“Roger McNamee, whose company Elevation Partners is a big Facebook investor, launched a broadside attack against Google and Microsoft,” Claire Atkinson reports for The New York Post. “McNamee took Google to pieces in front of a crowd of music industry professionals eager to hear how they can make money from digital distribution.”
“McNamee roasts Google throughout his 20 minute speech, describing the search giant as the ‘old guard,’ which has fallen behind thanks to Apple’s innovations,” Atkinson reports. “The big tech investor, who has ties to U2’s Bono and The Grateful Dead, accused Google of having, ‘filled the Web with crap.'”
“He said, ‘You have to support [Apple’s] platforms even if you hate Steve Jobs.’ He added that unlike Google, ‘Apple is about trusted brands, authority, security, copyright and the like.’ He alleges that Google had to remove 64 apps from its Android app store for stealing confidential information,” Atkinson reports. “Then he went on to point out that Microsoft’s Windows share of internet-connected devices is collapsing. ‘Consumers are abandoning Windows as fast as they can… Google and Microsoft will remain huge, but their influence is evaporating, which means we can ignore them,’ concluded McNamee, ‘For people who make content, Apple is a better monopolist to deal with than Google.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Who the hell would hate Steve Jobs? Lazy people, maybe. Ignorant people, maybe. Otherwise, who would anyone hate a man who strives for perfection and wants to improve technology? Specifically for the music industry, why would they hate the man that saved their bacon? And, by the way, “monopolist” has a specific definition and, in the U.S., building a monopoly is the ultimate goal. Building or even having a monopoly is not illegal in the United States of America, abusing it is; ask Microsoft about that distinction.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “krquet” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
McNamee is very bullish on Apple, says don’t trust Google’s Android (with video) – April 14, 2011
Palm-backer Roger McNamee: So, how would you like your crow? – July 30, 2009
Palm withdraws McNamee claims for Pre – March 10, 2009
Palm backer McNamee: Pre will take all iPhone users as AT&T contracts begin to expire in June – March 05, 2009
I like playing Monopoly …..
Some don’t like Steve Jobs because he is a control freak. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but few people can pull it off without others hating them for it, and Jobs is no exception. The fact he’s been so successful rankles them even more.
In the context of running Apple it’s striving for perfection in products and services, and ensuring a fairly smooth, consistent and secure end-user experience, but this does mean their iDevices and related services are more restrictive and locked down, and many don’t like the “freedoms” that are lost along the way.
Yep. Just look at the comments on any non-Apple centric website, and you’ll see this in full effect. They love to delude themselves about Google’s “openness,” despite all the evidence to the contrary, and they’d rather settle for inferior solutions simply for a modicum more control over their personal device.
Some don’t like Steve Jobs because THEY THINK he is a control freak. BUT THAT’S BULLSµi† and they don’t know what the hell they are talking about. Mr. Jobs is a quality freak and we should be grateful for that.
Well said Robert. Quality freak is more accurate. Quality is exactly what one wants from a CEO, especially concerning personal devices.
I’ve heard Steve described as a lot of things, from inventor to genius to the Thomas Edison of the 21st century, but I’ve never heard him described as someone you would have as a BFF.
The problem is, these people buy iOS devices because they are the best in class, and then they bitch about the “restrictions.” If you don’t like it, don’t buy it. That’s my policy with Microsoft and a few other companies – works great!
Apple sometimes does change course in response to user input. But don’t expect SJ to kowtow to public rants and whining. He sticks to his principles, even if you don’t like them. That is why Apple is…Apple.
You will find those SJ haters in circles whose livelihood or “IT identity” depends on a thriving Microsoft. Not only the IT people who have dominated PC parks by continuously configuring stuff using Windows-centric and proprietary protocols, but also the brother-in-laws, neighbors, etc. who have vowed to provide you with PC support, and have promised their friends to help in their next search for the best PC.
