Apple must have not enjoyed getting a taste of their own medicine when Verizon and Motorola began taking shots at them through their Droid commercials. The Motorola Droid ads (which can be seen here) called out all the supposed shortcomings of the iPhone, while the Verizon ads (which can be seen here) called out the weakness of AT&T's service coverage. They must have forgotten that when it comes to tech beef, Apple is like 50 Cent, always down for a battle. So, in true Apple fashion, they responded with their own commercial. But this is only the latest shot Apple's fired at a competitor, read on to learn about five other companies Apple has beefed with in the past...
APPLE vs. INTEL
YEAR: 1997-2005
• Those new to the Apple-verse may not know that their beloved MacBook Pro used to be called a PowerBook. Why? Because before Apple hopped on the Intel bandwagon, they co-developed their PowerPC processors with IBM and, before them, Motorola. They so strongly believed in their hardware that they levied a bunch of attacks via commercials at Intel claiming that their latest chips had nothing on the ones coming out of Cupertino. That all changed in 2005 when, to the dismay of many diehard Mac fans, Apple transitioned all their computers to Intel processors Ain't it funny how the tables turn?
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APPLE vs. GOOGLE
YEAR: 2008
• It seems when it comes to Steve Jobs everything is cool until you start reaching for his lunch. In an interview with the New York Times after his 2008 MacWorld keynote speech, Steve Jobs basically shitted on Google's plans to release an operating system for mobile phones (that would directly compete with the iPhone) by saying: "I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It's just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners." Is that why Google's CEO Eric Schimdt (pictured above with Steve Jobs) resigned from his post on Apple's Board of Directors a year later? Hmm...
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APPLE vs. AMAZON
YEAR: 2008
• In the same NYT interview, when asked about the then upcoming Amazon Kindle e-reader, Steve Jobs scoffed at the idea, saying: It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore. Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore." So much for "thinking different."
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APPLE vs. NINTENDO
YEAR: 2009-Present
• We should have seen this one coming. Although people refer to Nintendo as the "Apple of the video game world", that didn't stop Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller from going at the Japanese video game company. At the company's "Rock & Roll" event this past September for their iPod line, Phil said that while the DS (and the PSP) "seemed so cool", in reality they "don't stack up" to the touch or iPhone. When asked about the jab, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata responded to the Wall Street Journal that the attempt to creative a rivalry between the two companies made him "uncomfortable." Complex translation: He don't want no drama.
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