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Jobs and Gates Chat Amicably
circletimessquare writes "As noted, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs met at the D conference yesterday. AllThingsD has video of the entire convivial and historic meeting — check the highlights clip. When a reporter asked if their rivalry was overblown, Jobs offered up this joke: 'We've kept our marriage secret for over a decade' — to an apparently flummoxed Gates. Other tidbits: 'His mother loves him!' said Gates about PC Guy in the famous series of commercials. 'And we love them because they're all customers!' said Jobs about Microsoft employees working on Zune who use the iPod. Read more about the event, which also covered a lot of serious ground, such as Apple's iPhone, at CNN and the Times Online."
Has anyone ever got the sinking feeling that Gates and Jobs have been pulling the wool over our eyes with their "rivalry" for 30 years? Blatant cooperation on such a scale would have been even MORE monopolistic than Microsoft is now, and such competition has always been good press. I say they've had a weekly phone conversation since their supposed "split." Pirates of Silicon Valley, indeed.
Am I making sense, or is this just pure flamebait?
Respectfully perhaps, but I didn't perceive any genuine warmth between the two. Their body language clearly indicated that they were uncomfortable, especially Bill Gates. It also seemed like there was a lot of unspoken (or merely hinted at) anger from Steve Jobs towards Gates and, given the history of the two companies, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. They were both nervous, but Gates seemed scared and embarrassed at several points. This whole interview would make an excellent study for a psychology or communications student. ;)
Hax-fu?
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
Why would he bother even using credit? Couldn't he just get a very high daily limit debit card and use that? Doesn't using credit decrease your wealth? Although I'm sure he would have enough to pay the card(s) off at the end of the month, what advantage does somebody like Gates get from using credit? Does he like collecting the Airmiles? Credit should only be used if you don't have the cash to pay for something. Unless you have some weird credit card where the interest rate is lower than what the bank pays you on savings (very unlikely), then paying on credit is always a bad choice.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
Lesson: sputtering halfwitted rage is for idiot fanboys. The people who actually make things base their self-esteem on what they accomplish, not on how insanely they hate someone else.
On the contrary, there are many feuds between high-level execs I could name, some of whom worked together, some of whom were rivals. Some of those feuds get to the rage level. The difference is the savvy ones realize that they can't show it in public, and maintain a calm, even witty demeanor.
That observation has no bearing on this particular pair of executives, however.
There is absolutely NO reason why Gates and Jobs should hate each other. They should LOVE each other. Two reasons why:
1. Both of them are masters at milking people out of their money. Outside of religion and politics, they are the kings of bullshit.
2. The people that love Gates hate Jobs, and vice versa. Hence, their PRODUCTS may be similar but their CUSTOMERS are definately not the same people.
Living With a Nerd
The people who actually make things base their self-esteem on what they accomplish, not on how insanely they hate someone else.
And that's why Microsoft's shareholders really need to kick Ballmer to the curb.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
bullshit.
the "much needed cash infusion" of $150 mil of non voting stock was more symbolic than anything. Apple had over $4 Billion in cash at the time
The highlight clips were great. I look forward to watching the whole thing. As much as we vilify Gates, he is a bright guy and he did some good stuff once upon a time and I could listen to either of them tell stories all day. That said, Steve is far and away the better presenter.
Note to interviewers: SHUT UP! When you ask a question and the guy is trying to answer, quit trying to get your stupid little Friends-esqu quips in. NO ONE is there to hear you speak. Quit trying to be the life of the party. Example: watch Steve TRYING to tell his story at the 5:40 mark in the highlight reel and the inane banter at around 6:15.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
MS actually has actually helped Apple more than once. They even gave them a much needed cash infusion at one point in the 90's.
I'm very tired of hearing this - because it has no basis in reality.
In 1997, Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple's non-voting stock. They sold this stock earlier this decade. Apple did not need cash at the time - the company had over $4 billion in the bank, but was losing money each quarter. They didn't need $150 million in stock sales to keep them afloat, and such a stock sale certainly couldn't be characterized as a "much needed cash infusion". It was a vote of confidence in Apple by Microsoft - a PR move and little more.
The most important announcement made on the same day was that Microsoft would continue developing Microsoft Office for the Mac. This announcement was important to Apple's future in a way that a simple $150 million stock sale simply couldn't be - it sent the message to customers that the key to productivity software compatibility for Mac users would remain updated and supported.
The most important announcement not made that day was that Apple and Microsoft settled a rather serious suit over Canyon Software's appropriation of Apple's QuickTime code, which was used by Microsoft and shipped in Windows Media Player. The suit could have been worth quite a bit more than $150 million - and would have led to a protracted court battle and some very embarrassing revelations about Microsoft's business practices during the government's antitrust investigation of the software giant.
PLEASE stop repeating the canard about Microsoft "giving" Apple a cash infusion. It's not true, and never was.
I disagree. Perhaps in the highlight reel - which is the only video I didn't watch - but in the whole 1 hour 21 minute presentation, it was pretty balanced. In fact, if you watch the whole thing, Job's responses are pretty short - while Bill tended to go on a bit longer (particularly when new products/directions came up). Both of them also handed off responses and first responses to each other.
The summary is cute. Bill's response lag seemed more in keeping with coming up with a real response to the question - although the comedic timing of said lag is obvious.