Before the launch of Android and the T-Mobile G1, Steve Jobs had quite a close relationship with Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin. Rare pictures of Jobs, Page, and then-Google CEO Eric Schmidt at the Googleplex have surfaced today.
Jason Shellen this morning tweeted two pictures of the interaction. He worked on Blogger at Google in the early 2000s before serving as the “founding product manager” for Google Reader. The photos were covertly taken on a Palm Treo 680.
These pictures date back to August 2007 and show Steve Jobs, in his iconic black turtleneck, with Larry Page at one of the Google cafes. The then-Apple CEO is shown — with bowl in hand — assembling what appears to be a lunch salad, with Page doing the same next to him.
The second picture shows the two of them, along with Schmidt, sitting down and having a conversation. Jobs is conversing with his hands, while Google’s CEO at the time is thoughtfully listening. Page’s back is unfortunately to the camera.
My last week of work at Google, I strolled into the cafe to find Steve Jobs having lunch with Larry Page and Eric Schmidt. https://t.co/lkUlU9kWLd pic.twitter.com/jrcDeIP943
— Jason Shellen (@shellen) May 14, 2020
When Google’s first investors in early 2000s asked Page and Brin to bring on a more experienced CEO, the co-founders initially only had Jobs in mind. Of course, that was implausible and they eventually selected Schmidt. Page and Brin early on looked up to Jobs and took his counsel.
In terms of timing, this photo is after the first-generation iPhone went on sale in June 2007. In January of that year, Schmidt was on stage at the unveiling of Apple’s first smartphone to talk about Google Maps and YouTube. The relationship notoriously soured after the launch of Android and the T-Mobile G1 over a year later.
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