Mark Papermaster to Begin Work at Apple on April 24th

[MacRumors]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/27/mark-papermaster-to-begin-work-at-apple-on-april-24th/)

Apple has announced (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/27papermaster.html) that Mark Papermaster will begin work at Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24th, 2009.

Apple® today announced that Mark Papermaster will be coming to Apple as senior vice president of Devices Hardware Engineering, reporting to Apple CEO Steve Jobs, on April 24. Papermaster, who comes to Apple from IBM, will lead Apple’s iPod® and iPhone™ hardware engineering teams.

Papermaster was recruited to Apple (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/30/apple-recruits-ibm-chip-designer-ibm-files-lawsuit/) from IBM in October 2008, but IBM filed a lawsuit to block the hiring, claiming that Papermaster had violated his employment contract with IBM by leaving to work for a competitor. A U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/08/judge-orders-apples-new-hire-to-stop-work/) in early November that has prevented Papermaster from beginning work at Apple until the lawsuit was resolved.

In today's press release, Apple reports that the litigation between Papermaster and IBM has been resolved, clearing the way for Papermaster to assume his position at Apple. Papermaster replaces former iPod Division chief Tony Fadell (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/04/tony-fadell-father-of-ipod-leaves-apple/), who stepped down in early November 2008, although he remains an advisor to Apple.

Article Link: Mark Papermaster to Begin Work at Apple on April 24th (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/27/mark-papermaster-to-begin-work-at-apple-on-april-24th/)

[scubasteve03]

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it IBM!

[Kilamite]

Cool.

First thing he does - multi-core iPhone and release it in a 32GB model?

[IJ Reilly]

With a name like Papermaster, he must be some sort of superhero, so it's great to have him on board.

[plumbingandtech]

Basically Apple agreed to pay for IBM's Exec's car detailing for 4 months.

Other then that, GREAT NEWS!!!

[Small White Car]

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it IBM!

"Litigation has been resolved" means IBM got a nice new airplane or yacht. I don't think they'll be crying over this.

[iOrlando]

this a big deal...papermaster is now on the ranks of schiller and ivy. will he join the speaker circuit as well?

[Mr Maui]

Stick that in your pipe and smoke it IBM!

They say it has been resolved ... but at what cost?

[iOrlando]

this just came across my screen:

IBM SAYS PAPERMASTER TO CERTIFY IN JULY, HE COMPLIED WITH LEGAL OBLIGATIONS NOT TO USE OR DISCLOSE IBM'S CONFIDENTIAL, PROPRIETARY INFORMATION


to which steve will show him:

[BornAgainMac]

I don't even think of IBM has a technology leading company anymore. I wonder if Microsoft will join the ranks of IBM in the 20's.

[BRLawyer]

I don't even think of IBM has a technology leading company anymore. I wonder if Microsoft will join the ranks of IBM in the 20's.

MS IS DEAD. So I don't think they will join any ranks anytime soon, apart from perhaps a posthumous sponsoring of a Grateful Dead concert...:rolleyes:

[amac4me]

Apple, the PA Semi acquisition, and Papermaster will soon show us even greater products for the evolving Apple ecosystem.

[happydude]

isn't paper kinda an old medium for apple to get into. they should have hired john softwaremaster. or john netbookmaster. or john iphonewithmmsandcopypastemaster. or udatedmacminimaster. or . . .

[Sun Baked]

Looks like the case is dismissed on October 29, 2009 if Mark Papermaster doesn't break the non-disclosure he is re signing a couple times.

But the whack on his nose those couple times will allow him to begin work in April.

[mattwolfmatt]

Don't get me wrong, I love apple and this sounds good for them. But what's the point of those agreements you sign saying you won't work for the competition? Do they not matter if you "really really want to"?

[Sun Baked]

Don't get me wrong, I love apple and this sounds good for them. But what's the point of those agreements you sign saying you won't work for the competition? Do they not matter if you "really really want to"?

Pretty much vanquished as soon as he moves to California (the courts tend to toss them there), which is where the last page (page 5) he is required to sign from this decision comes in.

When the judge says, sign this and go to work ... do you?

