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Microsoft exec talks about leaving Apple in 1981

updated 02:55 pm EST, Mon November 22, 2004

Leaving Apple for MS


Microsoft's Jeff Raikes offered some for Microsoft in 1981 at an event held by Seattle University's Albers School of Business: "It was fascinating to see what Microsoft was at that point in time. At Apple, the whole world revolved around Apple. That was it. But when I walked down the halls at Microsoft, I saw different computers. Computers from Japan, from Radio Shack, from Wang, from Digital Equipment Corp. Literally dozens and dozens of manufacturers. I really didn't know much about those manufacturers, but the thing that occurred to me when I was interviewing at Microsoft was that I wasn't sure who was going to win in the hardware business, but it sure looked like Microsoft was doing the software for all of them. And so, although Steve Jobs yelled at me for a while and told me what a risky bet it would be to move to Seattle, and how Microsoft was going to go out of business -- that is no joke, that is an exact quote from Mr. Jobs -- I decided to take the plunge."


by MacNN Staff

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  1. Lyra

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Jul 2000

    0
    11/22, 04:33pm | report spam | Reply |

    uh...

    Uh.... yeah, and?

    So what?

    I mean, I can remember the endless halls of weak PCs mounted on top of each other like garbage... It is not like I need to express my feelings about that...

    Strange that Macnn, sees this as news, and that this person even thinks he is making a good point on why he left Apple.

    At this point I am pretty sure that over at SONY they ONLY have Sony stuff and everything revolves around Sony. As it should be...

    See, Microsoft only copied stuff and tried out their OS on other machines, it is really a no brainer that they had all kinds of PCs there. After all, they tried to make it work on all, but they never really pulled that off...

    Oh what ever...

  1. Mac-a-Bayan

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2004

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    11/22, 07:25pm | report spam | Reply |

    Apple's biggest mistake.

    It shows that the computer industry is not an Apple world only but rather a community of IT companies. A community where if you decided to put yourself above the rest, then the whole community will build walls around you. And surely your company will die a lonely death.
    Please don't get me wrong. I love Apple. In fact I use to work in one of their sole distributor in my country. And up to now I am happy with my G3 blue and white. But I believe only by learning from our mistakes from the past can we ensure our future. (This is not something to be ashamed. Who amongst us never commited a mistake?)This is Apple biggest roadblock to date. The reason 90 % of the consumers continue to remain wintel users is because Apple back then was complecent and did not care about the rest of the 90% of the consumers. They concentrated only within their market which eventually grew weary when economy became tough. Sure Apple was leading then in its technology with its GUI. But the heads, made a terrible mistake by opting for immediate profit. From that article it shows how Microsoft really had the upper hand. They are a software company and they can easily infiltrate and get promoted for free by any brand of hardware. M$ easily made allies with other companies leaving Apple all alone.
    In the end we do hope Apple learned from this bitter lesson. Especially now, after a long time it has found its second wind-- iPod and iTunes for PC.

  1. automorrow

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2000

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    11/22, 07:54pm | report spam | Reply |

    Keep Walking Jeff...

    ... Benedict Arnold ...

  1. MacScientist

    Junior Member

    Joined: Feb 2000

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    11/22, 09:46pm | report spam | Reply |

    Apple's biggest mistake

    In Response to Mac-a-Bayan:

    This was 1981, three years before the Macintosh, maybe even before the IBM PC. Up to that point Microsoft had important alliances with several companies, including Apple. However, it was the 1981 "alliance" with IBM which was the genesis of the Microsoft that we know today.

    Before posting comments like this in the future, perhaps you would do well to read the paper. Apple is experiencing dramatic growth--in the iPod, the iTMS, and the xServe. Its stock heading to $100/share about quadruple its price a couple of years ago. It is towing the technology sector forward. Yes, poor Apple is all alone--out front and pulling away.

  1. bigpoppa206

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2003

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    11/23, 03:24am | report spam | Reply |

    well....

    I still kick myself for not buying up Apple stock when it was at it's all time low in the 90's and everybody thought the company was done for...I KNEW something was going to happen to turn it around.

