What a joke, he's older than Steve.
Maybe he's getting senile?

1st of all, I love the first commenter, and how correct he is.
And 2nd, it's kind of sad how the entire industry is just sitting there waiting for Steve to get old so there won't be so much innovation in the market! I mean JEEZ, WHO LIKES INNOVATION? I really hope that when Steve does leave Apple, that they will still continue to rise as a company with brilliant ideas and innovative ways. It didn't go so well in the 80's.

Ivan's just pissed because Verizon was dumb enough to turn down Apple's offer to have the iPhone on their network. What a wanker. He is right about one thing though...Jobs and Apple don't have a monopoly on innovation. They're just the only ones innovating! Ivan must be keeping all those innovative products Verizon is working on locked up tightly so he can spring them on an unsuspecting world and trump the iPhone.

Poor Ivan!

Two quotes come to mind ... "I coulda been a contender!" or "If it weren't for those damn customers this would be a great business!" It is sad to see an executive at an American technology company whine. I am sure Ivan dreams of the good old days when all telephones were black with a rotery dial (for the young folks, please see www.rotarydialphones.com/500newbig.bak for an image of the good old day).

The good news is that Ivan will grow old too and be put out to pasture and then maybe VerizonWireless will move forward. Until then I moved my family of four phones over to ATT to join my iPhone account. BTW Ivan, ATT gave me a better deal on the non-iPhone accounts too! Hard to blame anyone but yourself for that problem!

"fighting talk?" come on. saying "steve jobs will eventually get old" probably won't even be NOTICED outside our little fanboy community.

...oh, and by the way? he's RIGHT. in the past, apple has proven beyond a syllable of doubt that a jobs-less company is...uh...less inspiring. the jury on apple's long-term future is out until apple PROVES it can survive, thrive and innovate without him. it hasn't yet.

I don't get it. Apple is a handset maker, Verizon is a carrier. Apple's competition here are RIM and Nokia. Verizon's competition is AT&T. I think it's fair to have RIM and Nokia have a go at Steve and Apple as they're all competing in the same market but Verizon and Apple aren't doing the same thing at all. If anything, he should be having a war of words with At&T.
I reckon that he's just paranoid that the iPhone 3G is going to take over. Ivan said "You're declaring them a winner before they've earned it on the field." So let's just wait and see what happens after July 11th then, eh?
Besides, EVERYBODY WILL GET OLD! So what's he trying to prove by saying that?

Imagine if Phil Michelson said that about Tiger Woods.......

"There goes the conspiracy again," he says of Apple. "You're declaring them a winner before they've earned it on the field."

Seriously? Seriously? Wow. What I'm surprised about is the fact that Softbank has CDMA, and they're getting iPhones in a couple of weeks.

Verizon, not so much.

Seriously? Be a lil more humble. It may get you an iPhone in a half decade.

"Hill-a-ry...for Pres-o-dent!"

Finally Verizon reveals their long-term business strategy! Wait until Jobs gets old! The stockholders are going to be pleased.

I think he's just bitter because the cellular carriers are fast becoming what the ISPs have been for years, just another dumb pipe to get on the internet. With the iPhone's excellent user experience for the unfettered mobile web, who wants to use crappy provider provided services that cost more money. I'm looking at you V-Cast....

iPhone let the cat out of the bag, and Andriod will follow up.... Verizon hates/fears this shift. They turned down the iPhone and thus far have turned down Andriod. If you have Verizon in the coming years enjoy your locked down "mobile web"....

All these other folks are trying to put lipstick on a pig. Apple created a whole new animal with the iphone. Apple owns the software and the hardware. They will be able to do many things that quite frankly other phones might copy but because of Apples integration and design Apple will always do it better. The iphone is brilliant. If you don't want to lust after an iphone my advice to everyone is never to try one. Once you try it you will realize that there is no other phone quite like them or a phone that can match them without violating many copyrights.
iPhone is a whole new computing platform. You are going to see these things in the hands of school children because the learning device ability is huge too.
Apple will own this market.

Crazy Ivan fails to understand that he ages at the same rate as Steve.
Hey Ivan! You're getting old too! Cant you hear me now?!

douche bag, idk if he knows this little word called jealousy because he definily is , and last time i checked hes going to be aging too, dont we all?
loser.

