Despite their rivalry, Steve Jobs defined his bond with Bill Gates using this Beatles lyric, and it might just melt your heart
In the pantheon of modern tech giants, few rivalries have captivated the world like that of
Bill Gates
and
Steve Jobs
. As titans of
Microsoft
and
Apple
, they reshaped the world—often in fierce competition with one another. But beneath the decades of dueling products and trading barbs lay a deeply human story, punctuated by a moment of raw, heartfelt truth that has resurfaced—and is melting hearts all over again.
From Sworn Rivals to Soft-Spoken Admirers
In the early days of
personal computing
, Gates and Jobs were not just competitors—they were at times adversaries in every sense of the word. They accused each other of stealing ideas. They made public digs. Their relationship symbolized the intense battle for tech supremacy in the 1980s and '90s. But everything began to shift in 1997 when Microsoft bailed out the then-struggling Apple with a $150 million investment. That moment laid the groundwork for a subtle transformation in their dynamic—from cold warfare to quiet admiration.
A Stage, a Song, and a Sentence That Said It All
That transformation reached its most poignant moment on stage at the 2007
AllThingsD conference
, where the two visionaries shared space, laughter, and respect. Gates even admitted, 'I'd give a lot to have Steve's taste.' But it was Jobs who delivered the line that no one has been able to forget—a single sentence that redefined their relationship in the eyes of the world.
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'I think of most things in life as either a Bob Dylan or a Beatles song,' Jobs began, 'but there's that one line in that one Beatles song,
'you and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead'
... and that's clearly true here.'
Taken from the Beatles' song
Two of Us
—a tune many believe chronicles the evolving bond between Lennon and McCartney—Jobs' quote laid bare a relationship shaped as much by mutual history as by rivalry. It was as if he was saying: even if our paths have been turbulent, they've been shared—and that matters more than what lies ahead.
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More Than a Moment—A Goodbye in Disguise?
For many, the line hits harder with hindsight. Unknown to most at the time of the interview, Jobs had recently learned his
pancreatic cancer
had returned. Only his wife, a few doctors, and a handful of close confidantes reportedly knew. The interview, held in May 2007, came just four years before Jobs passed away at age 56. In retrospect, the quote feels less like nostalgia and more like a quiet farewell.
What began as the greatest rivalry in tech ended in something more nuanced: mutual recognition, layered respect, and yes, love—in the complicated, real-world sense. In the end, it wasn't just computers they built. It was history, together.
And like the
Beatles lyric
that captured their bond, theirs was a story 'longer than the road that stretches out ahead.'
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