Matthew Key, O2 UK chief executive, tells ” the story of how O2 landed the [exclusive Apple iPhone] deal [in the UK] – and what it’s like to do business with the most iconic computer company in the world,” Dominic White reports for The Telegraph.
“Key recalls arriving at Apple HQ that Tuesday morning with Cesar Alierta and Julio Linares, number one and two at O2’s Spanish owner, Telefonica. They were ushered to the office of Steve Jobs, who welcomed them in, wearing trademark jeans, black top, and trainers,” White reports.
“‘He’s a hugely impressive guy, hugely impressive guy,’ beams Key, remembering his first encounter with the quasi-legendary Apple founder. ”He clearly knows his stuff in a level of detail that for someone at that level is mindblowing, and he has a great incisiveness in terms of what the customer wants and needs in products,'” White reports.
White reports, “Jobs and his henchmen wanted a single network partner but still didn’t know how they were going to launch the iPhone in the UK; unlike Key, once Jobs had shown him the device. ‘I played with it for two minutes and just thought, ‘oh my God, this is leagues above anything I’ve ever seen before’,’ he gushes (to be fair, so do most people who’ve seen the device). ‘If you see the photo functionality, watch videos on it on YouTube, or the weather, or just see the threading on the texting, or the visual voicemail.'”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “David” for the heads up.]