[codergeeks] Quotes on Microsoft and Google

[Gregory Foster]

"We have to watch these guys.  It looks like they are building something 
to compete with us."
-- Bill Gates re: Google in memo to high-level Microsoft executives in 
December 2003.
Google went online in the spring of 1998.  Their NASDAQ IPO was on 
August 19, 2004.  July 2005 marked the first round of open combat with 
the defection of Microsoft China exec Dr. Kai-Fu Lee to Google in 
probable violation of his non-compete agreement.
cited in _The Google Story_ by David A. Vise, p. 254.


"Fucking [Google CEO] Eric Schmidt is a fucking pussy.  I'm going to 
fucking bury that guy, I have done it before [when Schmidt was at Sun 
and Novell], and I will do it again.  I'm going to fucking kill Google."
-- Steve Ballmer re: the departure of Microsoft engineer Mark Lucovsky 
for Google in November 2004.
cited in "Declaration of Marc Lucovsky" submitted during the Microsoft 
vs. Google case re: Dr. Kai-Fu Lee.  Google has been accepting talent 
from Microsoft for quite some time, particularly after setting up an 
engineering center in Kirkland, WA.  Engineers no longer have to move 
from Seattle to join Google.
http://battellemedia.com/archives/001835.php


"Kai-Fu, Steve (Ballmer) is definitely going to sue you and Google over 
this. He has been looking for something like this, someone at a VP level 
to go to Google. We need to do this to stop Google."
-- Bill Gates in conversation with Kai-Fu Lee on July 15, 2005.  Mr. Lee 
was hired by Google not only as an executive level coup, but also 
because Mr. Lee helped arrange and setup Microsoft's research and 
development group in China.  He was given the opportunity to build 
Google's research lab in China from the ground up.
http://microsoftlawsuit.info/


"There will be a lot of back and forth between the [Chinese] government 
and Google for years. As they cross each fork in the road, they will 
make the decisions that they make. The tricky thing is, information is 
only going to become more accessible. For China to endeavor to stop that 
trend is pretty hard. Will there be times that they do? Sure. But I 
think that you're fighting a tough battle.

One of the things that we think Google is working on is real-time 
language translation on the fly. That implies the ability to search for 
things in /The New York Times/ or any newspaper and have it 
automatically translated into Chinese. It's the fight of efficiency vs. 
constraint -- and efficiency usually wins. But in China, it will 
undoubtedly take more time than in other markets because of government 
concerns."
-- Mary Meeker in the Business Week article "Mary Meeker on China's 
Online Future" published 09.23.2005
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/sep2005/tc20050923_7354_tc121.htm


"Like any good dinner guest, [China] President Hu [Jintao] will not come 
empty handed. The Chinese government issued a decree two weeks ago that 
all PCs will need to have a licensed operating system software installed 
before leaving the factory gates in an effort to crack down on piracy."
-- Reuters article "China president at Gates house, not White House" 
published 04.15.2006
http://news.com.com/China+president+at+Gates+house,+not+White+House/2100-1001_3-6061616.html


"youth + freedom + transparency + new model + the general public's 
benefit + belief in trust = The Miracle of Google"
-- Dr. Kai-Fu Lee explaining to his network of former students why he 
elected to move to Google.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=1697
original document: http://www.kaifulee.com/Articles/googleandchina.htm

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