Larry Page just wants Apple and Google to get along

Google CEO Larry Page

Google CEO Larry Page Seth Wenig/AP

The Google CEO insists he wants to see more cooperation between the two companies.

When asked about his competition — and Apple specifically — Google CEO Larry Page now insists he wants to see more cooperation, less animosity, and happier users. That's a shocking admission considering the overt resentment between big tech companies these days, especially Google and Apple. Steve Jobsfamously maligned Android, calling it a stolen product that he vowed to "destroy." To that, Page offered the following in a rare interview with Fortune's Miguel Heft: "I think it would be nice if everybody would get along better and the users didn't suffer as a result of other people's activities." Of course, Page might be taking it a bit easier after the whole Google Maps debacle. (Later in the interview, he talks up the seven or so years of hard work Google engineers put in to perfect its navigation software.) In this particular debacle, Apple compromised on its own user experience because it didn't want to work directly with a rival product in Google Maps. Perhaps if the relationship were reversed, Page wouldn't sound so conciliatory.

Read more at The Atlantic Wire