Microsoft founder Bill Gates was one of the elite few who visited Apple co-founder Steve Jobs prior to his death, and the billionaire doesn’t hold back his emotions during a new interview on the subject.
CBS News posted an excerpt Sunday from this week’s 60 Minutes in which Charlie Rose sits down with Microsoft legend Bill Gates to discuss his onetime rival Steve Jobs and their last meeting together prior to his death.
“He showed me the boat he was working on and talked about how he’s looking forward to being on it, even though we both knew there was a good chance that wouldn’t happen,” Gates revealed, a rare emotional moment for the former Microsoft CEO.
Gates also didn’t hold back when it came to discussing areas where Apple got the upper hand over Microsoft — such as tablets, a market Gates and company attempted to pioneer long before anyone had ever heard of the iPad.
“We did tablets — lots of tablets — well before Apple did, but they put the pieces together in a way that succeeded,” Gates remarked.
Finally, the billionaire philanthropist looks back at his rivalry with Jobs and how their lives ran parallel in many respects.
“He and I, in a sense, grew up together,” Gates concluded. “We were within a year of the same age, and we were kind of naively optimistic and built big companies. And every fantasy we had about creating products and learning new things — we achieved all of it. And most of it as rivals. But we always retained a certain respect and communication, including even when he was sick.”
The Gates interview closes on a humorous note, as the former Microsoft CEO remembers a dinner date cancelled by Jobs, who passed along the message “tell him I’m an a**hole” as his only explanation. Check out the excerpts in the video embedded below!
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
(Video courtesy of CBS News)
Feeling blue that the release of the Steve Jobs biopic starring Ashton Kutcher has been delayed? No more need to lose sleep over it, because Funny or Die is coming to fill that void in your life with a movie all their own.
Funny or Die released an “exclusive” teaser trailer for the service’s upcoming Steve Jobs parody, which will premiere on the website April 15. The short film parody stars Justin Long, a face familiar to most Apple fans as the “Mac guy” from the company’s popular “Get a Mac” television commercials.
Unlike the Ashton Kutcher vehicle Jobs, Funny or Die’s “iSteve” is a humorous look at the legendary Apple co-founder — although you might not feel that way after putting eyeballs on this initial teaser trailer.
“iSteve” will premiere exclusively on FunnyorDie.com on Monday, April 15. Until then, check out the teaser trailer embedded below!
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
Fans of Apple and its products likely remember the first time they saw the iPhone, way back in 2007. Everything seemed new and amazing, and Steve Jobs was still leading the charge. And who can forget the very first public phone call ever made from that iOS device, a funny little prank ordering 4,000 lattes from Starbucks? Apparently, the barista at Starbucks can’t forget; people remind her all the time.
Speaking to Fast Company, the Starbucks employee at the other end of that call, Ying Hang “Hannah” Zhang, is still with the San Francisco location. Apparently, the store still gets quite a few calls, ordering thousands of lattes.
“After he made the call, everyone copied him, prank calling our store and ordering thousands of lattes — to this day,” said Zhgang.
The barista still remembers that day, when Steve Jobs called her store. But hey, even Zhang knew Jobs was a stand-up guy, despite the silly phone call.
“Honestly, I was shocked,” said Zhang. “I have never heard somebody order 4,000 lattes to go. I didn’t say anything because I was shocked. But my first impression was that he was just being humorous. He sounded like a gentleman.”
Follow this article’s author, Matt Clark, on Twitter.
Recently, we reported that one (of two) Steve Jobs biopics in the works would premiere during the Sundance Film Festival. Well, it looks like we’ll all have a chance to see how well Ashton Kutcher portrays the late Apple CEO when JOBS hits theaters on April 19.
“But April is so far away,” you say, staring longingly at Kutcher on the cover of your Dude Where’s My Car DVD. Fear not, for the fine folks at ETOnline have posted the very first clip from the upcoming film. Check it out below.
The scene features Steve Jobs (Kutcher) talking to Steve Wozniak (Josh Gad) about going forward with an Apple-developed operating system. While it’s difficult to tell from such a short clip, I personally have some reservations about Kutcher’s performance. Maybe it’s just me, but all I can hear is goofy quotes from That ’70s Show every time he talks.
But hold the iPhone: Steve Wozniak says the iteration depicted in this scene never even happened. Commenting on a story at Gizmodo today, Woz says the roles at the time–with doubt over the new Apple OS–were reversed, with Jobs playing the part of the unsure visionary.
“Not close…we never had such interaction and roles,” said Wozniak. “I’m not even sure what it’s getting at…personalities are very wrong although mine is closer…don’t forget that my purpose was inspired by the values of the Homebrew Computer Club along with ideas of the value of such machines and Steve J. wasn’t around and didn’t attend the club so he was the one learning about such social impact of the future.”
OK, so maybe it’s not a documentary, but few biopics actually stick so explicitly to minutiae. Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see how the full film looks this spring.
Follow this article’s author, Matt Clark, on Twitter.
We’re just a little over a week away from the 2013 edition of the Macworld/iWorld show in San Francisco, and the expo is locking up the high-profile guests who will appear. That includes the two stars of the upcoming independent Steve Jobs biopic — one of whom is the artist formerly known as Mr. Demi Moore. Find out when it all goes down in our weekend recap…
If you need further proof that Temple Run is another monster mobile hit, look no further than the download numbers for its sequel, released only last week. According to Imangi Studios, Temple Run 2 sprinted from six million downloads in the first day to a whopping 20 million during the first four days, making the game the number one free app a mere eight hours after its release. Obviously it helped that the game is free, but at this rate, Temple Run 2 is well on its way to match the 170 million download mark — although that insane number counts purchases from the App Store, Google Play and Amazon Appstore.
Macworld/iWorld announced Monday that Apple will be heading back to the annual expo in San Francisco this year — or rather, the two actors portraying the company’s iconic founders. Presumably timed to promote the upcoming feature film jOBS, stars Ashton Kutcher and Josh Gad will appear on stage Thursday, January 31 at 9am PST to talk up their screen roles as Apple founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, respectively. Okay, it may not be as exciting as the real Steve Jobs introducing the iPhone at the show back in 2007, but it should make for an interesting look at how the actors prepared for their roles and what we can hope to expect when the film debuts this in the months ahead.
Reuters reported Monday that video game legend Atari SA has filed for bankruptcy protection in both Paris and New York, part of a plan to separate the American company from its French parent company and “seek independent capital to grow in digital and mobile games.” Atari has failed to find a benefactor to replace BlueBay, the sole company currently acting as main shareholder and creditor which is owed 21 million Euros ( million). CEO Jim Wilson hopes the company can regain its independence by seeking out financing to the tune of .25 million from Tenor Capital.
MacRumors is reporting that the late 2012, 21.5-inch iMac is already getting hard to come by, with shipping estimates from Apple’s online store now slipping to as much as three weeks in many countries, including the U.S. and United Kingdom, where the previous estimate was seven to 10 days. Two to three weeks still isn’t as bad as what those wanting to buy a new 27-inch iMac are facing, with wait times more in the neighborhood of three to four weeks.
Black Pants Studios and Appoday have teamed up to bring iOS gamers the normally 99-cent title About Love, Hate and the other ones absolutely free for a limited time. The curiously named game allows players to slip into the role of Love and Hate in a fun, challenging puzzle with 70 levels to conquer. Along the way the characters will encounter “the other ones,” who react to Love and Hate in all sorts of interesting ways. The iPhone/iPod touch version is available free for just a short time, while the HD edition for the iPad is currently .99.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