The(ir) trouble is: 1. with Macs they’re not needed 2. without Windows their knowledge is obsolete.
Recently, a friend of mine goes to China to see some machinery. He took with him his 13″ Unibody MBP. On the way he met with other people on the same trip, all of them with different portable computers with Windows on them. When they arrived to LAX, all of them tried to connect to the Airport’s Wi-Fi. The only one that did it was mi friend’s MBP. Then they all took the flight to Japan. The same at the Tokio airport. Even in China, the only computer connected to the internet was his. He had to left his MBP at the hotel’s front desk for a while to let the other guys make connections with family through Skype or FaceTime, etc. He told me that he saw a person with his Dell laptop, almost ashamed to have it.
He noticed, also, that most of the people in Japan were using Macs, not PCs.
He is not a technologist so he is not trained to move his internet configuration, that is set to “automatic”.
Now, he is telling everyone that, to travel, there is nothing like a MBP.
I had the same experience. Working on a MBP recently, at a LAX bar, a guy came up with his HP laptop asking me how I connected.
I replied, “Opened the lid.”
He then asked me to help him but we couldn’t get a sustained connection.
Garbage.
It’s the essence of a 10 second spot. “How do you connect a MacBook to the internet? Open the lid!” I love it.
Hate Steve Jobs? That makes the same end of the list of stupid expenditures of calories as vandalism and hockey.
Funny, but I’ve ignored Microsoft for years.
Always loved Steve Jobs, Apple, Mac, been enjoying delightful computing for decades, very lucky to have lived life without having to touch and be trapped by inferior time-wasting frustrating PCs.
Pot, meet kettle.
Some people hate Steve Jobs because he is a control freak. Why do they think he is a control freak–because he tells his employees that they created shit when they create shit. Our country would be much better off if more bosses, teachers, and parents told their underlings when they created shit rather then telling them they are proud of their effort.
Hatred for Mr. Jobs has been somewhat irrational. I can understand why Mr. Raskin may not had been his biggest fans, but plenty of other ex-Apple employees now think highly of him. I read an article a few years back, that many if not most ex-Applers (is that a word) now consider their best work so far had been at Apple under his tough-love leadership.
Finally, people grow and change. I know there are things I have done when I was younger may have irked plenty of folks. I like to think that I’d do many things differently given a chance. I have a feeling that feeling is universal and sign of maturity and change. It’s irrational to think SJ hasn’t mellowed a bit. He is still a strict boss, but someone who wouldn’t allow personal emotions to get in the way of business. However, he would make his business a personal enterprise. And it shows, brightly.
“Who the hell would hate Steve Jobs?”
I would add that the name Steve Jobs is emblematic of Apple. Thusly, Apple haters would transfer their hatred to him. And of course, Steve earned a rep for his lack of people skills during his first Apple tenure. . . . And even now, he shows a distinct intolerance of mediocrity, and even normal or average.
“You people should hate each other!”
Personally, I’m not sure I would like the man, but I do immensely respect and admire him.
‘Apple is about trusted brands, authority, security, copyright and the like.’
Tell me, MR McNamee, what is “the like?” Media moguls like you having a stranglehold on the use of music so they can charge ridiculous amounts? That’s what it has meant in the past, why many today still will not buy at iTunes, and why piracy became so common (on cassette tapes) even before the advent of P2P sharing. Yes, I do know why you love Apple … for the promise of insane profit.
Hate probably is too strong a word, but there are lots of Mac-lovers who are very irate at Steve Jobs for removing matte screens from iMacs and Cinema Displays, and the 13″ notebooks. See the petition at http://macmatte.wordpress.com for their detailed reasons. I know lots of people like glossy screens – but those people need to appreciate that there are lots of people too who like matte screens. If you don’t happen to get headaches from the glare of a glossy screen, that doesn’t mean someone else’s headaches are fakes. It means people have different responses to glossy screens.