[Eddyisgreat]

Don't get me wrong, I love apple and this sounds good for them. But what's the point of those agreements you sign saying you won't work for the competition? Do they not matter if you "really really want to"?

No they are supposed to have a meaning. Its sort of like a couple saying "we won't use protection I.E. a condom UNLESS both parties can be faithful to one another and not stray (lol, best example I could come up with). Papermaster had access to some very privileged information, some of which he gleaned with his own hands but while one IBM's tab. There is no point in investing in an employee if he takes the goods elsewhere.

[=MuLti-CeLL=]

I'm gonna do a little research on the guy later when I get home but the way you all are talking about him, this must be a bad BAD MAN!

Ya know...

...escpecially if he's gonna give me my quadcore, 5mp, 32gb, double RAM iPhone 3G just a short two months after he's been working there!

:D

[SummerBoy]

Who said MS is dead ?

They are richest largest company in the world.

If you ask someone do you know ms apple

everyone would recognize ms but apple? Nope

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh

[send2frank]

So Typical of IBM to show its FannyMae whenever possible. MP got a better job at a better company.

[BoyBach]

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh


It's not personal, it's called "business".

[TMay]

Who said MS is dead ?

They are richest largest company in the world.

If you ask someone do you know ms apple

everyone would recognize ms but apple? Nope

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh

Summerboy,

Dude, you are a bit mixed up. Apple wasn't "saved" by MS, though they did at the time sign an agreement where MS would continue development and sales of Office for Mac for a period of 5 years (still going...) and that Apple would waive its lawsuit against MS for stealing Quicktime technology. As well, MS invested $150 M into Apple to show that they were serious about the relationship, though they cashed that out, with a nice profit, many years ago.

Steve Jobs and NEXT technology and personnel saved Apple. To bad Ballmer is killing MS.

tom

[alphaod]

Sounds good.

[koobcamuk]

Isn't anyone else wondering why he's reporting to Steve Jobs if Steve's not returning until the summer? :confused:

[alexbates]

Cool.

First thing he does - multi-core iPhone and release it in a 32GB model?

Thats what he's going to do first thing. What Apple should also do is get rid of the 8GB model. They should be stepping up in storage capacity over time. I would love to have an 80GB iPod Touch.

[talkingfuture]

Lets hope he has some exciting new projects to work on.

[javierbds]

Who said MS is dead ?

They are richest largest company in the world.

If you ask someone do you know ms apple

everyone would recognize ms but apple? Nope

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh

You can also see it this way: it was in the best interest of MS to keep at least another commercial end-user OS alive (after killing the rest: DR-DOS, OS/2, ...), otherwise MS would have received the AT&T-Bell treatment.
MS is far from dead, but it is also in a position where the best they can do is to try to maintain their dominance (they are losing ground albeit very slowly) or try to control other markets (so far they have failed in this).

[Chaszmyr]

Isn't anyone else wondering why he's reporting to Steve Jobs if Steve's not returning until the summer? :confused:

Steve Jobs is still the CEO during this "leave of absence," he just isn't showing up to work on a daily basis, so to speak.

[matticus008]

Pretty much vanquished as soon as he moves to California (the courts tend to toss them there)
That's a common misconception, but it is markedly untrue. While general noncompetes have been eliminated as both a statutory and a practical matter, there are a great many signed and upheld in California for particularly sensitive positions and where the NDA is precisely tailored to protect industrial property.
which is where the last page (page 5) he is required to sign from this decision comes in.
Directly contradicting your point, yes. If the court had thrown out the NDA, there would in fact be nothing to sign, much less a declaration swearing compliance with the NDA.

There is little question in this case that Papermaster would, in the end, be held to some version, albeit likely edited by the court, of an NDA operating for up to one year (hence the October 2009 closing date). This is motivation for Apple to settle, and for IBM, getting assurance of its due confidentiality is the only reason they're litigating, so settlement works beautifully for them, as well.

[bornonbord]

I don't even think of IBM has a technology leading company anymore. I wonder if Microsoft will join the ranks of IBM in the 20's.


Hrm... gonna have to disagree with you (http://i.gizmodo.com/5131075/ibm-first-company-to-win-4000-patents-in-a-year-more-than-microsoft-and-intel-combined) there.

[powers74]

Back on track.

