Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy might be gone but he's not forgotten how to pack a lot of punch into a few words. At a new-product rollout for a company he's advising, McNealy offered the crowd some classic comments on Apple and Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, mistakes Sun made, Microsoft, and how he thinks he'll be remembered.

Bob Evans, Contributor

April 16, 2010

1 Min Read

Sun Microsystems founder Scott McNealy might be gone but he's not forgotten how to pack a lot of punch into a few words. At a new-product rollout for a company he's advising, McNealy offered the crowd some classic comments on Apple and Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, mistakes Sun made, Microsoft, and how he thinks he'll be remembered.In a compelling little article by Fortune's Michael Copeland, McNealy sounds off on those and other subjects with his characteristic candor, insight, and humor. Here are three quick excerpts:

Apple and Steve Jobs: "Apple is beyond proprietary, and the consumer has no idea that they are checking into the roach motel. Jobs has been brilliant, and he also understands the power of the secret better than anyone I have every seen."

Larry Ellison: "Larry is a smart guy, he actually signed the merger agreement when the Dow hit bottom. It was a brilliant move. . . . He's a great capitalist, but not all into that sharing thing and all the rest of it. You have to give the guy credit; he has found a way to extract every dollar he can from customers from every product he offers."

One more startup: " . . . I hope we can pull it off under those condition because I would be thrilled to lead another group of smart engineers, without all the crap that goes into running a company today. I just don't want Congress telling me how much I should be paid or firing me. I want to pretend I am back in the 1980s again."

For Fortune's full collection of classic McNealyisms, click here.

About the Author(s)

Bob Evans

Contributor

Bob Evans is senior VP, communications, for Oracle Corp. He is a former InformationWeek editor.

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