drives a Ford Focus Coupe
click above image to view video
Bill Gates gave his final keynote address yesterday at the CES Show in Las Vegas, at which he announced a new version of SYNC that adds OnStar-esque capabilities like calling 911 after an accident and recording diagnostic information. Being that Bill will soon leave the company at which he's worked full-time since he was 17 years old, the founder of Windows had some fun and showed a video revealing what his last day at work will be like. It includes cameos from such stars as Matthew McConaughey, George Clooney, Jay-Z, Bono, Jon Stewart, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, Al Gore and... the 2007 Ford Focus Coupe?!?!?! Done in the style of The Office, the video is hilarious and Bill's self-deprecating humor shows what a loveable billionaire he can be. The Ford Focus Coupe plays the part of his daily driver, on top of which Bill absentmindedly places things and then drives away. Thing is, we know Bill's a Porschephile, with a 911 Cabrio and a rare 959 parked in his garage in Redmond. Do they really expect us to believe SYNC has so much appeal that it can lure a wealthy man away from his German sportscars? Check out the video for yourself after the jump.
[Source: YouTube]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
SGV 3:11PM (1/07/2008)
"Do they really expect us to believe SYNC has so much appeal that it can lure a wealthy man away from his German sportscars? "
I don't think so. But maybe they [whoever they might be] want us to believe that Gates stands by his product and believes in it. Or do you think it would have been more appropriate to show him leaving in a SYNC-less Porsche.
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Scotty 3:14PM (1/07/2008)
Don't worry about that sentence, it's just the required line to try and prove they can do more than copy / paste and summarize.
But FWIW you're right on the money SGV.
tek 4:46PM (1/07/2008)
Is everyone here a sheep?
Do you think they just grabbed a handycam and said "hey Bill, drive your car!"
No. There was a director, a lighting crew, multiple cameras, and I'm sure a budget that would buy someone a couple of Focuses. Obviously they have a deal with Ford for Sync, and Ford told them to use their car in the video.
Videos like this don't just get made, they require a little bit of coordination ;)
Trust me, I know.
SGV 4:59PM (1/07/2008)
What makes you think anyone think that? That is obviously a very well produced video, I am also in the industry. Now, I can't see the reason of your comment. As much as I can't see with Autoblog would think that he could have possibly used anything different than a SYNC equipped car.
John R 3:11PM (1/07/2008)
I can think of 50 billion rea$son$ why Bill Gates would NOT drive a new focus.
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John R 3:14PM (1/07/2008)
...file this under the "Do you really think Tiger Woods drives a Buick?" drawer.
jv 3:23PM (1/07/2008)
Not really a surprise. Most rich people don't like other people knowing that they are rich.
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Dale 3:22PM (1/07/2008)
Was George Clooney using an iPhone???
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jeffzekas 3:24PM (1/07/2008)
However you may feel about Microsoft, the fact is, Bill Gates is a self-made man. He did not inherit his wealth like the Kennedy's (who are notoriously stingy), the Hiltons, or the Rockefellers. The fact that he EARNED those billions (and has given most of it away) is more significant than what kind of car he drives.
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dave0mary 3:40PM (1/07/2008)
Very true. But, he wan't the founder of Windows. He bought the idea. Just like Ray Croc didn't start the idea of little hamburgers/fries and shakes. They both knew how to market their ideas with a product that already existed. Bill Gates' really one true characterisitic is that he knows how to dream really big, and get people to follow that dream - a motivator.
Paul S 3:51PM (1/07/2008)
Come on people it's humor. Of course Bill Gates would not drive a Ford Focus. You're reading too much into something that is just a very funny clip.
Vincenzo 4:01PM (1/07/2008)
Why did he suck Windows users' blood and then give away the money?
There was a Finnish student who gave away his OS for. His Linux been used in auto navigation systems for years.
Randy 4:01PM (1/09/2008)
Amen!
David W. 4:16PM (1/07/2008)
@ Dave...as I heard the story, when gates was working for apple they stole the idea from xerox, then gates turned around and stole the idea to form windows, I could be wrong though
Jeff the Baptist 4:24PM (1/07/2008)
No Bill Gates is like Donald Trump, a man who started out fairly wealthy and then used his family's money and connections to build an empire.
Bill's mother was on the board of the United Way. So was John Opel, the chairman of IBM. Mrs. Gates introduced Mr. Opel to her son Bill. This introduction was one of the main reasons Microsoft got the contract to write DOS, the product they built their company on.
This isn't to say that Gates is stupid or untalented. He is a sharp businessman and very smart. But he is hardly an Alger-esque self-made man who rose from rags to riches.
Lee 4:31PM (1/07/2008)
+1
Ry_Trapp0 1:50PM (1/08/2008)
wow, whats with all the mis-information??? microsoft was contracted to build an OS so they bought DOS from a smaller company, made some revisions, and changed the name to MS-DOS. this was temporary so they could build a solid ground up OS.
the xerox guys got ahold of apple and had them check out their GUI they created. apple took some ideas from it and built their GUI. microsoft created their own GUI, apple sued them saying that microsoft stole the idea from them, and xerox, who never had a problem with apple using a somewhat similar GUI, sued apple since xerox were the real creators of the idea. both cases were thrown out.
frnkconstantino 9:39PM (1/09/2008)
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) is the largest transparently operated charitable foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000 and doubled in size by Warren Buffett in 2006. The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and, in the United States, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, is controlled by its three trustees: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett. Other principal officers include Co-Chair William H. Gates, Sr. and Chief Executive Officer Patty Stonesifer. It has an endowment of US$37.6 billion as of July 11, 2007. (Wikipedia)
“Ultimately, all the work Bill Gates did at Microsoft will be remembered by very few. Instead, he’ll be remembered as one of the world’s greatest philanthropists. Don’t believe me? Then answer this: How did Andrew Carnegie make his fortune?
If you’re like most people, you don’t know that Carnegie made his fortune by founding the Carnegie Steel Company, which later became U.S. Steel. Steel sounds as old economy as it gets, but in his time, stell was the engine that drove the economy, much as technology drives ours.
But today people know of Carnegie for the myriad endowments, institutes, and universities he founded By the time of his death, he had given away $350 million, and in his will, he gave away the final $300 million of his fortune — astonishing numbers for those times. Gates is similarly giving away massive amounts of his fortune, and Warren Buffet is adding most of his fortune as well.
As computers become embedded in our daily lives, and therefore invisible, people will forget how computers initially revolutionized the way we live and work. They’ll become background — like steel is today.
What won’t become background, though, are the foundations that Gates is founding, and which will do incalculable good in the world — and that’s how people will remember the man.
I’ve been a frequent critic of Gates’ business practices, which I have thought bordered on the illegal, and sometimes crossed over. But in giving away so much of his fortune, he’s making the world a far better place than he found it, and that’s what he’ll be remembered for.”
(“Bill Gates' Legacy: Charity, not Microsoft” by Preston Gralla in Opinion)
John P. 3:43PM (1/07/2008)
Bill should have done videos like this 20 years ago. He was actually kinda cool in this. The first time I've ever seen that.
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Pat 3:48PM (1/07/2008)
"Do they really expect us to believe SYNC has so much appeal that it can lure a wealthy man away from his German sportscars?"
The Sync's actual end functions probably don't, but clearly the partnership with Ford does.
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