Does CEO Coffee Summit Equal Détente For Apple, Google?

Gizmodo shows amazing pictures of Steve Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt having coffee in a public place in Palo Alto, CA. Here is one of the shots from the encounter, which reportedly ended or moved when a crowd started gathering: While Apple and Google were close partners and even collaborators for several years Google’s […]

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Gizmodo shows amazing pictures of Steve Jobs and Google CEO Eric Schmidt having coffee in a public place in Palo Alto, CA. Here is one of the shots from the encounter, which reportedly ended or moved when a crowd started gathering:

Picture 222

While Apple and Google were close partners and even collaborators for several years Google’s Android OS and most recently the Nexus One have strained relations between the companies and their CEOs to point where Jobs reportedly said:

We did not enter the search business . . . They entered the phone business. Make no mistake they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them . . .

Schmidt took an apparent swipe at the iPad during the World Economic Forum earlier this year, in Switzerland, as a seeming indication of the falling out: “You might want to tell me the difference between a large phone and a tablet.”

This meeting may signal that both men (and both sides) are interested in some sort of “healing” or rapprochement. Notice the combination of black socks and running shoes on Jobs.

How would you caption the image above?


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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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