Microsoft founder Bill Gates coolly parried some harsh criticism from late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, in an interview with ABC television Sunday, saying their professional rivalry was positive. Gates, who maintained a long rivalry with the Apple innovator, was asked about an authorized biography of Jobs by Walter Isaacson.
The Microsoft founder was told by ABC that Jobs “basically said that you were ‘unimaginative, had never invented anything and shamelessly ripped off other people’s ideas.’ That’s pretty tough stuff. What’s your reaction to that?” Gates replied, “Well, Steve and I worked together, you know, creating the Mac. We had more people on it, did the key software for it. So over the course of the 30 years we worked together he said a lot of very nice things about me and he said a lot of tough things.”
Gates went on: “I mean, he faced, several times at Apple, the fact that their products were so premium priced that they literally might not stay in the marketplace. So the fact that we were succeeding with high volume products including a range of prices, because of the way we worked with multiple companies, it’s tough. I respect Steve. We got to work together. We spurred each other on, even as competitors. None of that bothers me at all.”
