In a terse exchange with the New York Times, Melinda Gates, wife of billionaire tech playboy William Gates, says she’s all but banned Apple products from the Garden of Eden—er, her household.
It’s a show of solidarity with her husband, the former head of Microsoft, who famously banned all Apple products from his company’s campus when he presided there in his spartan Microsoft Office-equipped office back in 2005.
Business Insider has graciously excerpted the Apple-related answers from the interview, all of which are short enough to feel right at home in a Twitter feed:
Do you own an iPod, which is made by Apple?
No, I have a Zune.
What if one of your children says, “Mom, I have to have an iPod?”
I have gotten that argument – “You may have a Zune.”
Do you have an iPad?
Of course not.
Is it true that Bill works on an Apple laptop?
False. Nothing crosses the threshold of our doorstep.
Isn’t there room in this world for both Apple and Microsoft?
Microsoft certainly makes products for the Macintosh. Go talk to Bill.
Saucy!
Of course, Microsoft does indeed make products for the Mac, most notably Office, which Apple execs openly gushed over at the big Lion OS keynote last week.
The full (brief) interview is worth a read, as it is actually a profile of the very generous Melinda Gates who, as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, oversees the largest private foundation in the world. Just don’t expect that generosity to include free Apple products. [New York Times via Business Insider, Image: NYT]
Josh
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 12:10 PMWould we really expect anything less?
I could imagine something better…
Do you own an iPod, which is made by Apple?
“Of course not. But every Sunday we prank the Apple complaints department. It’s quite the family bonding experience. Because, you know, we all hate Apple”
glennc
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 4:39 PMapple is the new MS, Jobs is the new Gates, just worse
red t-rex
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 5:43 PMDoes Steve Jobs allow any Microsoft products in his house?
Seriously, this applies to any major figurehead in any industry. They have to walk the talk for public relations.
Steve
Monday, October 25, 2010 at 7:27 PMIt’s obviously very tongue-in-cheek. I doubt they really enforce this sort of policy or will disown their kids if they buy Apple.
As much as I’ve been called a ‘fandroid’, I love all. I’m running 2x Windows 7 PCs, and packing both an iPhone 4 and HTC Legend with Android. I personally, have problems with Apple’s closed garden philosophy but I can also acknowledge the intense level of polish and quality of its phone.
It’s like the whole Political Left vs Right argument. No sane human being is ever one thing. You might be conservative on some points, but liberal on others.