In a rare emotional interview, Bill Gates talked about a wide variety of topics, including a meeting with rival and sometimes friend, Steve Jobs, during the Apple co-founder's last days.
The Microsoft Chairman also found time to applaud Jobs and his sense of design in an
interview with Charlie Rose on CBS's 60 Minutes.
When asked by the show host what he wished he could've had that Jobs had, Gates accepted that it was Steve's sense of design.
"His sense of design, that everything had to fit a certain aesthetic. The fact that he, with as little engineering background as he had, it shows that design can lead you in a good direction. And so phenomenal products came out of it."
Gates also touched upon a meeting he had with Steve Jobs during the latter's last days, saying the two talked about what they had learnt in their life, and about their families. He said that Jobs was not melancholic, despite knowing his fate, and that he talked about other things, including what more could be done through the use of technology and even showed him his new boat.
While Bill Gates and Steve Jobs were rivals and took potshots at each other through their careers, both have worked with each other during the course of time and appreciated each other's abilities.
"He (Jobs) knew about brand - in a very positive sense. He had an intuitive sense for marketing that was amazing," Gates added.
Changing track, Gates also accepted that Apple got tablets right while Microsoft did not. This is interesting, as just a week back, during an
interview with CNBC, speaking on the declining PC market, Gates said that people using iPad-like devices were frustrated because "they can't type, create documents, and don't have Office." He recommended Microsoft's own Surface tablet over the iPad because of a bundled physical keyboard and Office suite.