Isaacson has a great sense of history not just talking about a life story in the context of Steve Jobs but a rivalry comparable to:
Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr in twentieth-century physics...
or Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton in early American governance.
These two, Gates and Jobs are necessary rivals. Gates was good at algorithms. Jobs was good at user rhythms.
"Steve generally treated Bill as someone who was slightly inferior, especially in matters of taste and style,” said Andy Hertzfeld. “Bill looked down on Steve because he couldn’t actually program.”
- We are very slow to move without competition. Somebody had to be the first to take that TV out of Xerox's house. Today we see rivalry between cell phone companies. It leads to legal battles and fights just to say, "I thought of that first." It's not the ideal way to develop product but without this competition the would be no struggle to do a little bit better or in Job's case close to perfection.
I salute our differences.
@mineopoply
^^ I love this!
Yes, Isaacson always does that and I love his writing style for it - his life experiences and vast knowledge allow him to share really broad and apt connections between people's lives. This description was no different! Differences and competition are really the foundations of any form of innovation - things need to change in order to innovate!