“When I put the accompanying quotes side by side…”
You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give them that. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new. – Steve Jobs
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. – Bill Gates
“…my first thought was that Bill Gates’s greatest source of learning is Steve Jobs, and my second thought was that Bill Gates might have more frustrated, disheartened, or enraged customers than any executive in the history of the planet,” Dale Dauten writes for The Boston Globe.
“Indeed, searching out ‘the most unhappy’ Gates customers would be risky business, as I’ve seen people using Microsoft products who seem as though they would gladly take Bill Gates out to a field and take baseball bats to him, like the scene with the printer in the movie ‘Office Space,'” Dauten writes.
Dauten writes, “Here’s a question: Who would you rather be, Bill or Steve? Richest man in the world, or the guy who created the Apple computer, Pixar Studios, and iPod/iTunes? Here’s a more general question: Would you rather be the farmer or the explorer?”
Full article here.
Related article:
Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ ultimate goal: ‘to take back the computer business from Microsoft’ – June 16, 2005
Don’t get me wrong, Bill Gates is a pirating asshat who designed the worst ever operating system, but I’d rather be him. More money and not so much time in the spotlight. I’m not a public speaker kinda person, and Bill Gates could probably be a recluse and no one would ever miss him, except the people he gives money to. I wouldn’t want his karma though. That no money in the world is worth.
I’d rather be Bill Gates. Then I’d intentionally manipulate the company into making all kinds of horrible business decisions, but with such clever scheming that no one could squarely point the blame on me. With the corporation going down in flames, I would take my personal profit and retire. And then invest my wealth in Apple and humanitarian projects.
“I’d rather be Bill Gates. Then I’d intentionally manipulate the company into making all kinds of horrible business decisions, but with such clever scheming that no one could squarely point the blame on me.”
Isn’t that already happening?
Cubert –
It was an HP laser printer
“PC load letter – What the f*ck does that mean?” – Michael Bolton
LorD 1776 gets LMFAO Award for the day.
Steve is my choice.
Gates is just donating to charity in an attempt to offset the misery his swiss cheese systems have caused the world. Figures it’s his only chance out of a ticket to hell.
God uses a Mac. Has no time for blue screens, re-booting or losing THAT much data! ; )
Ampar: Isn’t that already happening?
You know, some minutes after I wrote my little piece above, I had this epiphany: What if this was all planned? What if, in the ancient past of modern computer technology, Bill and Steve got together and planned this all out? What if, on the eve of Vista’s release, Bill retires, and next we see him standing up on stage, no glasses, in a black mock turtleneck and jeans, side by side with Steve — like those two in the Get a Mac commercials. And then we learn that all these years of tears and sorrow for Windows users were just part of a vast scheme, a conspiracy if you will, to attain what has finally come to pass: The glorious dawn of a new era, when … Apple will be king!! And then we learn that Bill is buying up all outstanding Apple shares.
To DistantThunder:
Fast forward to WinHEC 2007. Bill Gates says he has an important announcement to make. And there up on the big screen is the huge head of a smiling Steve Jobs . . .
. . . the circle is complete. And one by one the stars go out.
Bill Gates. That way I could turn Microsoft around and make its OS better than Apple’s. I would build it on FreeBSD using Aero as the GUI.
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Distant Thunder:
Yeah, of wondered about similar scenarios myself. In some ways this whole MS situation (on a global scale) seems very unlikely.
Philanthropy and Bill Gates? Please…Bill Gates could give away 99.9% of his ill-gained fortune and still never want for money for himself or his heirs. His type of philanthropy is purely motivated by his own ego.
The 2nd “Spark” wasn’t me. Besides I was just being literal, and literally speaking, and regardless of what made Jobs made of Pixar, it pre-existed his purchase of it, so he did create Pixar, he just made it better. No dig on Jobs, just being real.
I find it laughable that you Macites forget how much Mr. Jobs has stolen from others over the years to make his empire.
The GUI interface for example. He had nothing to do with it. (I can see all of you out there, closing your eyes and holding your hands over your ears and going LA-LA-LA-LA-Steve Jobs is my god! LA-LA-LA-LA! Not listening! LA-LA-LA!) He stole it from Xerox, remember???
As for Gates, his software has allowed a level of productivity around this planet unmatched on any level by Apple. Look past the “Apples don’t crash” crap which we know isn’t completely true and you’ll come to the realization that BOTH men have been ruthless businessmen BUT, together have done more for the advancement of technology and entertainment than anyone else in the past century.
Steve Jobs is some sort of narcissist. I think if I had to choose, I would be Bill Gates, because I too am a narcissist, and although being a narcissist is sometimes fun, especially when you’re in a position of power, I’d still like to see what it would be like to be someone else.
Even though Gates is autistic (aspergers).
Well, now that I think about, I’d rather be Jobs. :p