Steve Jobs ranted, raged against Android as 'grand theft'

[ChromeFoundry]

"I will spend my last dying breath...to right this wrong."

By John Cox, NetworkWorld
October 21, 2011 10:57 AM ET

Excerpts from Steve Jobs' about-to-be-published biography show the source and character of Apple's aggressive patent war against the rival Android mobile operating system.

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs is quoted telling his biographer, Walter Isaacson, whose book, "Steve Jobs," is to be published Monday. "I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

According to Isaacson, Jobs was "livid" when HTC introduced in early 2010 an Android phone that offered many features found on Apple's iPhone, which runs Apple's iOS firmware. "Apple sued, and Jobs told Isaacson in an expletive-laced rant that Google's actions amounted to 'grand theft," according to the AP account.

Apple's patent suits against Android handset makers, most notably Samsung, have unfolded in the legalese of court filings and motions. But Isaacson's book makes clear the depth and breadth of Jobs' outrage and determination.

Full article: http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/102111-jobs-android-252267.html

[meegbear]

1. He was going to destroy Android and now he's dead ...

how's that Buddhism thingy working out for you?

[SharonAnn]

3. Didn't he steal PARC's "mouse" idea and graphical interface?

Funny how these companies "borrow" other companies' ideas and then complain if someone else "borrows" theirs.

[lbrtbell]

6. He also "borrowed" the entire iPhone concept

Smartphones with apps were all the rage in Japan and South Korea, back when we were still using monochromatic "candy bar" phones.

[TheWraith]

26. They were huge here too. Palm Treo, HTC's many phones, etcetera, etcetera.

The premise that Apple somehow invented the smartphone or smartphone features is laughable; all they really did as repackage what had been done before in a more user-friendly way, with better hardware, and market it better.

[ChromeFoundry]

14. Top 10 features that Apple stole from Windows

1. Finder Sidebar: Windows Navigation pane
2. The Mac Path bar: Windows Address bar
3. Back and Forward navigation buttons in folder windows
4. Minimizing to document windows into app icon
5. Screen Sharing: Remote Desktop Connection
6. Time Machine: Backup and Restore
7. System Preferences: Control Panel
8. ActiveSync and Exchange 2007 support
9. Command-Tab: Alt-Tab
10. Terminal: Command Prompt

And, last but not least. Mac OS X is based on BSD UNIX.
Seems most "innovators" don't mind Apple borrowing from them in the spirit of innovation... What does this say about Apple and Jobs?

[closeupready]

2. Meanwhile, workers at Foxconn - did he care about them?

He'll spend every last dime destroying a competing business, but doesn't believe in charity.

Seriously, how people here on DU can wax euphoric about that man, I will never ever understand.

[OhioChick]

5. He cared enough to put up suicide nets....

Apple Touts Suicide Nets In Supplier Responsibility Report, But Changes Little

http://www.cultofmac.com/81964/apple-touts-suicide-nets-in-supplier-responsibility-report-but-changes-little/

[closeupready]

7. That does indeed speak volumes, doesn't it.

Just appalling. This excerpt in the opening post, when compared to other commonly known things about him, for me really tells me all I want to know about him.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. Actually they no longer work with Foxcon

Samsung does though.

[closeupready]

10. Good to know.

Thanks, Nadine. :hi:

[OhioChick]

16. Pegatron UNDERBID Foxconn......

Foxconn has lost the production contract for the Apple iPad 3, with the Cupertino company opting for rival Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron instead.

According to Taiwan Economic News, Pegatron (which sounds like one of the Transformers) underbid Hon Hai - Foxconn's parent company - for the exclusive rights to build Apple's next generation tablet device, and therefore breaks the hold that its Chinese rival had with iPads 1 and 2.

http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/41293/apple-drops-foxconn-for-ipad-3

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. I hope they keep an eye

And there is another reason...remember the APAD? It was a popular knock off...where was it produced? It's starts with an f

At a meta level we need a global workers movement though.

[ChromeFoundry]

19. Apple still has contracts with Foxconn...

They just lost the iPad 3 contract.

[OhioChick]

9. The Epitome of Greed n/t

[leftstreet]

4. Someone needed an anger management app n/t

[Romulox]

11. If you can't win in the marketplace, sue.

Android is in many ways superior to IOS. I suspect that is the basis of Jobs angst.

[Ikonoklast]

12. Jobs was one of the 1%, who fooled lots of people into thinking he loved them.

He'd piss on most people if it made him a nickel.

