Steve Jobs vowed to “destroy” the Android

It’s been two weeks since the man at Apple’s helm passed away, but Steve Jobs is still making the headlines even until today. This time, it’s not about what he has done or what could have been the main causes underlying his death.

One thing that was much talked about among Apple aficionados, Jobs fans, and techies in general was his soon-to-be-released biography. His official biographer, Walter Isaacson, claimed that Jobs, who went to great lengths to keep his private life away from the prying eyes and ears of the media, authorised the biography for his kids.

Pulitzer Prize nominee Isaacson revealed that Jobs had said that he wanted his kids to “know him” in the final interview the former conducted in Jobs’ Palo Alto home. He quoted Jobs as saying: “I wasn’t always there for them, and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”

Steve Jobs was the man behind the legendary iLine of products, including the iPod, iPhone, and iPad that propelled Apple into the limelight. These devices also revolutionised the world of consumer electronics and changed the way people used technology and enjoyed music and other forms of media. In fact, the latest in Apple’s line of smartphones, the iPhone 4S, was released recently with a huge reception from the crowd, raking in over 1 million pre-orders when it was made available for ordering.

Jobs was known to be a very thorough and intense boss. This was probably why he was able to make Apple into the company it is today. Aside from that, he was also wary of competitors who were wrangling to copy Apple’s technology. According to Isaacson, Jobs was furious when Taiwan’s HTC introduced a phone that ran on Android that had many similar features as Apple’s iPhone back in 2010. Jobs vowed to “destroy Android” in his anger, as he felt that the manufacturers had blatantly copied some of the iPhone’s most popular features.

Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying: “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40bn in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”

A meeting was called later on between Jobs and Eric Schmidt, Google’s chief executive officer who used to be a member of Apple’s board. Jobs was blunt with Schmidt, saying: “I don’t want your money. If you offer me $5bn, I won’t want it. I’ve got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that’s all I want.” In the end, the meeting failed to resolve any issues.

Apple later on sued HTC for infringement, with Jobs stating: “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.”

The lawsuit remains unresolved until today, with HTC filing a counter-suit against Apple as well. Walter Isaacson’s biography on Steve Jobs will go on sale on October 24.

Source – The Guardian