Ellison recalled that his own answer was almost a whine: “Well, I may not need the money, but why should some fund manager at Fidelity get the money? Why should someone else get it? Why shouldn’t it be us?

　　 埃利森还记得自己当时嘀咕着回答，“可能我是不需要这些钱，可是为什么要让富达（Fidelity）的那些基金经理赚到这些钱呢？为什么要让别人赚？为什么不应该是我们？”

　　“I think if I went back to Apple, and I didn’t own any of Apple, and you didn’t own any of Apple, I’d have the moral high ground,” Jobs replied.

　　 “我想如果我回到苹果，而我不持有苹果的股份，你也不持有苹果的股份，我就会占据道德高地。”乔布斯回答说。

　　“Steve, that’s really expensive real estate, this moral high ground,” said Ellison. “Look, Steve, you’re my best friend, and Apple is your company. I’ll do whatever you want.” Although Jobs later said that he was not plotting to take over Apple at the time, Ellison thought it was inevitable. “Anyone who spent more than a half hour with Amelio would realize that he couldn’t do anything but self-destruct,” he later said.　

　　 “史蒂夫，这块道德高地可真是块昂贵的地产。”埃利森说，“你瞧，史蒂夫，你是我最好的朋友，而苹果是你的公司。我会听你的。”虽然乔布斯后来说他当时没有计划夺回苹果，但是埃利森觉得那是不可避免的。“任何人只要跟阿梅里奥聊上半个小时就会认识到，他除了自我毁灭干不了别的。”他后来说。

The big bakeoff between NeXT and Be was held at the Garden Court Hotel in Palo Alto on December 10, in front of Amelio, Hancock, and six other Apple executives. NeXT went first, with Avie Tevanian demonstrating the software while Jobs displayed his hypnotizing salesmanship. They showed how the software could play four video clips on the screen at once, create multimedia, and link to the Internet. “Steve’s sales pitch on the NeXT operating system was dazzling,” according to Amelio. “He praised the virtues and strengths as though he were describing a performance of Olivier as Macbeth.”

NeXT和Be的终极对决于12月10日在帕洛奥图的花园庭院酒店（GardenCourtHotel）举行，评委包括阿梅里奥、汉考克和另外6位苹果髙管。NeXT先上，由阿维·泰瓦尼安展示软件，而乔布斯尽情发挥他那催眠术般的销售技巧。他们展示了这套软件如何在屏幕上同时播放4段录像，如何制作多媒体文件，如何连接互联网。“史蒂夫推销起NeXT操作系统来让人眼花缭乱，”阿梅里奥说，“他赞美着那些功能和强项，就好像他在描述奥利弗·斯通饰演麦克白是如何出色。”

　　Gassée came in afterward, but he acted as if he had the deal in his hand. He provided no new presentation. He simply said that the Apple team knew the capabilities of the Be OS and asked if they had any further questions. It was a short session. While Gassée was presenting, Jobs and Tevanian walked the streets of Palo Alto. After a while they bumped into one of the Apple executives who had been at the meetings. “You’re going to win this,” he told them.

　　 之后加西上场，他的表现就像是胜券在握一样。他没有作新的演示，只是说苹果团队知道BeOS的性能，问是不是还有其他问题。整个过程很短。在加西作推介时，乔布斯和泰瓦尼安在帕洛奧图的街上散步。过了一会儿，他们碰上了之前在评选现场的一位苹果高管。“你们会臝的。”他告诉他们。