Funny how those who defend him cannot see the ruthless, amoral businessman who wanted to bust unions, lower wages, and have the government let his company pollute more, all in the name of profit.

[Cali_Democrat]

13. Android > iphone

And I own an iphone.

[CreekDog]

24. Android is buggy

at least in practice it turns out to be.

and i've owned to Android phones and 1 iphone.

[Gamow]

25. Love my droid, but its true. Way more crashes (force closes) and random resets that iPhone. nt

[RegieRocker]

32. HTC EVO works great no problems.

[Gamow]

35. I have always suspected that Motorla was to blame. I've heard Samsung is better too. nt

[tridim]

15. Steve Jobs, the ultimate monopolist.

Irony abounds.

[eShirl]

17. "...to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee..."

KHAAAAANNNNNN!!!!!!!!!

[lumberjack_jeff]

34. +1 n/t

[devilgrrl]

18. Yeah Steve Jobs - he right up there with Dick Cheney

Funny that so many had to wait until he was dead to trash him.

They couldn't do that while he was alive?

[TlalocW]

20. I seem to remember things called

Treos that made phone calls, surfed the web, had apps you could download, played music and video, etc. back in the early part of this decade. Jobs didn't invent the Smartphone. He just made the first pretty one that worked most of the time (I still laugh that one version of the iPhone couldn't make phone calls unless held in a certain way). He demonstrated what was possible, and I think Android took that and went even further.

TlalocW

[Cronus Protagonist]

23. Jobs' response to the broken iPhone that won't call out?

"You're holding it wrong. Just hold it right." Steve Jobs

(showing how much he cared about his customers and his products)

http://youtu.be/JK37dysPPzU

[tinrobot]

21. Steve Job's ego is the reason I could never board the Apple bandwagon.

[Jester Messiah]

22. Hell hath no fury like a monopolist scorned.

Sorry 'bout your personal gravy train there Steve-o. Not that you particularly needed more money, or had much time left to use it anyway.

Obviously, I refuse to take part in the deification of this greed-head.

[ecstatic]

27. I'm grateful for my android

Just what I need without the ridiculous charges that come with owning an iphone. Jobs should have focused on more important issues--like the working conditions in his own shops.

[Tesha]

37. What "ridiculous charges" do you avoid with your Android phone?

Doesn't AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint charge exactly the
same thing for any subsidized smartphone?

Tesha

[LanternWaste]

28. Many of you drink Coca-Cola, while other drink Pepsi. And a few hardcore pop drinkers develop and mi

Many of you drink Coca-Cola, while other drink Pepsi. And a few hardcore pop drinkers develop and mix your own soda.

But to me and some friends of mine, fizzy water is merely fizzy water, and we simply want to pat a lot of computer aficionados on the head, say as patronizingly as possibly "bless your little heart", and then disregard and ignore the righteous petulance...

[yawnmaster]

30. To those tastebudless patronizers, Coke and Pepsi, are, in fact, different. eom

[smiley_glad_hands]

31. "Good artists copy, great artists steal" -Steve Jobs

Both he and Bill gates stole their UI's from Xerox.

Android was in development before ios was released and has its roots in Danger/TMO Sidekick.

Now, samsung, i do agree, skinned their Galaxy line (not Nexus) to look like ios.

Old stevie boy thought he would have a generation of dominance with a futile microsoft as his only competition in the mobile space.

LOL, not.

[lumberjack_jeff]

33. Now I love my android phone even more. n/t

[Vicar In A Tutu]

36. He was obviously upset about Eric Schmidt

Who was on the board at Apple as Google secretly turned Android into something akin to iOS from its more Blackberry style roots. For those who don't know, Schmidt served on Apple's board while CEO of Google, and Jobs therefore saw the Android switch as a kind of betrayal. Also note that these were very candid comments. There's not a successful CEO in the land who won't have crazy outbursts. That's how they're able to do what they do.

I'd also like to point out that Jobs actually reached out to Larry Page earlier this year to offer support and advice after he was named CEO of Google. Jobs was a very complex and, in many respects, peculiar character (by all accounts his personal wealth wasn't a huge deal and he lived a relatively modest life for one of his means, whilst wanting Apple to be hugely valuable), but the kind of black and white thinking employed by many is ridiculous. Apple have questionable practices in some areas, Google in some, Microsoft others. Don't go looking for best friends or mortal enemies.