Steve Jobs biography reveals Android hatred
by Steven Mostyn - Oct 21 2011, 11:09
Yet more dislike for the ambitious new kid. Image: Apple.
Earlier this week we reported on Microsoft boss Steve Ballmer’s apparent dislike of Android phones. Now, it would appear he’s not alone in being an industry bigwig with no great love for Google’s mobile software.
More pointedly, the authorized biography of the late Steve Jobs reveals that Apple’s former chief executive viewed Android’s similarities to iOS as amounting to nothing short of “theft”.
“I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product,” said Jobs in an except from Walter Isaacson’s book on the electronics visionary. “I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion… to right this wrong.”
The comments attributed to Jobs are perhaps no great surprise, not least because Apple is currently pursuing a number of lawsuits against smartphone makers who have opted to use Android—main market rival Samsung being the most notable target.
Samsung’s Galaxy Tab tablet computer, which uses Android (Honeycomb) has already been blocked at retail by both Australia and Germany following Apple’s claim that it violates its technology patents.
The Galaxy smartphone could also soon be banned in Holland, where the Dutch legal system is presently mulling Apple’s position.
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