Schmidt Speaks: Android Existed before the iPhone, Motorola Won’t Receive Preferential Treatment
Speaking today in South Korea, Google executive Eric Schmidt didn’t face many easy questions. Schmidt fielded two particularly interesting questions, one relating to the recent acquisition of Motorola by Google and another concerning statement’s made by Steve Jobs to his biographer Walter Isaacson. First on the issue of Motorola, Schmidt said,
“We will run it sufficiently and independently, that it will not violate the openness of Android…we’re not going to change in any material way the way we operate.”
This once again reiterates the sentiment that Motorola won’t receive preferential treatment and Google will not be diving headfirst into the hardware manufacturing game. While many still question whether the decision was a wise move, most tend to believe the buyout was a knee-jerk reaction to an onslaught of high-caliber lawsuits. Motorola’s patent portfolio was as much a motivator as anything.
Moving on, Schmidt was queried about this quote from the Steve Jobs:
“I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”
Schmidt avoided a direct answer, choosing not to rebut Jobs’ statement out of respect for the recently passed tech innovator. The most he could provide was a fact, one that is hard to dispute.
“Steve is a fantastic human being and someone who I miss very dearly. As a general comment, I think most people would agree that Google is a great innovator and I would also point out that the Android effort started before the iPhone effort.”
Android was founded in 2003 and bought by Google in 2005, two years before the introduction of the first iPhone in 2007. Android and iOS have grown up a lot in that timespan, but neither is completely innocent when it comes to poaching features from the competition. It’s a far cry from the early version of Android pictures above.
My own personal response to the Jobs quote? Apple should save their money. Competition is a good thing, no need to blow every penny out of spite.
[via MobileCrunch]