"Microsoft has gone more toward the dark side after Gates stopped managing the business."

That was certainly true of Ballmer, but Microsoft's current CEO is actually encouraging more adoption of open standards, adherence to open standards, and collaboration with other software vendors. Overall I'm encouraged. Of course I think the primary impetus for this has been the disruptive innovation in the cellphone market, which is currently dominated by Google and Apple. Microsoft's marketshare is a paltry 2-3%. They're doing slightly better in the tablet arena, but they are nowhere as dominant as they are in the PC market. Hooray for competition!

Spot on. Excel and Word were huge productivity increases for many areas. Perhaps Gates should pay for all the Bookkeepers we no longer have? Or pay a special tax for enabling the creation and improvement in robot and AI technology. Gates is well into and at the bottom of the deep end of the pool on this one from many perspectives - starting with having a government "manage" the introduction and expansion of robot technology (although he is about 40 years late to the game).

Imagine I invent an robot with significant AI capabilities. That robot has considerable latitude to act and, without my instruction, designs and builds an improved model of itself. That improved model repeats the process building something even more improved, it constructs a bunch of them. They then decide to build a factory to make more robots and do so.

I went on to do other things and don't even know they did this. In theory I invented it, but how much credit for invention can I claim for an invention I don't know exists. And I'm certainly not supervising.

If the robots built by the factory are sold, who earned the money?

Our economic thinking assumes that the automation is clearly designed, built, and controlled by humans. An assumption that is starting to get a bit fuzzy and will become more so as our AI becomes better.

To take a quote from Psych - "I've heard it both ways."

And consistent with every large business concern that I can recall, some more so, some marginally less so. Especially true in the large size software business.
imo, Microsoft has gone more toward the dark side after Gates stopped managing the business. But so has Gates;^)

Probably "fails to mention" rather than "fails to realize." ;^)

I agree that it is slavery. Unfortunately, most people agree to be enslaved for half of their production. I do not. There is no such thing as paying my "fair share" toward things being done without my express consent. In fact I'd be more inclined to pay to stop them if there was a reasonable expectation of success.

Gates wasn't really all that good at computer science. He worked on his version of the Basic computing language, but he was no Jobs or Wozniak. He had one single insight - the idea of licensing rather than selling software - that made him all his money. The rest was a combination of luck, timing, and outright IP theft. See "Pirates of Silicon Valley". His tactics with Internet Explorer, etc. are entirely consistent with the globalist/statist he is now.

It'll come from those that work, those that invent, those that oversee; To pay those with no conscience, no mind and no ability to do anything but Take from others...that has been their wish the whole time.

Seems to me that taxing a business based on his robotic workers so as to pay for Real Humans to do nothing, should cause one to think...why don't I just employ Real People.

Robots don't "Earn" a wage but the company does...

I think Gates is failing to realize that the higher you tax a company the more likely a robot will be working instead of a human. Ipso facto: you are taxing robots by taxing a company into laying off workers and bringing in robots.

I propose Capitalist Robots. Each Capitalist (worker) should either do his job or buy a robot to do it and have a company "hire" his robot. The worker with no savings will need to work and save to invest in a robot. The more capital you have the more sophisticated robot you will be able to buy and the more an employer will pay for it's use. This robotic meritocracy, will lead to better and better robots and higher productivity. Men will be free to do human tasks and to be creative. You will always need to keep your robot in good working order and technologically up to date and be aware of the financial health of the employer. This would also solve the mobility problem because as an industry shifts geographically you don't need to move, just send your robot.

Exactly!

Income Tax = SLAVERY!

Tax consumption/transfers (Vat/Sales/Fairtax), but NEVER EVER EVER Income.
What people do not understand is that TECHNICALLY, bartered items are taxable.
If you grow your own food, and were completely self-sufficient, the courts have twisted meaning to IMPLY that you CREATED AND BOUGHT that stuff, simply by bartering your time to get it, and therefore, it is taxable income.

Also, why does a business get to write off it's COSTS against its income, but people don't, per se. I mean, to live/feed myself, they give me THEIR allowance. BS. I need Energy Costs, Cost of ALL insurances required. Cost of my car.

