But the 2007 desert phone call between Jobs and Schmidt marked the beginning of the end. It was, we're told, an incredible moment, as much for Schmidt's professed surprise as for the look on his face as Jobs berated him.
It seemed odd to people around the Google CEO that he had failed to anticipate Jobs' anger. Speculation about a "G-Phone" began not long after Google bought mobile software maker Android Inc. in 2005, even before Schmidt appeared on stage at Macworld in January 2007 to help Jobs unveil the iPhone. By the time the iPhone shipped in summer 2007, the chatter about a Google smartphone was getting loud.
On August 2 of that year, a front-page Wall Street Journal story said Google had invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing prototype mobile phones, wooing carriers and investing in other mobile systems. Close, but not confirmation of a G-Phone. On August 28, right as Burning Man was getting underway, word of a Google phone leaked from HTC, the eventual manufacturer, as did details of Google's mobile operating system. Meanwhile, telltale Google patents betrayed the company's phone plans to those who knew where to look.
Jobs knew what was going on, of course. And he felt betrayed.
Schmidt's mobile phone rang on the highway between Reno and Burning Man's movable city in Black Rock Desert. It was Jobs, angry. The call then dropped; bad signal, middle of nowhere. The disconnect couldn't be blamed on a flaky iPhone connection: Schmidt had long ago given up on the Apple handset because he couldn't stand the on-screen keyboard. His wife had tested a prototype, but didn't care to keep it. Schmidt, we're told, ended up giving his iPhone to Bohner as a gift.
Schmidt located a convenience store and used a pay phone to call Jobs back. The Apple CEO "shouted" at Schmidt and "railed" at him, furious about his smartphone plans and duplicity, said our source. After all, Schmidt sat on Apple's board and was supposed to be a partner on the iPhone, providing internet services like maps.
Schmidt, enduring the abuse, visibly lost his composure; his face went "weird," said our source.
"Steve was very, very upset," Schmidt is said to have later told his companion Bohner. "My God, he was so angry."
http://gawker.com/5497193/exclusive...-lost-his-mistress-his-partner-and-steve-jobs
droid Stan's have no shame.
how long did it take
