Steve Jobs in 1994:
1) If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth -- and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago.
In 2003 regarding iTunes:
2) It will go down in history as a turning point for the music industry. This is landmark stuff. I can't overestimate it!
Bill Gates in 1983:
3) We will never make a 32-bit operating system.
In 1987:
4) I believe OS/2 is destined to be the most important operating system, and possibly program, of all time.
Linus Torvalds in 1991:
5) I'm doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won't be big and professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones.
In 1998:
6) My name is Linus Torvalds and I am your god.
And in 2003:
Really, I'm not out to destroy Microsoft. That will just be a completely unintentional side effect.
OK, now for a quiz:
Which of the above statements turned out to be the MOST correct or true?
Which of the above statements turned out to be the MOST untrue, or just plain, teh dumbest evah?
Which of the three individuals indicated above has the best sense of humor?
Comments
The truest statements are 2 and 6.
"[T]eh dumbest evah" was #4. I actually bought and ran OS/2 on an early 486 machine back in '92... I remember thinking the OS was cool but ended up back with Win 3.11 after a brief trial.
The best sense of humor? Torvalds, of course.
Posted by: Carl Feagans | July 29, 2008 12:28 AM
That's easy as he's the only one in that list not completely void of humor.
As for most untrue? I'd say it's a tie between #3 and #5.
Posted by: Hank | July 29, 2008 3:45 AM
I would call #1 as the most true. When he came back to Apple, that's precisely what he did with the iMac and then with iTunes and the iPod. Remember how reluctant Apple were, at first, to have iTunes and the iPop running on Windows? They were milking the iMac for all it was worth.
Most untrue? #4. Easy. Just as Microsoft was openly supporting IBM in the development of OS/2, it was actively developing Windows. It would be very naive to think that Gates wasn't developing Windows 2.x to eventually directly compete against OS/2.
Most humorous? Torvalds, hands down :)
Posted by: Armchair Dissident | July 29, 2008 8:42 AM
Which of the above statements turned out to be the MOST correct or true?
In 2003 regarding iTunes:
2) It will go down in history as a turning point for the music industry. This is landmark stuff. I can't overestimate it!
Which of the above statements turned out to be the MOST untrue, or just plain, teh dumbest evah?
3) We will never make a 32-bit operating system.
At the time, saying what was said in 4) wasn't dumb at all.
Which of the three individuals indicated above has the best sense of humor?
Linus...
Posted by: Brent | July 29, 2008 8:52 AM
Most untrue: tie between 2) and 4).
Most true: 1)
Best snese of humor: That Linux guy, I guess. Gates is too pompous, and Jobs is too pretentious.
Posted by: sinned34 | July 29, 2008 4:26 PM
Yep, Most true: 2, Least true: 4, Funiest: Linus.
Actually, from another perspective, Bill Gates is the funniest - as far as pontification goes. Those statements are hysterical.
Posted by: Jeff Knapp | July 29, 2008 8:32 PM