Bill Gates spies on his kids, limits internet access
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
At a recent speaking engagement in Ottawa, Bill Gates announced to the audience that he limits his daughter’s computer time to 45 minutes a day, and monitors what sites she and her brother visit, who they IM, and how long they are online. That 45 minute time limit is shared by video game use as well. It turns out his daughter is a big fan of the XBOX 360 (big surprise) game “Viva Pinata”.
Since many of us here at Macenstein have kids of our own, we aren’t going to be too hard on Bill’s “big brother” approach to monitoring his kids’ online activities. After all, he wants to know what complete strangers are doing on their computers, so it is understandable he’d be curious about his own children. However, 45 minutes seems like a fairly short time to us. Assuming his kids are being forced to use a Windows machine, 45 minutes is barely enough time for a child to download 3 viruses, crash the system twice, and click through the 40 or so security warnings and pop ups necessary to get online, let alone play any games.
No word on how much Zune time the kids are allowed.
Macenstein's "Mac Chick of the Month" (November 2008): Becky Ellis
Macenstein's "Mac Chick of the Month" (March 2010): Kaki West
Let’s give the devil his due. Bill G. is doing exactly what every parent should do. There is no technology that can keep kids safe online, so parental monitoring is the only solution.
Full marks Bill. Keep up the good work.
As long as Bill tells his kids they are being watched, I think it is ok.
The article isn’t attacking Bill as a parent. It’s saying that 45 mins is a really short time to be on the computer. But hey, he’s the dad, it’s his call.
Now his kids has something to hate him for later…
I wonder how fast Bill Gates’ computer is. I wonder how fast Steve Jobs compuer is…
45 Minutes? Maybe he’s concerned that they’ve got weapons of mass destruction.
I think it is a bit mad to spy on your kids and limit their computer time to 45 mins. Doesn’t he have better things to do with his time
Stuff all you people!!!
I’m Bill Gates not you!
imho 60 minutes is adequate, but on weekends i would give them 2 hours a day