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Google's mobile operating system Android is a bad idea, Apple CEO Steve Jobs told the New York Times after yesterday's keynote at Macworld. "Having created a phone, it's a lot harder than it looks," he said. Larry Page, Sergey Brin, and Eric Schmidt should be happy with the apps they've created for the iPhone. "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."

But Jobs is always rough on the competition. In the same interview with the Times, he ripped MacBook Air competitors for needing too many rubber footpads glued to their bottoms. Still, with prognostications like these, Jobs might want to be wary of not sounding like another CEO Steve.

Back before the iPhone launched Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had this to say about the new device's prospects:

There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get.


Of course the truth is that Jobs is on much better footing doubting Android. Unlike the iPhone, it really is a bad idea. So why didn't Jobs shoot Schmidt a warning SMS last summer? We know the Google CEO and Apple board member is on his iPhone's short list. (Photo by AP/Paul Sakuma)