They are taxing GROSS Income, not NET (what I take home, after what it costs me to LIVE/OPERATE).

Again. I support the Fair Tax. Or a Flat Tax on products. If I don't buy, I don't pay. Then EVERYONE, including Illegals will be forced to pay their fair share. Also, only pay for products NOT SERVICES (A service is income).

But Governments want ALL the revenue they can get.

It's a combination of guilt for having so much, not wanting to be on the leftist radar for their envious pitchforks, and wanting to keep what you have. In other words, COWARDLINESS.

R2 over C3PO, term?

The same logic could have been applied to Microsoft in the 1980's to "raise the tax level and even slow down the speed of that adoption" of its software. I wonder how Gates would have responded to such a proposal at the time.

Regardless, a "robot tax" would give a competitive advantage to any robot company located in a country that did not impose such a tax.

I agree for the most part.
Replace income tax with much lower (limited constitutional) spending. The taxes are what allow centralization of power and statist meddling that destroys liberty and destroys free markets. While the source of taxes matters somewhat, its the agreement to allowing anything that funds large government that is a bigger problem.

I agree with you that robots will get smarter and more versatile. Robot creativity will be farther off I think, and there ARE somethings that humans would prefer from other humans. But most things that we want could be offered faster and more consistently by robots (not subject to whims, emotional outbursts, political biases, and other human consistencies).

I very much am ready for fast food ordering and food delivery by robots, as well as order taking in sit down restaurants thats done at the table with a robot that LISTENS to what I want and doesnt expect some exhorbitant tip for simply taking my order.

There will come a time, and it may not be in the too distant future, when jobs that the "robots" can't do will be very few. There may always be people who want services from other human beings, maybe, I prefer a well designed automated system to interacting with a human for most things.

The threshold event is robots that can not only do repetitive work but deal with varied environments and have the ability to manipulate objects that humans do. I think of being able to clean hotel rooms as an example that's harder than picking fruit.

When that happens, we will all be pretty much on that farm.

Tax, tax, tax. I’ve always thought how unfortunate that some of the most wealthy have similar mindsets. They could do so much more with the mindset of creating more wealth.

So much here. So much. First and foremost: Businesses don't PAY taxes, they only collect them. Owners of things pay taxes and consumers of things pay taxes! Either the owner of a method of production (stockholder) will pay the tax as assessed (such as is done with property taxes) or the price of the good the robot manufactures will reflect the additional tax (no mater how it is assessed). Taxing income is immoral -- as determined by Western Civilization beginning in the 1800's when Slavery began to be outlawed (only recently completed in many parts of the world). Slavery is the LEGAL seizure of part or all of the work product of one person by some other entity using the legal force and potential violence against the first individuals (it does not matter if the receiving party is a wealthy aristocrat or the Treasurer of the government.
This slavery seizes the power rightfully belonging to We the People and abuses the People with it. End Income Taxation and replace it with the much more honest FairTax (H.R. 25) or with a transparent Wealth Tax -- again designed to be obvious, open and transparent.

Lets suppose I lived on a farm with robots to make all my food, cook it, diagnose diseases, and basically take care of me. I would be able to spend most of my time on either creating things or just lounging on the beach. The only unemployment would be my own, and that might not be so bad.

People are going to have to up their game in order to be of use in that sort of economy. Sort of like what has happened with the rise of China. People in america by and large havent upped their game, and as a result have lost a lot of jobs permanently to the Chinese. American workers are a far cry from chinese workers in terms of motivation, requirement for pay, and learning. Very few things are actually made here in America, and more and more creative things are being developed and made in china. It means USA is in trouble in years to come. We have become far and lazy.

Add automation to the mix, and the lower level jobs Americans have been satisfied doing will be taken over by China today and automation with robots tomorrow. People here just have to find ways that the chinese and robots cant yet do.

Gates went to that side long ago and is now a big proponent of one-world government. His Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is based on that goal.

Microsoft? whats that nowadays.

Jobs was right about Gates. He didnt think much of him.

Maybe they will call it an "automation tax" and tax all automation as figured out like the customs duties are (with a 2 foot thick book of tariffs).