QuoteProject
About three million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though. And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade.
Bill Gates
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

This quote highlights the strategy of allowing users to access software for free with the expectation that they may eventually pay for it.

Bill Gates discusses the phenomenon of software piracy in China, noting that while users currently do not pay for software, allowing them to use Microsoft's products for free could lead to brand loyalty and eventual purchases. This perspective reflects a long-term business strategy that aims to gain market share and create a future consumer base that values and invests in the product.

Themes

SoftwarePiracyTechnologyStrategyBusiness

In practice

Example use cases

This quote can be used in a tech conference to discuss software monetization strategies.

More from Bill Gates

Nuclear energy, in terms of an overall safety record, is better than other energy.
Bill GatesRead
The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow.
Bill GatesRead
With the states release today of a set of clear and consistent academic standards, our nation is one step closer to supporting effective teaching in every classroom, charting a path to college and careers for all students, and developing the tools to help all children stay motivated and engaged in their own education. The more states that adopt these college and career based standards, the closer we will be to sharing innovation across state borders and becoming more competitive as a country.
Bill GatesRead
Internet TV and the move to the digital approach is quite revolutionary. TV has historically has been a broadcast medium with everybody picking from a very finite number of channels.
Bill GatesRead
These four policy prescriptions - strengthening educational opportunities, revamping immigration rules for highly skilled workers, increasing federal funding for basic scientific research, and providing incentives for private-sector R&D - should in my view be top priorities as Congress and the Administration consider how to maintain the nation's leadership in science, technology, and innovation.
Bill GatesRead
You’ve got to give great tools to small teams. Pick good people, use small teams and give them great tools so that they are very productive in terms of what they are doing.
Bill GatesRead

Similar quotes

Animal factories are one more sign of the extent to which our technological capacities have advanced faster than our ethics.
Peter SingerRead
The hope of internet anarchists was that repressive governments would have only two options: accept the internet with its limitless possibilities of spreading information, or restrict internet access to the ruling elite and turn your back on the 21st century, as North Korea has done.
Peter SingerRead
Some jerk infected the Internet with an outright lie. It shows how easy it is to do and how credulous people are.
Kurt VonnegutRead
The truth is I've been doing Kickstarter before there was Kickstarter; there was no Internet. Social Media was writing letters, making phone calls, beating the bushes.
Spike LeeRead
Virtual reality is the 'ultimate empathy machine.' These experiences are more than documentaries. They're opportunities to walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
Chris MilkRead
People are so bad at driving cars that computers don't have to be that good to be much better. Any time you stand in line at the D.M.V. and look around, you're like, Oh, my God, I wish all these people were replaced by computer drivers.
Marc AndreessenRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Bill Gates | QuoteProject