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."

Comments

What did you expect?

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:What did you expect?

[jcr]

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

Re:What did you expect?

[Lars T.]

I think some were expecting fire, wrestling, and a Mortal Kombat style finish. It's not the job of these head honchos (even though Gates isn't really chair anymore) to bash the other guy. Especially not in public.
. They have been spoiled by Linus, RMS, and Theo de Rath.

Re:What did you expect?

[h2g2bob]

Lesson: sputtering halfwitted rage is for Steve Balmer.

Fixed!

Re:What did you expect?

[Admiral Ag]

It's funny you should mention this, since Gates responded to a question by saying that what he most wished he had was Jobs' sense of taste. The crowd laughed (obviously remembering that quote), but Gates told them he wasn't joking, and went on to describe Jobs' sense of product design as "magical". Basically, he admitted something we've all known for many years: Microsoft is not as good as Apple is at making cool user interfaces.

That was pretty big of Gates. He went up in my estimation for that.

*Brain explode*

[mattgreen]

I don't know what to think now! Choosing an operating system is a very serious matter of the highest concern, indeed, a matter of life or death. And to think that these two people have the gall to be civil to each other? They are making a complete mockery of everything we hold dear here! I cannot stand by and let myself watch in an idle manner while they trivialize one of the most epic battles by their 'jokes' and 'conversation'. It is tantamount to Yoda hanging out with Darth Vader! The only explanation is that Jobs has sold out to the dark side!

Behind the scenes

[packetmon]

As captured by planted Microphones...

Jobs dressing room:
Jobs in the background squeezing the head off a Bill Gates bobblehead doll... "As a kid I broke more windows than an urban problemed child on ritalin in an abandoned factory full of windows and an endless supply of rocks. I hate you"

Gates dressing room:
"Who thought it would be funny to send me Apple pie? I want him DEAD! I want his family DEAD! I want his house burned to the GROUND! I wanna go there in the middle of the night and I wanna PISS ON HIS ASHES! (Untouchables movie quote)

Conspiracy...

[Notquitecajun]

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?

Skip the highlight reel

[Nymz]

The interview is not as fanboy biased as the /. summary implies. Watching the entire interview is worth it, and entertaining, and you'll be able to see why these two are still such great leaders.

Winston Churchill Said it Best

[germansausage]

When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite.

Why would they care?

[El_Smack]

Do they really dislike each other? Really? Maybe they used to, back when business was shaky and they were only multi millionaires. But now? They both won.
Both Apple and MS could go bankrupt tomorrow and Gates/Jobs would still have more money that they could ever spend. It's easy to be magnanimous when you are untouchable.

Re:Bill Gates

[jaysones]

Of course, he's building good credit so he can buy a house or car one day.

Re:Amicably?

[hondo77]

I think Gates is just socially awkward. Have you ever seen him look comfortable in public?

Re:They don't hate each other

[vought]

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.

Re:credit card

[businessnerd]

Btw, Black Amexes ain't something you request. It's something you get.

So you might say that the American Express Black card is like a "Soviet Express" card.

In Soviet Russia, credit card applies for you!