Steve Jobs SLAMS Competitors In Lengthy Rant (VIDEO)

Apple CEO Steve Jobs joined Apple's earnings call Monday afternoon--he noted he "couldn't help dropping by for our first $20 billion quarter"--and had harsh words for his rivals.

Google was one of Jobs' primary targets. He ripped into the firm's Android operating system, expressing doubts at the "open" platform Google has touted as an alternative to Apple's "closed" OS. Jobs made an attempt to reframe the discussion around "integrated" (Apple) vs "fragmented" (Google), rather than "closed" vs "open."

"We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed," Jobs said. "And we are confident that it will triumph over Google's fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open."

According to the transcript from Seeking Alpha, Jobs offerred these thoughts on Google:

Google loves to characterize Android as open, and iOS and iPhone as closed. We find this a bit disingenuous and clouding the real difference between our two approaches. The first thing most of us think about when we hear the work open is Windows which is available on a variety of devices. Unlike Windows, however, where most pc's have the same user interface and run the same app, Android is very fragmented. Many Android OEMs, including the two largest, HTC and Motorola install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users will have to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone, where every handset works the same.

He continued:

Even if Google were right, and the real issue is closed versus open, it is worthwhile to remember that open systems don't always win. [...] In reality, we think the open versus closed argument is just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue, which is, what's best for the customer, fragmented versus integrated. We think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day. And as you know, Apple's strives for the integrated model so that the user isn't forced to be the systems integrator.

RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry, didn't escape Jobs' tirade:

We've now passed RIM, and I don't seem them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company. I think it's going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third software platform after iOS and Android. With 300,000 apps on Apple's App Store, RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.

Jobs also expressed doubt that the tablets that are coming to market will be able to rival the iPad:

[W]e think the current crop of seven-inch tablets are going to be DOA, Dead on Arrival. Their manufacturers will learn the painful lesson that their tablets are too small and increase the size next year, thereby abandoning both customers and developers who jumped on the seven-inch bandwagon with an orphan product. Sounds like lots of fun ahead.

Read the full transcript from the earnings call here. Listen to Jobs' "anti-Google rant" below.

Do you agree or disagree with his perspective? Why? Weigh in below.

h/t Business Insider

Comments

[Frank Mondana]

03:27 PM on 10/25/2010

I am so tired of the stupid sniping by both sides.
Of course Apple products will "just work". No matter what spin is applied, it is a closed platform. This is not a bad thing. It means that quality and reliability will be better than an open system.
On the open side however is where you get competition and that means not having to pay through the nose for hardware or software.
There is plenty of room for both. Stop the idiotic "war" and be happy that there is a choice.

[Tremonius]

09:02 AM on 10/22/2010

Remember the aggregate approach worked for IBM in the early days of the PC, and that surge of the balkanized DOS machines is how there came to be a Microsoft, proving the advantage of marketing over quality. Think Walmart over the local precision machine shop, or McDonald's and Chez Panisse. There will always be a bigger market for the cheap and easy, but also the patience of the purist for style and substance. Send in the clones.

[Curt F]

06:45 PM on 10/21/2010

Sounds like someone is grumpy that Androids are outselling his high priced piece of junkware. Biggest mistake I ever made was getting an iTouch and an iPhone! My HTC EVO 4G rocks compared to the iPhone!

[david c taylor]

04:01 PM on 10/21/2010

Someone get this guy a muzzle.

[LittleMittens]

10:58 PM on 10/20/2010

Jobs is spot on. You would need a closed integrated system to keep all the products to work in symmetry. I have the pad, the phone, a pod, and coordinate them all through iTunes, I couldn't imagine what a train wreck of bubblegum and chicken wire open source coding would become to all those devices. Not to mention the security issues. I appreciate open source where applicable, but not in commercial devices

[darthmaul]

06:34 PM on 10/21/2010

How do modern airplanes fly? I mean they are full of computers, and not all of them are built by Boeing or Airbus. Jobs want's people to buy Apple products with Apple software so that he can charge a premium because of the closed nature of the software.

I use PC's all the time, and for anything but a modern day Luddite, they are easy to operate and maintain and cost 50% less.

[axt113]

07:06 PM on 10/20/2010

Jobs is losing it, get the padded cell ready

[Cryostatic]

09:05 AM on 10/20/2010

Jobs can call Android fragmented all he wants, but I've never met an app I couldn't run.

