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Bill Gates and Steve Jobs Interviewed at All Things Digital

Good Interview

It was awkward at times but this was really a good interview. Bill still talks the same.... "Rich client, browser space, graphical user interface (People still say that?!), form factor this and that." I like how Steve talks and to see the comparison.
 
But who uses their wealth to the best end?

I enjoyed watching the videos of the interviews and it was very interesting, especially seeing the diplomacy, differing views and interplay between arguably the two most influential people in the history of the IT industry. But there was one one response that struck me with an interesting thought. That was the response to the question of legacy (mainly in reference to Bill Gate's 2nd chapter post Microsoft etc.). Bill's response was far more sincere and got me thinking that given the good works he is doing with the fortune that he has made through Microsoft, that from a humanity perspective, the best person may well have won desktop "war".

It would have been nice to see Steve Jobs profess a vision similar to Bill's but IMHO his response came across as not really thinking too much about the world outside of Apple. I'm Sure Steve Jobs is proportionally equally generous when it comes to charitable giving (although I must admit I'm not aware of his activity in that arena), but I thought he could have made more of his response. Whist it could be argued that those who are and have been fortunate enough to afford Mac's have benefited "more" from Job's contribution to society, technology aside, I wonder if the same can be said for the remainder of the Planet's population that don't have access to technology.

Just my 2c worth (from an ardent Mac 'fanboy"), but something to consider and put in context when we see all the MS bashing on this forum.
 
that was very interesting to watch and listen too. i'm glad that there were no obvious potshots taking and such as i think Apple and Microsoft need to have a healthy relationship.
 
macinfojunkie said:
I enjoyed wacthing the videos of the intervies and it was very interesting, especially seeing the diplomacy, differing views and interplay between arguably the two most influential people in the history of the IT industry. But there was one one response that struck me with an intersting thought. That was the response to the question of legacy (mainly in reference to Bill Gate's 2nd chapter post Microsoft etc.). Bill's response was far more sincere and got me thinking that given the good works he is doing with the fortune that he has made through Microsoft, that from a humanity perspective, the best person may well have won desktop "war".

It would have been nice to see Steve Jobs profess a vision similar to Bill's but IMHO his response came across as not really thinking too much about the world outside of Apple. I'm Sure Steve Jobs is proportionally equally generous when it comes to charitable giving (although I must admit I'm not aware of his activity in that arena), but I thought he could have made more of his response. Whist it could be argued that those who are and have been fortunate enough to afford Mac's have benefited "more" from Job's contribution to society, technology aside, I wonder if the same can be said for the remainder of the Planet's population that don't have access to technology.

Just my 2c worth (from an ardent Mac 'fanboy"), but something to consider and put in context when we see all the MS bashing on this forum.
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It is interesting that Bill is a prolific philanthropist. Steve Jobs/Apple refuse to disclose their financial figures for how much they actually give to AIDS research via PRODUCT(RED) ipods. They say they give $10 per ipod, but has there ever been any financial disclosure to prove it? last time I checked there wasn't.

makes me wonder.
 
kingofkolt said:
My thoughts exactly :D Methinks that was the most forced politically correct statement of the last century.
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Well .. its correct if you interpret "working well togehter" as marketshares.
Microsoft isn't such a big company for no reaseon. Given the variety of
platforms and Microsoft Products run on (phone, robotics, projection, pc's)
its actualy quite amazing how little problems arise with their software.

Granted Mac is much more seamless and easier to use for consumers ...
and ppl may have their prefrences for one system over the other for
that reason. But thats only what the average computer geek gets to
see and what doesn't translate to the success of a softwarecompany
in the whole market. So if you look deeper you'll see that the bottom
line is that Microsoft is a very successful company with their bussiness
model in the industry since years.
 
Very enlightening and when Steve said about his 'relationship' with Bill gates. "You and Me have Memories which are longer than the road ahead of us" (or something to that effect) it was very moving and a kind of acknowledegment of an almost freindship. He said of Bill G's charitable work that the world is a better place as he doesn't want to be the richest guy in the cemetry- I think Steve J gives but is very modest about it. I think he prefers to link up with others eg U2 and Al Gore is on the board of Apple.
I really don't think there is much rivalry though, maybe more mutual respect. Bill G is the richest person on the planet and I don't think he is too worried by Apple.

Interesting was what Steve J didn't say, you could tell he was just itching to give stuff away (particularly about the next GUI, multitouch or whatever) He was very guarded and said very little and gave no clues away at all. Smart guy.
 
Manfr3d said:
Well .. its correct if you interpret "working well togehter" as marketshares.
Microsoft isn't such a big company for no reaseon. Given the variety of
platforms and Microsoft Products run on (phone, robotics, projection, pc's)
its actualy quite amazing how little problems arise with their software.

Granted Mac is much more seamless and easier to use for consumers ...
and ppl may have their prefrences for one system over the other for
that reason. But thats only what the average computer geek gets to
see and what doesn't translate to the success of a softwarecompany
in the whole market. So if you look deeper you'll see that the bottom
line is that Microsoft is a very successful company with their bussiness
model in the industry since years.
Click to expand...

