|THE DEN|
Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and Steve Jobs, the co- founder of Apple, were born in the same year 1955. Both came into the technology world almost together which had ultimately made them rivals to each other and subsequently everybody witnessed their famously fierce rivalry.
Since the late 1970s, the two wrote the future of computers with a war between Mac and the PC. The decades-long feud between both the tech titans certainly spurred the success of Microsoft and Apple.
Let us look into the history of their uncertain relationship of more than 30 years;
When Microsoft and Apple were working together
Microsoft made software for the mega-popular Apple II PC and Gates would regularly fly down to Cupertino to check on Apple. Gates was not particularly impressed with Jobs' attitude when in the early ‘80s, Jobs went to sell Gates on the possibility of making Microsoft software for the Apple Macintosh computer with its revolutionary graphical interface. Nevertheless, Gates appeared alongside Jobs in 1983 video screened for Apple employees ahead of the Macintosh’s launch.
“It really captures people’s imagination” - Gates complimented Mac
Both worked together for the first few years of the Macintosh.
Fall of the relationship
Their relationship fell apart in 1985 when Windows announced its first version. Jobs accused Gates and Microsoft of ripping off the Macintosh. But Gates did not care. When Jobs accused Gates of stealing the idea, he responded “Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbour named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."
Both of them took the idea for the graphical interface from a research institution they both used to admire “the Xerox PARC labs.” Just it was Apple who took it first.
From there, Both turned on each other, with Jobs criticising Gates for being too focused and “stick in the mud”, on the other hand Gates said Jobs was “fundamentally odd” and “weirdly flawed as a human being”.
Jobs left Apple
In 1985, Steve Jobs resigned from Apple while Microsoft took over the computer world and Gates became the richest man in the world. Meanwhile, Jobs started his own computer company, NeXT. But even though Jobs was no longer working for Apple, it didn’t improve relations between the two and the series of criticism still continued.
Jobs accused Microsoft of producing “third-rate products” and went on claiming "The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products”.
But Gates respected Jobs' knack for design, saying, "He really never knew much about technology, but he had an amazing instinct for what works”.
Apple went into serious trouble
By the late ‘90s, Apple was in serious financial trouble. The company asked Jobs to return to Apple and after some inner strife, he went back in 1996. However, it wasn’t enough to keep the company afloat. In 1997, at Jobs' first Macworld keynote, he announced a new partnership with Gates and Microsoft in order to save Apple.
“Gates made the world a better place” -Jobs thanked Gates
Despite this, they still remained critical of each other’s work. Even when Gates stepped down from Microsoft in 2000, Jobs called the company ‘almost irrelevant’. And the series of commenting never stopped, though Gates was actually pretty complimentary of Jobs’ innovations at Apple.
In a bizarre manner, both icons evidently respected each other. In 2007, Jobs and Gates appeared on stage together at the All Things Digital conference where Gates said, “I’d give a lot to have Steve’s taste.”
Jobs also admired Gates, "I admire him for the company he built — it’s impressive — and I enjoyed working with him. He’s bright and actually has a good sense of humour."
Friends again, in the end !
In the last months of Jobs' life, he spent time with Gates. After Jobs' death in 2011, Gates said, "I respect Steve, we got to work together. We spurred each other on, even as competitors. None of [what he said] bothers me at all."
Eventually, both Gates and Jobs have made history of the most prominent leaders and innovators of the tech revolution.
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