The AP has somehow “purchased” an early copy of Walter Isaacson’s official biography of Steve Jobs, which is due to hit store shelves on Monday. According to this initial report, Jobs called Android “grand theft” and threatened to start a “thermonuclear war” with Google.
Here’s an excerpt:
Isaacson wrote that Jobs was livid in January 2010 when HTC introduced an Android phone that boasted many of the popular features of the iPhone. Apple sued, and Jobs told Isaacson in an expletive-laced rant that Google’s actions amounted to “grand theft.”
“I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong,” Jobs said. “I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this.”
Jobs used an expletive to describe Android and Google Docs, Google’s Internet-based word processing program. In a subsequent meeting with Schmidt at a Palo Alto, Calif., cafe, Jobs told Schmidt that he wasn’t interested in settling the lawsuit, the book says.
“I don’t want your money. If you offer me $5 billion, I won’t want it. I’ve got plenty of money. I want you to stop using our ideas in Android, that’s all I want.” The meeting, Isaacson wrote, resolved nothing.
In addition:
— Jobs called Google’s Android operating system “grand theft” of the iPhone and vowed to “right this wrong” until his dying breath. To underline his contempt, he likened Google products outside of search to manure (not his word).
— Jobs offered this advice to Google co-founder and current CEO Larry Page: “Figure out what Google wants to be when it grows up. It’s now all over the map.” Google produced so many “adequate” products, Job said, “they’re turning you into Microsoft.”
