Bill Gates Praises Steve Jobs: Jobs Saved Apple
Did hell freeze over? No, that's just Bill Gates giving Apple co-founder Steve Jobs something called a compliment according to AppleInsider. It does happen in the industry once in a while, sometimes in the form of a legal settlement. But you have to admit: it's good to see former buddies in good graces after such a long, competitive run.
Thursday night Gates appeared on CNBC's program entitled "Warren Buffett and Bill Gates: Keeping America Great" (sorry, we're not responsible for the cheese). The program consisted of a Q&A session with the two men, using questions coughed up by members in the audience. during the session, one member asked Gates what his thoughts were on Jobs and his performance as CEO of Apple.
Gates was more than positive evidently. "Well, he's done a fantastic job," Gates said. "Apple is in a bit of a different business where they make hardware and software together. But when Steve was coming back to Apple, which was actually through an acquisition of NeXT that he ran, Apple was in very tough shape. In fact, most likely it wasn't going to survive."
The pleasantries didn't stop there. "And he brought in a team, he brought in inspiration about great products and design that's made Apple back into being an incredible force in doing good things," Gates added. "And it's great to have competitors like that. We write software for Apple, Microsoft does. They compete with Apple. But he, of all the leaders in the industry that I've worked with, he showed more inspiration and he saved the company."
Someone get us a hankie... what a tender moment... (sniff)
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I wonder what the Intel CEO would say about AMD's CEO...
Whats shocking? I think it rather nice to see someone who can respect the work ethic of the competition.I don't think gates is that self absorbed to recognize others achievements.
this is how things really work, its nice to see it out in public occassionally. the same thing happens with defense attourneys and da's, they may fight tooth and nail in the courtroom, but they are really long time friends who go out for a drink when its all said and done.
That makes Bill a good man for giving a deserve praise, even to a competitor. I bet Steve can't say anything like that to Bill. He's ego can't say it.
Yeah, this is a good article, I am happy to see events like these occur. Anything ethical in big business gives me warm and fuzzy.
How would Bill know? He doesn't allow any apple products in his home.
On that note, I wonder if he doesn't allow the actual fruit in his home too...
Whats shocking? I think it rather nice to see someone who can respect the work ethic of the competition.I don't think gates is that self absorbed to recognize others achievements.
It's shocking because we rarely see it at that level in the industry. At that point, it becomes the corporations squabbling over this and that.
backin5, i hope your just being a sarcastic douche
Great for Bill Gates! It shows a great lesson to all those very short minded who defend any position like a religion extremist. For the n time I use Macs and PCs and I like them all. Let the big companies fight for the market not us. I would like to have more options and not less.
Great to see things like this. Hope more is to come
I wonder what the Intel CEO would say about AMD's CEO...
Which one? AMD has had like 50 since the stocks took a 85% dive in 2006 to present.
Apple has only made Microsoft products better. Microsoft, Dell, Archos, Nokia, Sansa, etc. have only made Apple products better. That's the way competition rolls.
See if he was a total bastard he could have added "Of course, were it not for Microsoft investing $150 million in Apple in 1997, right before Steve came back they probably would have gone out of business, so in many way Microsoft saved Apple not Steve."
well they were friends, might still be. doesnt matter the role they play.
)
both are good in their own right, achievements all round (but not for the banned xbox owners
Always thought of him as more than a hero, despite all the hate people have for him.
He's given more to charity than most of us have earned...
I don't know about you guys, but I'm liking Bill Gates and Microsoft more and more (even though Bill Gates isn't CEO anymore).
First the Zune HD and all the free goodies and customization, then Windows 7, then this.
Really, Microsoft is not a bad corporation by any means for its massive size. I'm still impressed, and think it deserves to stay at the top.
He's just happy he didn't lose a ton of money... if Apple went under MS would be out a ton of money
(While what I said is true its just a joke)
Microsoft is back on track to help standardize the industry!
Just in case people think this is a bad thing I remember a time when there was no such thing as a standard and things did sucketh.....
Of course, my handout of $150M to Steve at the time for an IE port to stave off the anti-trust lawyers was likewise inspirational.
I guess Bill Gates is gay for Steve Jobs.
Bill is basically the man. Steve has done some great things with Apple but Bill is the original pioneer with Microsoft and I think since he's stepped down that he is able to hand out praise where its due.
I don't know whether to feel happy or depressed...
Happy that there's at least some respect in big business?
Or depressed because of the fact it's no longer (or maybe never was) something commonplace.
Bill Gates is an amazing man.
I'd pay $35,000 for a tour of his house...
Bill Gates compliments Apple all the time. Their Apple software business is one of their most reliable and profitable. It's the *rest* of the world that thinks that Bill Gates hates Apple. This is just another press piece that pretends that he never says anything nice because you have never gone out to hear Bill Gates actually speak first-hand. You never hear him say a bad word about them. In fact it's very telling that practically every time Bill Gates speaks in public about Microsoft he mentions two companies, Google and Apple.
The same thing happens in politics. Politicians shake hands and have a laugh but once they step into their communal "office" the fun and games end and the bickering starts. It's called keeping your personal life and your business life separate, and it's a good thing.
Bill is himself an inspiration to countless others, maybe even more than Steve Jobs. Humble and charitable. You don't learn these in Harvard.
That makes Bill a good man for giving a deserve praise, even to a competitor. I bet Steve can't say anything like that to Bill. He's ego can't say it.
He shows respect with Adds saying how useless Windows are. How funny. So what else can you do with your Os X other than iChat and 3D applications? Oh! WoW and Quake for gaming that is.
MS & BG have always been generous about Apple's achievements, such a shame that Steve Jobs has too much ego to return the compliment. Wasn't it SJ who tried to sue MS for allegedly stealing "his" (SJ's) invention of the mouse driven GUI, when the real truth is that the mouse driven GUI was invented by Xerox and both Apple and MS have made great use of it.
Perhaps more people will now be able to see which is the truly great man.
I wonder what the Intel CEO would say about AMD's CEO...
Don't think it would work as well for those 2, they don't have widely known figureheads like Gates and Jobs. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are pretty much synonymous with MS and Apple, which is why an article like this works.
Wasn't it SJ who tried to sue MS for allegedly stealing "his" (SJ's) invention of the mouse driven GUI, when the real truth is that the mouse driven GUI was invented by Xerox and both Apple and MS have made great use of it.
I don't think so. SJ was kicked out of Apple pretty much immediately after he brought out the Mac and desktop publishing. He 'retook' Apple much later with Next. So everything that happened in between the original Mac and iPod + OSX is basically not Steve's doing. And what Apple claimed wasn't any invention. They tried to get copyright on "look and feel". That was a very important win for MS and all of us. We should salute MS for championing the freedom of ideas that time.
As for the content of the article, there's no surprise. BG has always had a very clear view of things. The 'paranoid' is Ballmer and the 'crook' was Alchin.
why cant mac and pc's live together in a field of fluffy cotton candy and be happy wiht each other?
why cant mac and pc's live together in a field of fluffy cotton candy and be happy wiht each other?
Because there are too many people out there who label you a fanatic if you don't use Windows on X86 for everything. It's sad folks can't accept some diversity. It's the "single crop" mentality that led to things like the Irish potato blight and resulting famine.
am i the only one that watched D5 conference?!
im not surprised at all. may be you should watch D5 conference!
Listen carefully to what Steve Job says in this video. If this "news" surprised you, this video will give you a heart attack!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Z7eal4uXI