Historical conversation between Steve Jobs and gates

At the all things digital conference held by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Steve Jobs and Gates held a historic public conversation. The following is a record from the driver's house:

How have you contributed to the computer industry?

Steve Jobs: Bill was the first software company in the industry and a big company. I think everyone in the industry has set up the first software company when they don't know what a software company is. Bill is fully focused on the software industry.

Gates: First of all, I need to clarify that I am not a fake Steve Jobs. Jobs' achievements are remarkable. He has incredible taste and elegance. He will always live in the future and can clearly point out the direction of tomorrow. Apple has been pursuing this dream to create the products we want to use. He can always point out the next step of the industry, and the whole industry can benefit from his work.

The host talked about Apple II, where Microsoft software was installed.

Steve Jobs: Steve Wozniak (another Apple founder) developed its operating system, but it only supports the number of points and does not support floating point operations. We hope he can modify and support floating-point operations, but he has never done so. Microsoft has a very good floating point basic, so we come together.

Gates: I bet on the success of Apple II. Therefore, we work together.

Steve Jobs: I want to know that Microsoft didn't enter the application software market that year, so this is indeed a gamble for them.

Gates: we place the bet on a graphical view of the Apple operating system. The original Mac OS was only 14 K.

Steve Jobs: a little bigger, 20 K. Apple developed it, but Bill and his team wrote the application.Program.

Next we will talk about the days when Steve Jobs left Apple. Bill, what do you think will happen when you see Steve leave apple?

Gates: I'm worried that Apple will be assimilated to other operating systems, such as Windows and DOS. When they launched the 512 K Mac, the entire product line had moved away. If Steve Jobs was there, it would not happen. I used to call Gil Amelio over the weekend (then CEO of apple, after he stepped down, Steve Jobs returned) to remind him. Then one day, Steve Jobs called me and said, "Don't worry about Amelio any more ."

The host talked about Steve Jobs's remarks in 1997 that it would be devastating to compete with Microsoft.

Steve Jobs: if Apple and Microsoft compete, if Apple wants to win, Microsoft must lose, and then Apple will lose. Apple does not need to defeat Microsoft. It must know who it is and what it should do. Microsoft is the most powerful software developer, and Apple is in a weak position. This is why I found Bill.

The following is a sensitive topic about Apple's "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" advertisement. The two of them can distinguish between MAC and PC, PC guy is full of ridicule for PC and Windows operating systems.

Steve Jobs: These advertisements are not so evil. Both roles like each other. PC guy is great. It is he who makes the whole advertisement full of life.

Gates: PC guy's mom loves him.

Next question: what does apple think about Microsoft?

Steve Jobs: Apple is a company that puts beautiful software into beautiful boxes. Apple is essentially a software company like Microsoft. Alan Kay said: "software lovers want to make their own hardware ." Apart from Microsoft, I cannot see any example that combines hardware and software so well.

Have you ever had a chance, but you missed it, to make the market share of MAC machines bigger? Have you ever regretted it?

Steve Jobs: There are a lot of things that I could have done better. You have to let the past go. The first thing I did when I returned to Apple was to hand over the apple museum to Stanford University. We must look forward, rather than staring at yesterday.

HOST: What do you think about the current technological development?

Steve Jobs: I think there are many exciting new generation products in the manufacturing process.
Gates: This is an exciting time. In the future, we will regard the present age as the golden age of invention and creation.

Your company represents a fat client, or a huge operating system. However, there has recently been a concept of putting most of the content on the network. Will the PC itself be so complex within five years?

Gates: Do you still remember the single-Function Computer and Larry Ellison's network computer. The computer on the car will have such a situation, but back to the big screen, back home, we will not leave the current philosophy.

Steve Jobs: for example, the Google Maps software we wrote for the iPhone is much better than Google Maps. Why? Because you are running it locally. In the concept of a fat client, you can do much more than simply using a browser. In addition, in the current situation, fat clients are developing and prices are also decreasing. Combining these network services with powerful clients is the right path.

In the next five years, what kind of devices will you carry with you?

Gates: I think you will carry a series of devices, a tablet computer and a small device that can be packed in your pocket. This is a common form.

Steve Jobs: PC has a very strong vitality. It has been predicted to have died many times, the emergence of the Internet has awakened it, and digital multimedia once again encouraged it. I think PC will continue with us. However, other devices outside the PC are thriving, and some devices will not be universal. They are more focused on a certain feature, and such devices will develop rapidly.

What are the core applications of these portable devices?

Gates: We have a lot of options, but it is limited by its size. At that time, you still cannot do homework on your mobile phone.

Steve Jobs: I don't know what these devices will do. Five years ago, we would never have imagined a map on a portable device, but now they do exist.

What fields of the Internet are exciting to you?

Steve Jobs: there are countless interesting things on the Internet, many of which focus on entertainment. The content that can guide your life is undoubtedly more effective. People want to enjoy entertainment on their favorite devices at the desired time and in the desired way. If you are a content provider, this is a great thing. However, switching between these devices is not easy.

What will happen to the operating system and user interface in the future?

Gates: we will soon see significant advances in 3D user interfaces and touch operations, and quickly reduce costs and popularize them.

What is the biggest misunderstanding between you?

Steve Jobs (with a serious face): We concealed the secrets of marriage from each other for ten years.

Gates: I think there is no gap between us. It feels great to have Steve.

Steve Jobs: WHEN Bill and I were just in this industry, we were the youngest and we were the oldest. In the song of the Beatle, the Song said, "you and I have more memories than long roads ."