CE-Oh no he didn't! Part LIV: Jobs calls Robbie Bach a drunk

Proving once again that the truth is stranger (and more entertaining) than fiction, Steve Jobs himself delivers one of the finest Oh no he didn't moments ever. Apparently riding high on the thrill of introducing the MacBook Air, a hit of oxygen from his personal stash, and the espresso colonic he'd received earlier in the day, old Jobsy went "off" on Microsoft's Robbie Bach when questioned about the executive's statement that the Zune was a "worthy alternative" to the iPod. "Was he inebriated?" Jobs asked CNBC reporter Jim Goldman, and then went on to inquire, "Do you even know anyone who owns a Zune?" Uh, let's be honest -- that is way harsh. Robbie, we feel your burn... and eagerly await a response.

[Via MacDailyNews]

[Rich @ Feb 6th 2008 1:44PM]

1. If I were Jobs, I'd be a dick too. It's just fun sometimes.

2. The Zune is a repulsive piece of work.

3. I live in a college town, and know NOT ONE person who owns a Zune. I am in two social organizations in a school of over 40,000, so I've met quite a few people and have never seen someone with a Zune.

[ChrisMizzleInfo @ Feb 18th 2008 3:18PM]

I have a Zune 8, and before that i had owned two other ipods, the most recent being the 30g video. I love the beautiful screen, and the fact alone that for only 250 you get wiki radio podcasts 22hr battery life (yes it is debatable) and the ability to stream your music and video to any 360? so i should pay literally twice as much for a 32gig Ipod touch? I don't buy it. The zune has been good to me and i really dont see a need for anything else personally.

[ChrisMizzleInfo @ Feb 18th 2008 3:22PM]

Sorry, i meant to say i own a zune 80gig, and wifi, not wiki. typos, blegh ^.^
And yes english is my first language i swear :D

[Unregistered @ Feb 23rd 2008 5:31AM]

I don't know ANYONE with a Zune. Anyway, given the choice, I'd rather get a CREATIVE player than a Zune.

[kcmedic @ Mar 6th 2008 2:27PM]

OK. The title is a little misleading. Calling someone a drunk implies they are drunk a lot. Saying "was he inebriated" when a silly statement (in his opinion) is made is not the same at all. Like saying "are you on crack" is not the same as calling someone a crackhead.

[Ruben @ Jan 17th 2008 8:40PM]

What an asshole.

[Nate @ Jan 17th 2008 8:56PM]

Steve has always been an asshole, just read any biography of him.

[rndmnme @ Jan 17th 2008 8:58PM]

It's Steve Jobs. Do you imagine the leader of Apple to be anything else?




YOU STOLE FROM USSSSSSSSSS.


Lol.

[ez17 @ Jan 17th 2008 9:30PM]

he may be an asshole but I have nothing but respect for him, with a brain like that he can be an asshole all he likes.

[Student Driver @ Jan 17th 2008 9:49PM]

I hate Apple (and I have a lot of experience with them), and I hate Steve Jobs. However, he's right. I don't know anybody that owns a Zune, or would choose one over an iPod.

Insignia Pilot 4-evAh!

[Chebwa @ Jan 17th 2008 9:51PM]

"with a brain like that he can be an asshole all he likes"

Check it out. A Mac kid. Cool.

There are people out there with brains that aren't dicks, you know.

[[e-mail] @ Jan 17th 2008 9:56PM]

the guy is dead on, i owned the original zune and it sucked balls, waste of money.

the zune really is a joke, the original zune was based on windows CE for Christ's sake, it needed a 500mhz processor to run it and it was still slow
oh and battery life? yeah, 3 hours music only.. without turning the screen on.

Good on you Steve, when your product is better you're allowed to bash the opposition.

i know a few people that own zunes... but do i know anyone cool that owns a zune? No.

[Nubaeus @ Jan 17th 2008 10:17PM]

@ your_boring


Everything you've listed about the Zune is wrong. I'm sure you'll have supporters on Engadget because everything about this site is Mac >= Life.

[Seth Porter @ Jan 17th 2008 10:27PM]

Yeah i have a few friends who have zunes, and they like them. It's not a bad mp3 player, but their grievances did include the battery life. For me, it's the iphone all the way :) Yeah, maybe steve was a little harsh in this instance but you can't deny the humor in it. The zune did flop. twice. Even if it isn't a terrible mp3, it still warrants a few wisecracks.

[Jack Storm @ Jan 17th 2008 10:27PM]

The same way he doesn't know anyone who owns a windows pc.

[e_grz(Zune 80 originals owner) @ Jan 17th 2008 10:29PM]

Too bad i own a zune. And I'm not the only person with one.

