Gates Says He’s Not Bothered by Jobs’ Attacks
Ex-Microsoft Chief Addresses Criticisms in Recent Interview
Bill Gates says he isn't bothered by statements in Steve Jobs' recently released biography that suggest the former Microsoft chief executive officer was unimaginative or even plagiaristic.
Gates recently discussed the Steve Jobs biography while a guest on the ABC program "This Week with Christiane Amanpour," a news and interview show. Amanpour had questions for Gates involving a number of different topics, ranging from his recent philanthropic goals to the direction of the U.S. economy. But it was Gates' discussion of his relationship with recently deceased Apple chief Steve Jobs that has grabbed all the media attention.
Things started off well, with Gates giving Jobs props for his positive impact on the tech industry. "Steve Jobs did a fantastic job," Gates said, adding that Jobs was crucial in shaping how people today think about the Internet, mobile technology, and even the personal computer.
But then Amanpour asked Gates about a few heated sections in Jobs' biography, where the Apple boss essentially took his Microsoft counterpart to task. "Bill is basically unimaginative and has never invented anything, which is why I think he's more comfortable now in philanthropy than technology," Jobs is quoted as saying. "He just shamelessly ripped off other people's ideas."
Ouch.
Gates didn't appear too phased by the attack, however. He pointed out that the two tech titans had worked together a number of times over the years, sometimes on the Mac.
"Well, Steve and I worked together creating the Mac," Jobs said. "We had more people on it, did the key software for it."
Beyond that, Gates described Jobs as someone who was tough, but mostly fair in his assessments of people. "So over the course of the thirty years we worked together, he said a lot of very nice things about me, said a lot of tough things," Gates said.
"I respect Steve. We worked together, we spurred each other on, even as competitors. None of that bothers me at all."
Gates did, however, suggest that the attacks in the Jobs biography may have been linked to a few challenging periods for Apple in the past -- periods, it would seem, where Gates and Microsoft soared while Jobs and Apple struggled.
"And so the fact that … at various times, he felt beleaguered, he felt like he was the good guy and we were the bad guys, you know, very understandable," Gates said.
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