Bangalore: Steve Jobs’ death inspired Bill Gates’ to focus on saving lives through charitable efforts, he told in a televised interview on abc’s Nightline recently.

The rivalry between Jobs and Gates, the two iconic technology entrepreneurs of this century, whose products have changed the way we do things in everyday life, has never been forgotten. Walter Isaacson brought it out when he was writing Steve Jobs’ biography. Working on the biography since 2005, Isaacson wrote “people can sometimes love each other and hate each other at the same time”. Gates, when asked by Isaacson about Apple’s business model, told that it “only worked if you had a Steve Jobs”. Jobs retorted saying Microsoft’s model also worked, “but only if you don’t mind putting out crappy products.”  

However, Gates, on Nightline reflected on an unannounced visit he paid his “sometime friend, longtime rival” a few weeks before his death. “It was great relaxed conversation”, Microsoft’s founder said. “We talked about our families and how lucky we’d both been in terms of the women we married.” Remembering how he and Jobs always enjoyed talking, Gates noted “He would throw some things out, you know, some stimulating things. We’d talk about the other companies that have come along.”

Macworld reported that when Gates was named the richest man in the world, Jobs said “That was never really my goal. And in the end, I’m not sure that was his goal either.” Gates today isn’t the richest man in the world, having made a pledge to give away 95 percent of his personal wealth to charity.

Since 1994, more than $26 billion has been reportedly granted by the Gates Foundation to various causes. A portion of the money is set apart for improving U.S. education, and around 75 percent goes to the poorest countries in the world. When asked if amount donated would be better spent at home, “Well, the question is, are human lives of equal value?” replied Gates.

About Jobs’ death, Gates said “Well, it’s very strange to have somebody who’s so vibrant and made such a huge difference and been … kind of a constant presence, to have him die. It makes you feel like, ‘Wow, we’re getting old.’ “It reminds you that you gotta pick important stuff, because you only have a limited time,” he said.” I hope I still have quite a bit of time for the focus I have now, which is the philanthropic work”.