Hrm... gonna have to disagree with you there.

Wow. Biggest patent troll of all time. No wonder Papermaster left.

[MVApple]

What kind of things did this papermaster fellow do at IBM?

Is there going to be any overlap between what he did for IBM and what he will be doing for Apple? If there is I wonder if we'll be hearing about this sometime in the future with IBM filing a lawsuit against Apple and papermaster.

[=MuLti-CeLL=]

So, instead of creating a new "ANOTHER ONE OF THESE ZOMG!!!" threads. I'll just ask here instead.

I know a lot of members here and on other forums are "speculating" there will be a new version of iPhone in June. So much so that I'm believing this myself.

And I'm thinking beyond just a capacity bump.

With this new guy coming in a couple months before June in charge of "hardware" what are the chances of seeing a new hardware revised version this summer? Ya know, faster processor, capacity bump, more RAM? Quad-Core? Yea, prolly unlikely. PA Semi chips? Maaaybe.

I mean could Tony Fadell be the one behind a new phone for this year or is this Papermaster gonna come in and have a clean pallette to work with? Do you get what I'm saying?

[Sun Baked]

That's a common misconception, but it is markedly untrue. While general noncompetes have been eliminated as both a statutory and a practical matter, there are a great many signed and upheld in California for particularly sensitive positions and where the NDA is precisely tailored to protect industrial property.

Directly contradicting your point, yes. If the court had thrown out the NDA, there would in fact be nothing to sign, much less a declaration swearing compliance with the NDA.

There is little question in this case that Papermaster would, in the end, be held to some version, albeit likely edited by the court, of an NDA operating for up to one year (hence the October 2009 closing date). This is motivation for Apple to settle, and for IBM, getting assurance of its due confidentiality is the only reason they're litigating, so settlement works beautifully for them, as well.

They sued him for violating his noncompetition agreement ... because he was going to work for the competion and/or customer of IBM.

So they did break a big portion of the noncompetition agreement -- upholding the NDA section.

Edit: really hurts IBM since it turned a 1 year noncompete into a 6 month one, so who gets the 3 million dollars the court was holding.

[plumbingandtech]

So, instead of creating a new "ANOTHER ONE OF THESE ZOMG!!!" threads. I'll just ask here instead.

I know a lot of members here and on other forums are "speculating" there will be a new version of iPhone in June. So much so that I'm believing this myself.

And I'm thinking beyond just a capacity bump.

With this new guy coming in a couple months before June in charge of "hardware" what are the chances of seeing a new hardware revised version this summer? Ya know, faster processor, capacity bump, more RAM? Quad-Core? Yea, prolly unlikely. PA Semi chips? Maaaybe.

I mean could Tony Fadell be the one behind a new phone for this year or is this Papermaster gonna come in and have a clean pallette to work with? Do you get what I'm saying?

I would bet (but could be wrong) that the P.A. semi iphone will be the iphone after next.

It's rather slow going when one is creating hardware.*

*portions of PA semi such as better battery life could make it but it really depends on if apple wants to ship their next iphone in June or not, which means the HW needs to be done in a couple of months at best.

[Jetson]

Does signing a non-disclosure agreement mean that you are forever a slave to IBM?

Obviously if you are high enough on the totem pole to be noticed, you can't take a job with any other company in the information technology field.

That's crazy.

[matticus008]

They sued him for violating his noncompetition agreement ... because he was going to work for the competion and/or customer of IBM.
No, this is not accurate. A noncompetition agreement does not mean you can't compete with your former employer--anyone with a given skill set is going to be hired to utilize that skill set and thus will inevitably be competing with his former job. A noncompetition agreement is designed to prevent improper competition, in an efficient, effective, and manifestly fair manner.

As a result of corporations taking advantage of the arrangement and forcing noncompetes on non-sensitive employees, and gradually expanding the terms so as to make it difficult for employees to leave, they were proscribed in California and several other states, but always with exceptions. This has the effect of forcing the employer to demonstrate the need for the agreement, rather than forcing the employee to prove its unfairness, which is known as burden-shifting in the legal profession.
So they did break a big portion of the noncompetition agreement -- upholding the NDA section.
Your pronouns are incorrect. 'They', meaning IBM, sued for a violation of the noncompete. 'They', meaning the court, did not "break" a big portion of the noncompete--it's still in force, as Papermaster is still not permitted to compete improperly. When you settle something, it involves compromise on the original terms, and IBM accepting a sworn declaration in lieu of a one-year sabbatical means that everyone walks away a winner--if the value proposition of the settlement is a loss, it isn't agreed to by a rational actor.

