Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer, yesterday proposed that
Microsoft should give $1 billion in cash to help schools, instead
of the current proposal which would involve a gift of software and
hardware to a value of approximately the same figure.
Jobs said the Microsoft proposal would give Bill Gates’ company
a competitive edge to provide these schools with future products
and services by creating a dependency on Microsoft technology.
Apple still controls a major section of the educational market and
fears that this would be lost to its rival if the Microsoft
proposal is accepted.
Steve Jobs said:
"The centrepiece of Microsoft's proposed $1
billion civil antitrust settlement is their donation of Microsoft
software, which they value at $830 million, to our schools. We
think people should know that the actual costs to Microsoft for
this donated software will likely be under $1 million. We think a
far better settlement is for Microsoft to give their proposed $1
billion to an independent foundation, which
will provide our most needy schools with the computer technology of
their choice."
Meanwhile, the nine US states seeking further action against
Microsoft in the main antitrust case will today propose new
behavioural restraints on the company. The details of the proposal
are not yet known, but they are thought to include a demand for
public access to significant parts of the Windows source code,
which would benefit rivals such as Apple and Sun.
