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Jobs Wanted To Destroy Android
hype7 writes "It's clear Steve Jobs didn't pull any punches from the interviews for his forthcoming biography. In the latest release from the book, hosted over at AP, 'Isaacson wrote that Jobs was livid in January 2010 when HTC introduced an Android phone that boasted many of the popular features of the iPhone. Apple sued, and Jobs told Isaacson in an expletive-laced rant that Google's actions amounted to "grand theft." ... "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this." ... In a subsequent meeting with Schmidt at a Palo Alto, Calif., cafe, Jobs told Schmidt that he wasn't interested in settling the lawsuit, the book says. "I don't want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won't want it. I've got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that's all I want." The meeting, Isaacson wrote, resolved nothing.'"
The book delves into Jobs' decision to delay surgery for nine months after learning in October 2003 that he had a neuroendocrine tumor — a relatively rare type of pancreatic cancer that normally grows more slowly and is therefore more treatable. Instead, he tried a vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies and other treatments he found online, and even consulted a psychic.
He seems to be a poster child for alternative medicine.
Exactly how not to treat a perfectly treatable cancer.
If, the author is telling the truth. Whilst I'm not Mr Jobs' biggest fan, I do have to take this source with a huge grain of salt given it was published after his death. OTOH, it would fit with Mr Jobs' narcissism to have a scathing biography ready-written for his demise.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Steve Jobs:
"We have always been shameless about stealing great ideas."
"Good artists copy; great artists steal."
http://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/452150-bill-gates-isnt-too-bothered-by-piracy/
Bill Gates:
"It's easier for our software to compete with Linux when there's piracy than when there's not."
"Although about 3 million computers get sold every year in China, people don't pay for the software. Someday they will, though," Gates told an audience at the University of Washington. "And as long as they're going to steal it, we want them to steal ours. They'll get sort of addicted, and then we'll somehow figure out how to collect sometime in the next decade."
Ariel Katz, a law professor at the University of Toronto and an expert on the economics of piracy:
"Microsoft benefits from piracy, then says, 'If you think prices are high, blame the Chinese, because they are the thieves,' "
"They like us to feel guilty — to think that piracy is wrong and immoral. Economically, it's not necessarily true, but it resonates with the public."
Build your own energy sources from scratch. http://otherpower.com/
Even outside the context of the copying of Xerox's ideas it's rediculous. Apart from it's UI the iPhone borrowed heavily in every other way from existing phones, or is Job's saying only UIs aren't allowed to have ideas that are a natural progression be utilised in other devices? Even assuming that's the case the iPhone's UI was hardly that groundbreaking, some Windows XP tablets had single click icons and an auto-hiding start bar enabled by default when I tried them as far back as 2003, so single pressing the Windows desktop icons worked in pretty much the same way. If anything the iPhone's standout was merely about polish on existing ideas, why should anyone see Android as any different?
Of course, the hypocrisy becomes even more galling when you consider iOS5 is full of features copied from Android.
People who genuinely care about contributing to society like Newton instead use quotes such as the classic "standing on the shoulders of giants" (or however you believe it was originally phrased). They don't have an easily dented ego, they just care about making things better whether improving existing things or coming up with new. This to me just reaffirms that Jobs was an arrogant selfish dick with no care for anything other than his own ego.
I don't know what the point in releasing these quotes is now though, I'm not one for painting an unrealistic angelic picture of someone just because they're dead, but I also understand that some people would rather any criticism of him at least waits a while until after he's dead. Were these quotes designed to rally anti-Android sentiment by Apple? or were they leaked as a counter to Steve's post-death saint like image painted by the media?
I suspect people will respond to these quotes based largely on their pre-defined thoughts about Steve anyway, but something strikes me as a little tasteless about digging into them right now, when Apple vs. Android and arguably Steve's death can still be considered current events. It strikes me as a rather misguided attempt to exploit his death one way or another.
Of course, the other possibility is it's merely about drumming up profits for whoever is publishing his autobiography, but there you have it I guess. Anyone know who is getting the profits for that now? As a somewhat related aside, anyone know what happened to Steve's fortunes? have they all just gone to his family, or did he finally do something charitable with his departing wishes?
I think Steve's grudge was not just about the "copying" but about the betrayal story behind it. Google's CEO was part of Apple's board of directors. He was aware of what was going there, and he either lied to everyone at Apple about their phone OS plans, or went on their backs and told the Android team what was Apple's take and made them drop the BlackBerry race and go Touch.
Steve trusted Schmidt, just like he trusted Gates about MacOS, and he suffered the same fate (I do have to admit, for such a secretive man, he should had known better.) I guess the difference is now Apple having enough money to pursue infinite legal battles and a spice of leftover grude of the last time this happened.
Samsung's case is likely more specific, too. Samsung is a big manufacturer of iDevice parts and it's likely enthrusted with a lot of design information. There are supposed to be division walls that prevent this type of secret information from spreding into divisions that compete with client's interest, but witnesses in the current lawsuits have pointed at there being leaks on such walls. So thats another company they must feel betrayed by.
You may notice, despite the noise that went about when Palm Pre with WebOS was announced, there was no real legal battle there. I doubt it had much to do with Palms ability to use their patents to defend themselves and more with the fact that they had no presonal grudge there, just business interests.
It is easy for us to say how childish, and counter productive these lawsuits can be, but its hard to understand it without actually standing in their shoes. Try just to imagine a smaller case scenario of equal personal impact. Perhaps a co-worker stealing credit or stealing your job and being rewarded for it. A comic book artist creating a character or story to have a friend rip it off and publish it with small alterations. Heck, there was no lawsuit there, but look at the Babylon 5 vz Deep Space 9 issue. It still is possible to find remnants of Straczynski early 90s web and usenet rantings expressing his anger at the plagiarism.
When you are the victim of these idea thefts, it can be extremely upsetting. When it is done by a trusted business partner or friend, it can be insanely infuriating. It does not matter how good the competition is for the industry, or the alternatives for the consumers, your emotions will go highwire. The closest your relationship to the individual or entity in question the worse will be.
Dont take me worng, I am very sad for Job's passing, but with him gone I predict the current cases may keep going for the next couple of years, but in about 2 years, maybe just 1, we will start seeing settlements and a reduction of said cases. The momentum will be carried for at least a year or two, but after that, I take it we will see more willingness to do settlements. Not saying lawsuits are going to stop. Just as Microsoft protects their "business interest" and patents, Apple will likely be the same way, they will just not try to be as destructive about it.