The purpose of the noncompete is to protect industrial property, and the means by which it does that is through an NDA and prohibiting close-sector employment. If IBM can protect its interests through an alternative arrangement, it wins. Getting a court order for every sensitive former employee is not possible, which is why the general prohibition on employment is part of the separation terms. They are all simply proxies of the goal.
Edit: really hurts IBM since it turned a 1 year noncompete into a 6 month one, so who gets the 3 million dollars the court was holding.
It doesn't hurt IBM at all. They protected their interests to their satisfaction, hence the resolution of the litigation. There is no intrinsic value to the one-year employment bar. No one gets the money. It will remain in escrow until the one-year period ends and IBM is satisfied that Papermaster upheld his obligations. The bond will then return to Apple.

[=MuLti-CeLL=]

which means the HW needs to be done in a couple of months at best.

That's kind of what I was thinking myself.

Maybe if it were going to happen, as you said it would have to be done in a couple months, then maybe a couple more months for inside testing and so on then be ready for a June announcement.

Hmmmm.

[olternaut]

Um.....excuse me please. I've become impatient and stressed out in general lately so all I want to know is will Papermaster coming on board in April effect any product launches for this year? I would think not correct?

My point is that I want my freakin mactouch super ipod touch deluxe with oled folding screen this year. Preferably NOW AS IN......RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!111 :mad:

[dizzy13]

I'm sure the cost still seemed like a good investment to Apple. I mean when a lot of companies are struggling to get loans to keep cash flow going, Apple is sitting on what, 28 billion in cash now? Probably a lot more bang for their buck paying of IBM vs buying out some other small company.

[kerbawya]

Who said MS is dead ?

They are richest largest company in the world.

If you ask someone do you know ms apple

everyone would recognize ms but apple? Nope

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2008/fortune/0802/gallery.mostadmired_top20.fortune/index.html

Man... Too bad nobody knows who Apple is...

[snberk103]

BornAgainMac said: "I don't even think of IBM has a technology leading company anymore. I wonder if Microsoft will join the ranks of IBM in the 20's."

Bornonbord said: "Hrm... gonna have to disagree with you there." http://i.gizmodo.com/5131075/ibm-first-company-to-win-4000-patents-in-a-year-more-than-microsoft-and-intel-combined

Back on track.
Wow. Biggest patent troll of all time. No wonder Papermaster left.

Yeah, I gotta go with bornonbord. I don't know what gizmodo has against IBM, but they are actually pretty generous with opening up their patents. Before moving to Macs I was using OS/2, so kept up with IBM news. Its not uncommon for them to patent a technology, then while opening up the patent for others to use, IBM will push to have it adopted as a standard. It helps to keep format wars to a minimum. They also will adopt open source technologies, and contribute their changes back. A lot of the early Netscape code was theirs, and now they are working with Open Office. Look up Lotus Symphony, for instance.

IBM decided a long time ago that they didn't so much want to sell you a "thing" as much as they wanted to sell you a contract to service whatever "things" you decided to use. So, Lotus Symphony is free - but they are hoping a really big company will pay them to install and maintain it for them. etc etc The Lotus Symphony deal, by the way, means that IBM has decided to try and make money off of Macs in the enterprise, IMHO.

A behemoth, yes..... but a mostly benign one.

[twoodcc]

well i'm glad that the issue is over, and i hope we don't hear about it again

[econoline06]

why the negative ratings???

[macoazm]

Is it just me, or Apple always win in court (or before it)?

[Syrus28]

MS IS DEAD. So I don't think they will join any ranks anytime soon, apart from perhaps a posthumous sponsoring of a Grateful Dead concert...:rolleyes:
Microsoft is...dead? Really? Please, explain further. This should be good.

[IJ Reilly]

Microsoft is...dead? Really? Please, explain further. This should be good.