  1. Mac-a-Bayan

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2004

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    11/23, 04:22am | report spam | Reply |

    To MacScientist

    I am aware Macscientsist that Apple did made some business dealings with IBM and Microsoft.
    But MacScientist if you read carefully to what I've posted I was NOT reffering to 1981. I did even not even blame Apple for its business alliance niether, but rather for its heads being "complacent" which is in reference to Steve Jobs comment on M$ from the said article("Microsoft was going to go out of business"). The only time I did mentioned the word "alliance" was when I described how M$ was able to contribute the rest of PCs which gave them (PCs) an equal footing with Apple-- Windoze. A move which gave the other brands of PC a reason to convince consumers to ignore Apple. The year was 1985- to 1995. We can go through Apple's history and as well as Microsoft, but one thing is for certain. There are a lot of technologies Apple introduced but because 90% of the consumers embraces the alternative softeware majority of them have became irrelevant-- like quickdraw, Newton, openstep.
    Apple may have tried its best to promote its technology but they failed to see that majority back then could not appreciate them since they were all available only in Apple. Apple failed to see that with Windoze, M$ was able to make walls around its consumers and forcing Apple out of the standard industry. It was not a question of evangelizing consumer which product is a better but how does your product links with the rest of the industry. And that was the past.

    MacScientsist you said that before posting I should read the paper. I think MacScientist you should need to learn how to read more comprehensively before making such posts. If you read the last sentence I am aware and happy that Apple is gaining grounds. (That's what I meant by " Especially now, ... it (here I meant Apple) found its second wind-- iPod and iTunes for PC."

    And you call yourself a MacScientist?
    Oh I get. A MAD Scientist!!! ;-)

  1. Mac-a-Bayan

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 2004

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    11/23, 04:33am | report spam | Reply |

    I know what your thinking

    ... MacScientsit!
    I should learn to check my grammar first before posting. Yesh how embarrasing.

    Oh well were all human.
    Its getting late here so I don't have much time to double check it. Anyway see your posts tomorrow then.
    ;-)

  1. John Dwight

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jul 1999

    0
    11/23, 06:28am | report spam | Reply |

    Back pat tendered

    From a financial point of view, give the guy a pat on the back for making a long shot bet pay off, from an ethical point of view I'm unimpressed.

    On the one hand working for a flaming a**** to make beautiful computers or working for several flaming aholes to produce the current mess from M$.

  1. noradninjav2

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Nov 2004

    0
    11/23, 06:38am | report spam | Reply |

    'Defunct' Apple tech

    Mac-a-Bayan, you have a point about Apple's proprietary API's (at least their old ones), however:

    OpenStep was not made by Apple. It was released by NeXT, a scientific computer company started by Jobs after he was ousted from Apple. It was derived from NeXTStep, the OS from that platform, being an open-sourced version which ran on a multitude of platforms (x86, 68k, Sun). OpenStep survived to version 4 before Jobs convinced Apple to buy the company. He came along with it. If you use Mac OS X, you are really using NeXT/OpenSTep, version 5.

  1. Oase

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Sep 2001

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    11/23, 10:21am | report spam | Reply |

    Point of view...

    Like most trips the first step has a lot to do with the destination. Apple and other companies I have worked for tried isolation as their approach to market penetration. From that tower in Babylon to now isolation has had limited success compared to working well with others.

    I think there were two points to article; isolation and prospective of the same events. Apple saw one solution and Microsoft another. Back when the G3 first evolved Apple had competition and the third fastest G3. Apple hardware could not survive direct competition and Jobs save them from that path.

    As Mac-a-Bayan pointed out Apple has wonderful software and hardware that is often a tree falling alone in the woods.

    As Apple learns to play well with others it will increase its market share because like Microsoft others will promote for them.

    The fruit is getting ripe, Microsoft is having trouble playing well on the internet and in companies and countries around the world. Balmer is not a plays well with other leader. Apple plays well on the internet and needs another hardware source to play well in the offices of the worlds. Who would buy large quanities of a single source product for a critical application?

    That's my story and I am sticking to it.

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