Zune 80. 250 dollars. It's great. Original art on the back. Shipped from china to new jersey in 3 days.

[Mike @ Jan 18th 2008 12:03AM]

@ez17
Really? People being assholes doesn't matter at all? As long as they accomplish something?

[GameboyRMH @ Jan 17th 2008 11:01PM]

@ez17

If he's such a genius why didn't he attack something about the Zune itself, and not about how popular it is? Says a lot about what sells iPods. I'm no fan of either product, for the record.

[sfasfsdf @ Jan 17th 2008 11:03PM]

I thought it was quite funny.

I've noticed recently that people are bashing steve for taking the piss out of its competition, so what? ffs.

The BSOD in Leopard was a classic.

[maveric101 @ Jan 18th 2008 12:36AM]

why does he feel the need to bash Microsoft? This is one of the reasons I don't like Apple. That and because Mac fanboys think Jobs shits gold bricks.

I don't own one, but Ipods don't seem to be much better than Zunes. I think the main reason people buy them is because they've become almost a standard. Personally, I just bought an Archos 605 Wifi, and I love it.

[ByronGman @ Jan 18th 2008 3:30AM]

@ ez17,

Why would you respect someone who is an ass?

Somehow it never seems that Bill Gates needs to be a jerk, even if people hate him for being wealthy and successful. I'd rather respect someone who never seemed to lose his geeky inner self after striking it big than an arrogant fathead who is begging for a downfall.

[ssuk @ Jan 18th 2008 4:54AM]

Does thine eyes deceiveth me? A Jobs article with a comment saying how much of a cock he is being highly ranked? On Engadget? What is this strange world I've entered...

[DAZA @ Jan 18th 2008 6:19AM]

I live in Australia, and including myself I know 4 people (real, fleshy people) with Zune's. What's special about that? We go to some lengths to import them, paying a premium on the Zune's (except me, I got a refurbished Brown Zune 30). I know two people with imported Zune 80s! If there are these many people in my circle of friends in my local city with Zune's, all the way in Australia, SURELY you guys must know someone with a Zune in America?

And yeah, screw Jobs. My Zune 30 is the best DAP I've ever owned (and I've owned a Zen Touch, the iPod photo, iPod 5G and an iPod 5.5G).

[Jason @ Jan 18th 2008 9:34AM]

That may be a butthead thing to say, but come on, do you know a lot of people that own Zunes? Nobody I know personally has one. I've only ever seen 1 actually in use in the wild. I talked to the guy to ask him how he liked it. He hated it. Like burning, scornful hellfire hatred. He got suckered by a Windroid at Best Buy that told him it was better than the iPod because of the wifi. Kids, the wifi only helps if there are other people around that use it, "squirting" songs at you. And who thinks using words like "squirt" to describe sending a song is a good thing? Yikes.

[Greg @ Jan 18th 2008 10:02AM]

Nah, the Zune is shit. Looks like it too.
All hail Steve! [/fanboy]

But seriously, who wouldn't toot their own horn? I've had customers return Zunes, get iPods, and thank me for helping them. The Zune was supposed to hurt Apple, it was an attack. It didn't work, and Steve seems to be rubbing salt in his rival's wounds.
Who wouldn't like to see MS in pain?

[Scott @ Jan 18th 2008 11:00AM]

Definitely a feau pax on Job's part. You can't make statements like that without sounding like an asshole.

On the other hand, Steve Ballmer says the same kind of things, so this isn't really a valid excuse for hating on Apple more than Microsoft. The CEOs are both equal assholes, IMO. In fact, I'd be willing to guess that most CEO's of Fortune 500 companies are assholes. Maybe I should put "certified asshole" on my resume.

[Derbeste @ Jan 18th 2008 12:21PM]

That survey a couple of pages ago that found Mac users really do feel they are better than everyone else said they had 7,500 samples.

I'm starting to wonder if they just interviewed Steve Jobs 7,500 times.

[monstroy @ Jan 18th 2008 1:32PM]

@Scott

It's faux pas, get your french right.

[PynkFloydd @ Jan 18th 2008 4:55PM]

Who's this "Steve Jobs" I keep hearing so much about?

[Brian f @ Jan 19th 2008 4:20AM]

Jobs isn't a genius. He ran that company into the ground during the 90's. The only remotely intelligent thing he did was green light Jonathan Ive's ideas. He created a few little products such as the iMac and iPod. He also pulled Job's ass out of the fire. I've talked to people who's businesses and factories in China have been screwed because Jobs would fly in and change a design without consulting engineers, then when the factory starts investing production the Apple board would totally renege on whatever Jobs said because he doesn't actually have full control of the company. Apple would be a helluva lot better off without Jobs. Oh, and Al Gore sits on the board and he's an f'ing twat.

