Steve Jobs

reed

reed

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Somebody was going to do this so it looks like me. No title needed. You get the idea.
 
reed said:
ya, thats about it guys. Thanks. He told Gates where to go. No?
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Not really -- in fact, Bill Gates and Microsoft quite possibly "saved" Apple from going out of business. Steve Jobs was able to cut a deal with Microsoft to produce and support Microsoft Office on the Mac (because the Mac, at that time, lacked any kind of "serious" office-style software suite) for X amount of years, and he also finagled a cash-infusion where Microsoft would purchase Y amount of Apple stock for cash, keeping Apple afloat for quite some time.

To my knowledge, Microsoft still owns a huge chunk of Apple stock.

While the animosity between Apple and Microsoft has largely been user-generated (meaning the polarized "Apple is better" and "Microsoft is better" arguments) and did not originate nor were perpetrated by either company, Steve Jobs would take slight jabs at Microsoft, and vice-versa... but overall, the hatred between the companies exists solely in the minds of the consumers, not the companies nor the company heads themselves.

Steve Jobs and Bill Gates actually had a pretty friendly, while competitive, relationship. Years ago, Apple performed one of their keynotes announcing the Office-Microsoft partnership, and even had Bill Gates on video-call, live, during the keynote to explain things concerning Office for Mac.

Now, Ballmer, on the other hand, apparently didn't pick up on this friendly but competitive relationship, and also does not have the same level of respect for Apple that Bill Gates obviously had. He's blind to the force that Apple has become, and that, in and of itself, will be his downfall in my humble but education opinion.

Something else I learned: Microsoft provided the BASIC programming language for the Apple ][ computer. Apple and Microsoft's relationship is inextricably linked throughout the history of both companies. They are not the evil arch-rivals that the consumers have made them out to be.
 
ElDiabloConCaca said:
While the animosity between Apple and Microsoft has largely been user-generated (meaning the polarized "Apple is better" and "Microsoft is better" arguments) and did not originate nor were perpetrated by either company, Steve Jobs would take slight jabs at Microsoft, and vice-versa... but overall, the hatred between the companies exists solely in the minds of the consumers, not the companies nor the company heads themselves.
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I guess you've never seen the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" advertisements. I don't think the consumers produced them. You've got to take into consideration that a company is always looking at the bottom line, and if it's in their best interest to sell something on a competitors systems, they will do it because it make good business sense.
 
rossj said:
I guess you've never seen the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" advertisements. I don't think the consumers produced them. You've got to take into consideration that a company is always looking at the bottom line, and if it's in their best interest to sell something on a competitors systems, they will do it because it make good business sense.
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Of course I've seen those, and they are but friendly competition.

Those commercials, in no way, convey the sense that Apple and Microsoft hate each other -- but they do convey the sense that the two companies are in competition with each other, and that one company thinks they have an advantage, or a better product, than the other.

It is quite possible to compete with a company without hating or wishing ill will on another company. In other words, "animosity-free competition," which is exactly what Apple and Microsoft had for the large majority of their relationship.

The reason Microsoft Office came to the Mac was more than just Microsoft wanting to make a financial gain. Part of the deal was because the Mac was, indeed, and like you say, a viable market opportunity. The other part is because Microsoft was "bailing out" Apple, and part of that deal was that Microsoft would commit to supporting Office, IE, and some development tools on the Mac. Read about it:

http://news.cnet.com/2100-1001-202143.html

If all Microsoft was concerned about was money, Occam's Razor dictates that they would not release Office for Mac, that they would not "bail out" Apple, and that they would let Apple go out of business (which was a LOT closer than a lot of people realize -- Apple was, indeed, "running on fumes" and going downhill FAST), giving people less choice in the marketplace. People who would have otherwise purchased a Mac would now be forced to have a single choice: Windows, giving Microsoft tons more revenue than selling a single copy of Office to a Mac owner.
 
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ElDiabloConCaca said:
Not really -- in fact, Bill Gates and Microsoft quite possibly "saved" Apple from going out of business. Steve Jobs was able to cut a deal with Microsoft to produce and support Microsoft Office on the Mac (because the Mac, at that time, lacked any kind of "serious" office-style software suite) for X amount of years, and he also finagled a cash-infusion where Microsoft would purchase Y amount of Apple stock for cash, keeping Apple afloat for quite some time.

To my knowledge, Microsoft still owns a huge chunk of Apple stock.
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Yup!

Also worth a watch: The Pirates of Silicon Valley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEyrivrjAuU It's one of my favourites; I think I'm going to make this my lazy Thanksgiving Monday activity…

My favourite video montage so far — "One More Thing…" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvlHi7iTdaw
 
Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve. One thing they all have in common — from personal friends to colleagues to owners of Apple products — is how they’ve been touched by his passion and creativity.

Now the only thing we could do is trying to remind the outstanding achievement he did, and memory him by buying a Steve Jobs Toy Figurine,
or iPhone 4 case.
 
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