New Book Reveals Apple's Steve Jobs Was First Choice for Google CEO 167
A Reader notes, Steven Levy's latest book, In The Plex: How Google Thinks, Works and Shapes Our Lives, lifts the lid on the secretive world of Google, revealing how the founders fell out with Apple's Steve Jobs and what happened in the search engine's exit from China. Levy claims that when Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page were on the hunt for a chief executive they wanted Steve Jobs to take the job. Obviously, he didn't, and later the two companies became fierce rivals rather than allies.
How different things could have been (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:How different things could have been (Score:3, Insightful)
"Don't be evil" could not have been the motto with that douChEO in charge
Re:How different things could have been (Score:1, Insightful)
"Don't be evil" could not have been the motto with that douChEO in charge
Youtube wouldn't be using Flash right now, though.
Re:good thing (Score:5, Insightful)
. o O { don't feed the troll, don't feed the troll, don't feed the troll...}
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:4, Insightful)
This isn't necessarily a bad thing, for the most part, just a case of different people with different personalities finding roles in society where their traits are assets rather than liabilities.
You have to be kidding. Bullying and walking over people is never an asset in a civilized society. Only about 2% of people are like that, and they cause almost all of the problems.
If we didn't have the problem of sociopaths and psychopaths (pigs might fly), then our political and business system would actually be ethical, since 98% of the population doesn't have much of a problem with being ethical.
Re:How different things could have been (Score:3, Insightful)
"Don't be evil" could not have been the motto with that douChEO in charge
Youtube wouldn't be using Flash right now, though.
And Google Apps would be a joy to use instead of the total mess it is.
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:2, Insightful)
And your degree in behavioral psychology is from the University of ________?
The fact is, progress depends on people who are willing to place their own interests -- or those of their "tribe" -- above those of others. Your statement suggests that you're either 12 years old, or have spent all your life in a Zen monastery.
Re:How different things could have been (Score:5, Insightful)
His work with Apple(which obviously gooses the value of his stock holdings; but for which he doesn't get paid nearly what he easy could demand) seems to be entirely about pursuing his perfectionism wherever it leads him, even if that means killing profitable products(hello iPod Mini...), stomping on backwards compatibility in ways that upset important partners(Yo Adobe, 64 bit carbon is dead, we didn't bother to tell you until the last second; because Cocoa is just better.) and trading marketshare for margin whenever necessary(nearly all the Macs, the continued lack of a 1 socket mini-tower type config).
Google, on the other hand, really only does relentless perfectionism on the back end(datacenter efficiency and search algorithms). Most of their user-facing stuff is not bad; but is proudly beta, low margin, and basically about being good enough to serve its strategically vital cash cows.
Unless Jobs suddenly developed an intense hatred of publicity, in which case he might well be a good recruit for some position in Google's back-end operations, a gig with Google would run strongly against his tastes, and he already has enough money, and not enough interest in money, that Google couldn't easily buy him.
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:5, Insightful)
I always felt that those people who insist in demonizing Jobs and Gates look much more psychopathic than Jobs and Gates. They are surely less grounded and in touch with reality, even if just because they did *not* manage to get large companies up and running from nothing. They're purely negative and destructive, just reacting to something they don't understand or don't like, with no means to do something successful on their own.
I'm not saying there are no psychopaths in the industry but mostly you find them in meager positions of power that cater to their special "talent". The "captains" mostly are bright and realistic guys, even if often with an iron will and/or personal quirks. Like it or not but success is the most clear indicator for psychological health we have. There are exceptions in certain dysfunctional communities, but usually true madness sinks to the bottom. Describing Jobs as a sociopath just because he has very clear (and obviously very correct) ideas how devices for the masses should work is, well, mad.
Re:How different things could have been (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:2, Insightful)
You do realize that psychology isn't actually science, right? And that argumentum ad hominems just make you look like a dumbass.
Most humans, despite the beliefs to the contrary are more or less decent people, there's just this nasty tendency towards confirmation bias that makes it seem otherwise. People tend to be social and without those 1-2% individuals that behave like that, I'm really not convinced that people would behave like that.
That being said, there's no way of knowing because we'll never get rid of those sorts of people in the population at large long enough to actually answer the question.
Re:How different things could have been (Score:1, Insightful)
"Don't be evil" could not have been the motto with that douChEO in charge
Youtube wouldn't be using Flash right now, though.
And Google Apps would be a joy to use instead of the total mess it is.
Only for those who would drink the koolaid, and then only on Mac.
Re:Surprised Jobs Didn't Steal Something... (Score:2, Insightful)
To soften the blow and make Jobs look like less of an asshole than he is?
Re:How different things could have been (Score:0, Insightful)
and cost $250 for a license unless you used a shiny white computer.
Re:How different things could have been (Score:5, Insightful)
Yeah. The Pixar guys were really cowed and faceless. People have this idea of Jobs, the CEO being one person, the Apple CEO. But he was also Pixar CEO, and they seemed to do OK. Maybe, he is just a really clever guy who knows how to organise a business to make money. Compare his computer company (I use the term loosely, Apple ceased being that a long time ago) to other computer companies (Dell, HP, Compaq (now HP obviously), Gateway etc). His is the most successful, running on a completely different strategy, making it work. He also ran Pixar, right up until he sold it and they didn't make a single flop movie. Who says he wouldn't have been able to run Google. He proved himself in 2 completely different industries already.