Claims Android a useful rallying point

The differences former Apple CEO Steve Jobs had with Google over Android were "for show," according to Google CEO Larry Page. The executive made the comment in a recent interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, responding to a question about going to Jobs for advice after becoming CEO. "I think the Android differences were actually for show," said Page. "I had a relationship with Steve. I wouldn’t say I spent a lot of time with him over the years, but I saw him periodically. Curiously enough, actually, he requested that meeting. He sent me an e-mail and said: 'Hey, you want to get together and chat?' I said, 'Sure, I’ll come over.' And we had a very nice talk. We always did when we had a discussion generally.

"He was quite sick. I took it as an honor that he wanted to spend some time with me. I figured he wanted to spend time with his family at that point. He had a lot of interesting insights about how to run a company and that was pretty much what we discussed."

Elaborating, Page added that he thought the fury "served their [Apple's] interests. For a lot of companies, it’s useful for them to feel like they have an obvious competitor and to rally around that. I personally believe that it’s better to shoot higher. You don’t want to be looking at your competitors. You want to be looking at what’s possible and how to make the world better."

Jobs infamously declared that Android was "stolen," promising to "destroy" it and go to "thermonuclear war" if necessary. His successor, Tim Cook, is sometimes believed to be more pragmatic about the lawsuits his company is pursuing against various Android device manufacturers, like Samsung, HTC, and Motorola.

By Electronista Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :  

Google, Steve Jobs, Android, Apple, Larry Page