Slashdot Mirror
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?
When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.
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.
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."
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.
I think Gates is just socially awkward. Have you ever seen him look comfortable in public?
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
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.