True... It's just ironic that Apple bases its Get a Mac ads on the idea that Windows doesn't work well compared to Macs (i.e., crashes, security issues, installed trial software, etc.) -- and then Steve makes this comment publicly.
 
For such a landmark occasion of Bill and Steve getting together for once, it was a poor interview in my opinion. The interviewers didn't really know how to lead on the discussion and were asking rather obscure and sometimes pointless questions. They might as well have been two apple historians being interviewed.

I know we're very pro-Mac here, but you have to admit a lot of what Bill was saying didn't really make sense did it? Whereas Steve worded his answers in ways that most normal people could understand, Bill was going into details that i didn't understand whatsoever.
 
macinfojunkie said:
Bill's response was far more sincere and got me thinking that given the good works he is doing with the fortune that he has made through Microsoft, that from a humanity perspective, the best person...

It would have been nice to see Steve Jobs profess a vision similar to Bill's but IMHO his response came across as not really thinking too much about the world outside of Apple. I'm Sure Steve Jobs is proportionally equally generous when it comes to charitable giving (although I must admit I'm not aware of his activity in that arena), but I thought he could have made more of his response.
Click to expand...
Maybe I'm just too damned cynical.

Note, I haven't watched the interview, so I can't judge from that brief publicized segment (as opposed to knowing him personally) whether or not Bill Gates is indeed "far more sincere" about his charitable donations. Also, part of me wonder how Microsoft got so much money anyway and yes, the thought does cross my mind that all of this very public generosity could be an attempt to 1) get rid of ill-begotten money and 2) create better PR.

Personally, I'd prefer a more hushed and private approach to charitable generosity. And I would prefer a highly visible figure to be more honest and perhaps (without knowing the figures) less generous as opposed to openly generous and possibly hiding ulterior motives.

But this could just be me, jaded by my experiences with people I know and their "charitable donations" in church and whatnot.
 
devilot said:
Personally, I'd prefer a more hushed and private approach to charitable generosity. And I would prefer a highly visible figure to be more honest and perhaps (without knowing the figures) less generous as opposed to openly generous and possibly hiding ulterior motives.
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So you'd prefer that less money gets donated just so that someone doesn't get a big head about it? Who cares about the motive... money is going to good causes here, that's what counts. Whoever is on the receiving end of this money doesn't care about the giver's motivation. If the motive is self-serving, that's too bad, but it really doesn't matter in the end. If anything, hopefully it will inspire other egotists to try to compete and give more themselves...
 
kingofkolt said:
So you'd prefer that less money gets donated just so that someone doesn't get a big head about it?
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Oh my. I guess what I wrote does sound a bit awful, no? :eek: Sorry, working on v little sleep. :eek:

Who cares about the motive... money is going to good causes here, that's what counts. Whoever is on the receiving end of this money doesn't care about the giver's motivation.
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Does Bill Gates mainly give money? I was under the impression that his foundation did more of the giving of computers in other countries and areas as opposed to say, food or job-training to enable folks to become self-sufficient. Shrug. Guess that's part of my beef with the way "charity" seems to be doled out, though.

But let's not drag this into PRSI territory. :eek: Especially 'cause I don't know much about any of this. :eek:
 
devilot said:
Does Bill Gates mainly give money? I was under the impression that his foundation did more of the giving of computers in other countries and areas as opposed to say, food or job-training to enable folks to become self-sufficient. :eek:
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See this wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_And_Melinda_Gates_Foundation

The foundation has very little to do with computers, actually. Bill became obsessed with Biology which lead to the creation of this foundation. They've done a ton of work in many different areas.
 
AoWolf said:
I do believe we need a contest to put a caption on this picture.
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How about:

picture19f19e.png

"Rarrr!!"​
 
Kara Swisher was pretty worthless in this panel, wasn't she? Seemed like her primary role was jumping in on Walt's questions to finish them for him, although he usually kept plowing ahead and finished his own thought.
 
This was great. I think the two interviewers could have been sharper and better at times, but the overall end result was great.
 
Mr-Stabby said:
For such a landmark occasion of Bill and Steve getting together for once, it was a poor interview in my opinion. The interviewers didn't really know how to lead on the discussion and were asking rather obscure and sometimes pointless questions. They might as well have been two apple historians being interviewed.
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I figure they did the best they could. I'm sure even these professional journalists had to be somewhat intimidated given how monumental this situation was.
 
Not exactly enlightening, but nice to see all the same. However, Walt and Kara really should be honing their interviewing skills — some of the questions were just inane.

Did anyone catch Steve's face when Walt said he would get into trouble for using the term "post-pc device"? He seemed almost annoyed — just a flash — that someone could tell him he'd get into trouble or that he couldn't do something. I don't think he suffers fools gladly. :p

I liked the "we've been married the past 10 years" secret. But I am not sure if Bill "got" the joke.

Sigh… and Bill… all the money in the world and he still can't afford to buy a comb? ;)
 
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