http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/40926

Bill Gates's sprawling Washington state compound is, as you might expect, packed to the gills with bleeding-edge gear, from the heated floors and 20-seat home theater to the X-ray machine (for screening the mail, of course) and miles of fiber-optic cabling. But here's what you definitely won't find at chez Gates: an iPhone.

In the latest issue of Vogue, Bill's wife, Melinda Gates, reveals that among the "very few things" on "the banned list in our household" are?you guessed it?iPods and iPhones.

Brutal, yes?especially for Bill and Melinda's three kids (two daughters and a son, aged 12, six, and nine, respectively), who'll just have to grin and bear it as their little pals make merry with the latest and greatest iPod.

And even Melinda herself admits to an occasional pang of Apple envy: "Every now and then I look at my friends and say, 'Ooh, I wouldn't mind having that iPhone.'" (Ouch!)

Then again, what else did we expect from Microsoft founder Bill Gates? The man has his pride, not to mention scores of Windows Mobile and Zune team members who'd probably feel a tad bit hurt if Bill Jr. was running around with an iPhone.

So, which phones and MP3 players are on the Gates's "good-to-go" list? Well, there's always the Zune for music and video?not the sexiest MP3 player out there, mind you, but at least it's got Wi-Fi and a snazzy interface.

And of course, there are plenty of Windows Mobile handsets to choose from; personally, I'd go for the Palm Treo Pro (if I had to get a Windows Mobile phone, that is), although it's not exactly a barrel of fun for the teens. Or how about the HTC Touch Pro? That's a pretty cool phone ? I guess (as I pat the iPhone 3G in my jeans pocket).

 

Honestly what the f **k is a zune.

 

i think i saw one once. it was some sort of device that in some way was trying to mimic the awsomeness of the ipod, without the awesomeness or ipod like qualities

 

 

What about Blackberry? or Sony PS3 or Wii for that matter? Poor kids

 

i wonder what bill is thinking when he is sitting at home checking his email and he gets "internet explorer has encountered an error and needs to close"

...i usually say "f**k you bill gates". I wonder what he says...

 

Bill curses out the guy who is in charge of IE and that guy loses his job the next day or get demoted. F%&kin rich mofo.

 

smfh he shouldnt do that to his kids they dont know what they are missing lmaooo im actually sending this messege from a iphone 3g

 

i actually checked the forums on my iphone 3g once. it worked quite well, there was no way in hell i could have done that as smoothly with my windows based blackjack.

 

Wonder if the Google Android based G1 is off limits too? My Tmobile G1 has be flawless. I use to fat finger the touch screen keyboard way too much on the iphone.