Last week Google chairman Eric Schmidt sat down with Wall Street Journal for an interview on all things Mountain View. When asked if Apple and Google have any plans to settle the patent disputes going on between Apple and Android manufacturers, Schmidt responded with a coy we-are-always-talking-about-it but was also quipped:

It’s extremely curious that Apple has chosen to sue Google’s partners and not Google itself.

In other parts of the interview Schmidt poked fun at Apple’s decision to ditch Google Maps and remove Youtube as a default iOS app.

All in all, however, Schmidt stopped short of calling Apple out and asking for a one-on-one duel. Instead, Schmidt claimed the “teenage model of competition ‘I have a gun, you have a gun, who shoots first?'” is only applicable in the press — the stuff media likes to throw around. According to Schmidt, the “adult way” to run a company “is like a country” — recognizing two countries may have disputes but both can gain a lot through trade — and Google and Apple understand that.

Schmidt also let his thoughts be known that he feels Google, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook are the four companies that matter the most in consumer tech arena. As for Microsoft, Schmidt doesn’t even consider them worthy of a clever insult:

I [Schmidt] think that Microsoft has not emerged as a trendsetter in this new model [mobile] yet.

Touche?

[via Engadget, WSJ]