Apple boss Steve Jobs has brought the ruckus in the wake of his iPad unveiling, calling Flash developers Adobe “lazy” and reportedly saying that Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” mantra is “bullsh*t.”
Last week, Apple unveiled its long-rumored tablet computer, the iPad, the reactions to which were… slightly mixed. Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata gave the device a “meh,” calling it “a bigger iPod Touch,” and Adobe blasted the device over not including support for the widely-used Flash format.
Apple frontman Steve Jobs wasn’t about to take the criticism lying down, though. In his traditional post-unveiling town-hall style Q&A at Apple’s 1 Infinite Loop HQ, Jobs took on Google, Adobe, and more, an Apple employee (speaking on condition of anonymity) told Wired. Jobs pulled no punches, calling Adobe “lazy,” and saying that Apple would not support Flash because it was so buggy – that most crashes of Apple products could be blamed on bugs in Flash. Jobs also indicated that the popular format would have its days numbered, saying that the world was moving towards HTML 5.
Jobs reportedly saved his big rant of the night for omni-tech-corp Google, whose recent unveiling of the Nexus One “superphone” was perceived by everybody with some modicum of common sense and reasoning as a way to throw the glove down and challenge the dominance of Apple’s iPhone. Apple hadn’t entered the search business, said Jobs, but Google had entered the phone business. “Make no mistake, they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”
As for Google’s famous “Don’t Be Evil” corporate motto? “It’s bullsh*t,” Jobs allegedly said – though another member of the audience claims that his language was actually slightly less harsh, and that the Apple chieftain’s actual words were, “‘Don’t be evil’ is a load of crap.”
Whatever his exact words, it’s clear that Jobs aims to cut off the Google behemoth before it can get its foot in his very profitable door. Of course, as Wired’s John Abell points out, Jobs’ support of the HTML 5 format may make it easier for Google – a longtime proponent of Web-based “Cloud” development – to worm its way into Apple’s otherwise largely-closed system. Last week, a newly-unveiled HTML 5-based Google Voice did just that, allowing the program to function on the native iPhone Safari browser even as Apple left the Google Voice app in limbo.
Jobs also reportedly said that the Apple would deliver constant updates to the iPhone that Google and the Android wouldn’t be able to keep up with, that the next iPhone revision (oh, like you didn’t know it was coming) would be “an A+ update,” and that his company was going to wait to implement Sony’s Blu-Ray software. Why? Because in its current form, Blu-Ray software is “a mess.”
That’s strong language from Steve Jobs – but will he be able to back it up? Google is one of the few companies able to stand toe-to-toe with the Apple steamroller, but Apple’s stranglehold grip on the smartphone market is not to be trifled with.