[whatishalo? @ Jan 17th 2008 8:43PM]

Well do you?

Does anyone?

[whatishalo? @ Jan 17th 2008 8:46PM]

Not that I am badmouthing the zine but I don't know anyone (but wish I did so I could try one out)

[whatishalo? @ Jan 17th 2008 8:46PM]

Not that I am badmouthing the zine but I don't know anyone (but wish I did so I could try one out)

[Ruben @ Jan 17th 2008 8:47PM]

I dont know anyone who reads, so i guess hes right.

For the record, i know of a few people in Canada who own a Zune, and we are not suposed to even have it. 80 gig models to boot.

I dont know of anyone who owns an iPod Touch, however.

[Jeff @ Jan 17th 2008 8:48PM]

Well I know a guy who has a Zune tattoo .. oh wait, that dude got 2 zune tats ....

[abadtooth @ Jan 17th 2008 8:49PM]

Zunes and ipoos Both suck, The zune is a brick and the ipod is a shinny rock.

I prefer to pay for a device rather than a name.

[Andrew Campbell @ Jan 17th 2008 8:52PM]

I'll admit that I know not one person with a Zune, and I doubt that'll be changing anytime soon.

[Mike @ Jan 17th 2008 8:57PM]

I have a Zune 30 that I got for $90. I freaking love it especially with the new firmware.

[smi1ey @ Jan 17th 2008 9:01PM]

exactly! i don't know anyone that i've even heard TALKING about buying a zune lol. maybe people think it's harsh, but it's pretty damn true for the most part.

[Camperton @ Jan 17th 2008 9:15PM]

Nobody I know owns a zune... even the ones with PC's have ipods. I'm not sure if anyone I have talked to even knows the zune exists. I'm gonna start asking just to see.

[Ellianth @ Jan 17th 2008 9:29PM]

"I don't know anyone who owns a Zune"

I've seen people on the bus with Zunes many times. It's easy to recognize them because they have the Zune headphones. My brother also owns one of the originals, and I thought it was really nice. The screen was really beautiful.

I have neither an ipod or a zune, but do have a Sansa. I've used both ipods and zunes before and i thought the zune was a lot better.

Why is anyone surprised that Steve Jobs thinks he's better than the rest of the world? I'm surprised there aren't more quotes like this.

[axemte @ Jan 17th 2008 9:48PM]

I have one (Z2-80GB, Xmas) and know 2 moe people who have one.

[John @ Jan 17th 2008 9:56PM]

one of the guys next door in my dorm has one.

[vikingbastich @ Jan 17th 2008 9:57PM]

I had a zune for 2 days. Now I'm no mac fanboy, in fact far from it. I wanted to give it a fair try and I did... for 2 days before I just couldn't take it anymore. I ebayed an old video ipod and have been shaking in a corner, naked and crying ever since.

The Zune as a device is great, the software (thanks MS!) is the one thing holding it back and making it in my eyes completely unusable.

[michael @ Jan 17th 2008 10:31PM]

Well I own a Zune.

And I know at least 4 other people who do. Surprisingly, I met two of them today. Not by WiFi or anything, but I just saw them out.

I also know at least several people who are interested in a Zune. From what I could gather, they had enough issues with the iPod and are looking at joining a new platform.

I'm also going to get several of Zunes for my friend. People complain about how there aren't Zunes around to share, so I decided to be bold and get a few for my friends on their upcoming b-days.

I really love the many features that the Zunes don't have, among other things, so I'm kind of helping a few friends jump over the platform.

So there.

[ark_v2 @ Jan 17th 2008 10:44PM]

I know people who own Zunes, but WHAT THE FUCK should anyone care. Come on, is it so important to have what everything has even when there's a better alternative?! (yeah, I'm saying the Zune is better than the iPod)

His mind and the mind of the people who get apple products as a superiority/fashion statement have a brain as narrow as his unoriginal and boring turtlenecks.

[computer.dude.28 @ Jan 17th 2008 11:04PM]

I live in a SMALL town in CANADA and I know 3 people here who have Zunes. They aren't even for sale here!! Everyone that sees my 80 wants one.

[Jeremiah Zachary Hoffman @ Jan 17th 2008 11:15PM]

i own one, and i know at least 4 other people with the original zune, i love mine and everyone that has one that i know loves theirs, they use them all the time. (my gf and i have black, but crazily enough i'd prefer brown...oh well)

[Tony @ Jan 18th 2008 12:33AM]

You'd think Mac owners of all people would understand, that just because a product isn't popular doesn't mean its not a worthy alternative.

[andregriffin @ Jan 18th 2008 12:41AM]

About a dozen of my closest friends have zunes, and half of which bought them after they saw how awesome mine was.