Well so far MM you have less Thani 1,500 irate fans in the 3 years you have been running your site.
Obviously, most of pain that you are so concerned about could be remedied by simply matting the monitor with a piece of film, replacing the glass or even overlaying the existing monitor window with a panel fnon-reflective glass.
With sales of iPads, iPhone, iMacs and Cinema Displays totaling over 20 million glossy screens a month, it would be pretty hard to convince anybody that specially building a matte option for less 30 voices a month is sound judgement.
jobs is hated by WS because he refuses to play ball with them. No buybacks, no buyouts and no inside info. WS makes at least 30 basis point on buybacks and their fees on acquisitions are lucrative. They also want apple to share that cash and allow them to leverage it to their advantage while screwing everyone ( look at the 20 to 1 leverage Obama and his regulators allow on the cesspools ICE and CME).
Notice how despite the cash on hand that google and MSFT have, they still borrowed money from the SHYSTERS. These help the SHYSTERS generate fees and in turn, they prop up these stocks.
If you are an Apple Reseller you have learned to hate Mr. Jobs very fast. If you are a user of Apple products you will learn to hate him in the future. For example the new iMac has a hard drive that can only be replaced by Apple, under Steve he will discontinue the drive in a few years to force you to buy a new computer. Everything is aimed at becoming a monopoly. In time those of you who blindly defend him will be yelling at the top of your lungs. I have owned Apple products longer than many of you have been alive, almost since the company started. I have watched and realize many of you only drink kool-aid.
I like the taste of the kook-aid, especially over the crap that you are spewing.
As you wrote that post, did you stamp your foot and yell, like a petulant child or more like a curmudgeon?
And your problem is?
Windows computers have price on their side. I sell heeps and heeps of Windows laptops every week. Yes, it’s largely to uneducated/non-tech savvy buyers, but there are business owners and grad students in the store every day (college town).
Never forget the cheapest 15 inch laptop Apple offers is $1800.
It doesn’t take a lot of power to run most apps, but things like screen size, 10 key number pads, card slots, and price force many buyers away from Mac’s.
Most Macs are heavyweights; lots of power and price. Sometimes a welterweight with a big screen is all people need/want.
For example a grad student (economics) came in a few days ago. He wanted a 15″ screen, numeric key pad, and Office Home and Student. He left the store with after paying $549 for a laptop and $99 for office. He got everything he wanted plus an i3 processor.
The iPod, iPhone, and iPad are priced right but Apples 15 and 17 inch laptops need some serious attention. Expanding the basic MacBook and MacBook Air into the 15″ realm would be a great start.
Never forget the cheapest 15 inch laptop Apple offers is $1800.
Oh really?
Refurbished MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Intel Core i5 (15.4″) $1,269.00
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw
It is well known that these cheap, commodity PC laptops are doing well if they last a year. The hinges break, the connectors are crap, they can’t drive external displays worth a darn, and they run WINDOWS!
Yes, otherwise intelligent people do buy these obsolete-before-they-leave-the-store laptops but then I know some morons who actually had a moment of good sense to buy a Mac.
Today I had an exchange with a Windows developer at my company who asked about my new i7 MBP. I showed him some OSX tricks, Keynote, and Omnigraffle and his response was “now I’m pissed” (meaning, he had no idea how much he had been missing).
People can see the light, they just need to actually SEE the light.
“For example a grad student (economics) came in a few days ago. He wanted a 15″ screen, numeric key pad, and Office Home and Student. He left the store with after paying $549 for a laptop and $99 for office. He got everything he wanted plus an i3 processor.”
Interesting. What school?
Our’s recommend Office Pro for our economics’ majors and a more powerful machine for their computer lab courses.
“…but their influence is evaporating, which means we can ignore them.”
always a bad idea.
Remember McNamee owned a interest Palm. He stated publicly that no one would use the iPhone within a month of the Palm phone being release.