Steve Jobs, then and now

reporter's notebook

Over the last couple of years, Apple
Computer
cofounder Steve Jobs has

missed few opportunities to slam Microsoft and
its founder in the media. But since he and Bill Gates announced
Microsoft's multimillion-dollar investment in the foundering Apple, Jobs
has been
uncharacteristically reticent when it comes to what used to be his favorite
pastime: battering Bill in the press.

Witness the $150 million personality transplant that Steve has undergone:


THEN: Microsoft, the Evil Empire
"Microsoft dominates with very little innovation?Eventually, Microsoft will
crumble because of complacency, and maybe some new things will grow."

"The Web is exciting for two reasons: One, it's ubiquitous. There will be
Web dial tone everywhere. And anything that's ubiquitous gets interesting.
Two, I don't think Microsoft will figure out a way to own it. There's going
to be a lot more innovation, and that will create a place where there isn't
this dark cloud of dominance."

--Wired magazine interview (February 1996)

"To be honest, I think the Internet and the Netscape phenomenon is going to
be the best thing that ever happened to Microsoft. It will wake them up to
make realize that they're not the complete island, that they have to build
some bridges."

--Interactive Age magazine interview (March 14, 1996)

"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste...I don't mean
that in a small
way--I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of
original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their product?So I
guess I am saddened, not by Microsoft's success--I have no problem with
their success; they've earned their success for the most part--I have a
problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products."

--Triumph of the Nerds PBS documentary interview (May 1996)



NOW: A new mantra?
"I think it is incredibly stupid for us to believe that for Apple to
survive, Microsoft has to fail."

--Macweek (May 16, 1997)

"We have to let go of a few things here. We have to let go of the notion
that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose."

--Macworld Expo Boston keynote speech (August 6, 1997)



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