[advocatusdiaboli]

11:04 AM on 10/20/2010

And he doesn't care--you aren't his market. BMW doesn't sell to everyone nor even most--they don't have to and are more profitable for it. Same here. We Apple shareholders don't care if you don't like it, obviously plenty do and it makes us quite pleased.

[Ratnok]

01:33 PM on 10/20/2010

And no one cares that you are an Apple shareholder. The audacity of the iCult is astounding.

[KarmaTiger]

05:37 PM on 10/20/2010

BMW also doesn't make bargain basement hatchbacks, as Apple is starting to do with the iPad taking away profit margin... something you as a sharheolder would know since Apple shares are taking a beating despite current sales.

Nor does BMW make high end cars using the same parts as GM, whereas Apple uses the same transistors and in many cases chips as their non-apple competitors. The tired old "Apple stuff is premium and PC stuff is just for those who can't afford it" has been disproved several times over - except to those who belong to the iCult, with iPod headphones serving as fingers in their ears.

Apple makes some good products. So do their competitors. Get over it.

[AppleJuiceJunkie316]

07:22 AM on 10/20/2010

Sounds like Jobs is a little miffed his iPhone 4 has been surpassed by the Android and is now $h !tting bricks that many of his other babies like iPad will have some stiff competition in the next few months. Oh well, tell it to your shareholders that you're still on top even as the Google tablet crushes the iPad.

[smokeypenguin]

05:52 AM on 10/20/2010

Wow, Steve Jobs is bragging about the number of apps they have....how many of those are fart generators?

[Vectorbabe]

09:32 PM on 10/19/2010

Jobs is losing it.

[Unimatrix42]

08:58 PM on 10/19/2010

Rather than calling Apple users "fanboys" or calling Steve Jobs "unhinged" (laughable, btw) - I would love to see someone refute any of what he said on the earnings call. Come one, put up an argument at least. Explain why Android is superior, or why Steve is wrong about 7" tablets, and please explain exactly how Steven P. Jobs is controlling anyone's life. Please?

[axt113]

07:08 PM on 10/20/2010

The phones are better, the UI is better and there are more choices

[aguy somewhere]

08:15 PM on 10/19/2010

Actually, this is why there is no Flash: http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughts-on-flash/ -- and this is how 'unhinged' Steve is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hd_ptbiPoXM .

[Ratnok]

09:11 PM on 10/19/2010

Did Steve pay you for that PR? If not, that's sad.

[Cryostatic]

09:08 AM on 10/20/2010

Funny, even with all those reasons, my Nexus still runs flash just fine.

[tenderlung]

09:56 PM on 10/20/2010

The fact that flash runs ok doesn't necessarily mean it runs well, or that people should keep using it just because they always have, when there are perfectly good alternatives. Honestly flash is kind of a pain in the ass even on my computer, it takes forever to load and doesn't really do much to enhance my user experience. Whenever I load a page with loads of flash material (except for like, youtube) I'm like, UGHHHHHHHHH.

[EdwardMRoche]

07:48 PM on 10/19/2010

It is hard to disagree with success.

[Ratnok]

09:12 PM on 10/19/2010

You're right. So why is Steve arguing with Google about Android?

[advocatusdiaboli]

10:55 AM on 10/20/2010

He's not arguing with Google--he's talking to the market--you and me. If you cannot figure that simple concept out, I am sure the strategy here escapes you too.

[axt113]

07:09 PM on 10/20/2010

That explains why all the arguments against Android suck

[kgb999]

07:15 PM on 10/19/2010

MHO, Jobs needs to lower his profile and hire a few professional PR folks to do most of the spokesman stuff. And he *really* needs to stop having public email flame wars with customers and journalists. He's starting to come across as more than a little unhinged ... which isn't good for Apple because he is so closely tied to the branding.

Part of it is obviously the hysterical media frenzy his every move always generates. But ultimately he's driving it, and it's his responsibility to balance where he falls into the scheme of Apple's public image.

[Unimatrix42]

08:55 PM on 10/19/2010

LMAO! Yeah, okay. Unhinged all the way to the bank!

[Cryostatic]

09:10 AM on 10/20/2010

I'm not a fan of Jobs or his company, but I don't see how him speaking his mind without first consulting "PR folks" makes him "unhinged".

I kind of wish more people would speak without consulting PR. Politicians, for example.

[oldmanjoyce]

07:12 PM on 10/19/2010

He is really good at redefining words and moving the conversation to favor him and his company, regardless of whether he is spewing bullshit or not.