Like one of the first comments already said- No, Apple doesn't have a monopoly on innovation Mr. Seidenberg; they only seem to.

If the best you can do as a corporation or CEO of a corporation is wait around for your more-creative peers to age and/or die, then I have no interest in you or your products. Next!

The man will surely regret this, he probably is already bitting his tongue hard.

Maybe this joke will have him eventually fired.

This makes Verizon look like a sore loser. And no company can afford to look like a loser.

Verizon is Vodafone and they have refused the iPhone only to regret it intensely afterwords. Vodafone is now trying to patch things up with that multiple country deal, they have certainly changed their position.

Vodafone's CEO is out the door, maybe this guy is next.

Anyway, it is unbelievably dumb for a telecom CEO to make such a remark. And the main reason is that

JOBS IS INDEED RESCUING THE MOBILE TELECOM INDUSTRY

The Telecom business is dead in a few years time, technology like VOIP, Wi-Fi/WiMax etc. will just place the stone in their tomb. Mark my words, they will be made redundant. And it serves them well because they are such pirates & idiots.

There is no other industry that is as hated as the telecom one. There is no other industry that is as loved as the computer one - well, at least in what Apple is concerned.

Steve Jobs is bringing Apple's love to this hated industry and trying to make it have another shot at a smiling future.

They aren't getting it though. Maybe they have no love to give...

He's Jealous. Only other reason for it is if Steve asked for a slice of the pie while negotiating a contract with them for the Iphone and Mr. Ivan didn't like the terms.
I agree with all about the age thing, that's hilarious!

It is obvious that his comment is loaded with fear.

His fear is evident - the iPhone and handheld computer industry is being now born and it will outgrow and rule over their destiny.

It is already doing that and the iPhone is just in its infancy.

When there will be a billion iPhones and a billion other handheld computers of all types, then that industry will dictate what kind of telecom infrastructure they will run on.

In 5 years time there will surely be serious contenders for these ugly telecoms.

Maybe zillionaire companies like MSFT, GOOG or AAPL will get together to put such an infrastructure in place - maybe the daughter of WiMax?!

I would prefer a satellite based one... that would be more clever in view of the times that are coming our way...

Ivan's comments unveil a CEO filled with fear, self-resentment, and self-doubt. Instead of engaging in constructive examination of his company, as well as their products and offerings, he fires off verbal assaults at a CEO who first gave Mr. Seidenberg the opportunity to reap the benefits of the iPhone revolution, but was rejected. Since Ivan is so vocal about innovation, he must have something to offer his customers that is new and exciting. Unfortunately, I just looked at their website and guess what...they don't.

Ivan is of course immortal.

some people do & say strange sh*t. I wonder if he thinks he`s found the Fountain of Youth or something. How long before Verizon shows this jack a** the door ? Maybe Steve & the Disney folks will buy Verizon and toss this egocentric idiot. Hubris knows no bounds.

What seems to commonly get overlooked is that innovation isn't always JUST about a technology or feature or form-factor... At times, innovation is about the experience of making all of those things work together better for a more intuitive interaction with the device/technology.

Touch-screens aren't new... icons aren't new... cell-phones aren't new... email isn't new... surfing the web isn't new... BUT...

The folks at Apple decided to make a device that is easier to use and it's the culmination of ALL THE LITTLE THINGS that make the difference.

I see lots of "me-too" touch screen phones now... no multitouch... no improved interface... no simplification of tasks... no seamless integration. There's more to it than a touch screen and slick industrial design. MUCH more.

Let's forget about all the subjective stuff like, coolness, great design, and innovation. Lets just look at facts.

Apple is closely related to a world level Statesman, Nobel Prize winner, and Vice President of the United States (Al Gore). Verizon is most closely related to a once indicted and defrocked US Congressman from Texas (Tom DeLay).

Over the past 5 years Verizon stock is down abut 10%. Apple stock is up about......... sorry my calculator just broke.

What is most stunning is that Ivan Seidenberg still has a job. But then again, so does Steve Balmer.

"Steve Jobs eventually will get old."

Ivan Seidenberg, on the other hand, has been old for a long time now.