It depends on what the meaning of “about” is

In my post yesterday about Bill Gates and H-1B visas, I suggested that he be more specific about how the H-1B visa program “has strong wage protections for US workers.”

It turns out he has been specific. Here is the Washington Post’s David Broder paraphrasing Gates in a March 19, 2006, column on H-1B visa holders and their jobs: “…these are highly paid, highly qualified individuals. Salaries for these jobs at Microsoft start at about $100,000 a year.”

It also turns out Gates has apparently been mistaken. According to figures unearthed by Robert Oak at MyDD.com and posted February 7, only 3.3% of employees for whom Microsoft has sponsored a green-card applications earned salaries of $100,000 or more. The salaries began at $55,000, and nearly two-thirds were below $75,000.

Paul McNamara at NetworkWorld sought clarification from Microsoft and got a non-response that you can read here.

I guess it all depends on what the meaning of “about” is. Is $55,000 “about” $100,000? I can only conclude that when you are as wealthy as Bill Gates, you have to think about money logarithmically. The log of 55,000 is “about” equal to the log of 100,000.