Microsoft isn't dead -- they're undead. And that, friends, is even worse.

[numbersyx]

http://www.macrumors.com/images/macrumorsthreadlogo.gif (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/27/mark-papermaster-to-begin-work-at-apple-on-april-24th/)

Apple has announced (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2009/01/27papermaster.html) that Mark Papermaster will begin work at Apple as Senior Vice President of Devices Hardware Engineering on April 24th, 2009.



Papermaster was recruited to Apple (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/10/30/apple-recruits-ibm-chip-designer-ibm-files-lawsuit/) from IBM in October 2008, but IBM filed a lawsuit to block the hiring, claiming that Papermaster had violated his employment contract with IBM by leaving to work for a competitor. A U.S. District Court judge issued an injunction (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/08/judge-orders-apples-new-hire-to-stop-work/) in early November that has prevented Papermaster from beginning work at Apple until the lawsuit was resolved.

In today's press release, Apple reports that the litigation between Papermaster and IBM has been resolved, clearing the way for Papermaster to assume his position at Apple. Papermaster replaces former iPod Division chief Tony Fadell (http://www.macrumors.com/2008/11/04/tony-fadell-father-of-ipod-leaves-apple/), who stepped down in early November 2008, although he remains an advisor to Apple.

Article Link: Mark Papermaster to Begin Work at Apple on April 24th (http://www.macrumors.com/2009/01/27/mark-papermaster-to-begin-work-at-apple-on-april-24th/)

This guy must be good if IBM were going to such lengths to stop him from working for Apple.

[BornToMac]

I'm gonna do a little research on the guy later when I get home but the way you all are talking about him, this must be a bad BAD MAN!

Ya know...

...escpecially if he's gonna give me my quadcore, 5mp, 32gb, double RAM iPhone 3G just a short two months after he's been working there!

:D

I thought Obama was doing that...:D

[Syrus28]

Microsoft isn't dead -- they're undead. And that, friends, is even worse.
Yes, but (weirdly), a prerequisite for being undead is to have been dead already. :confused:

[rockosmodurnlif]

Wow. Biggest patent troll of all time. No wonder Papermaster left.
I'm sure Apple is doing their best to keep up. Maybe that's why they're getting Papermaster.

[IJ Reilly]

Yes, but (weirdly), a prerequisite for being undead is to have been dead already. :confused:

Yes, but who would know? I have it on good authority that this is photo of Steve Ballmer, before his recent plastic surgery.

http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/images/zombie_bunny.jpg

[BTW]

Summerboy,

Dude, you are a bit mixed up. Apple wasn't "saved" by MS, though they did at the time sign an agreement where MS would continue development and sales of Office for Mac for a period of 5 years (still going...) and that Apple would waive its lawsuit against MS for stealing Quicktime technology. As well, MS invested $150 M into Apple to show that they were serious about the relationship, though they cashed that out, with a nice profit, many years ago.

Steve Jobs and NEXT technology and personnel saved Apple. To bad Ballmer is killing MS.

tom

Ballmer isn't killing MS - Google and Apple are. ;)

All MS has to do is cut the fat and refocus.

1) Get rid of the Zune
2) Double their efforts on WinMo OS to compete with multitouch OSes
3) Stop confusing the consumer with 20 versions of Windows and offer just one version
4) Make meaner and leaner (more power efficient) Xbox 360s
5) Bust out the guns on Oracle in corporate apps (accounting, manufacturing, CRM, ERP, and other TLAs)
6) Keep plugging away at improving MSN Search (or whatever they call it). They really need to figure-out a way for other people to make money for MSN search like people can from displaying Google ads on their web site. If they've already done that then they need to promote that more.
7) Silverlight everywhere
8) Actually do something with their Robotics Studio. Sponsor a contest eh?
9) Go for the kill on HP Unix
10) Beef-up the MBU to hedge bets and make all Mac products on par with Windows ones. Make Exchange, Sharepoint, and SQL Server Mac friendlier.

[Durendal]

Competition? The only area where Apple and IBM are competing these days is in servers, and Apple is kinda lacking in that arena. IBM doesn't make desktops anymore. They don't make phones, they don't make music players, they don't make much in the way of home software. What was the problem?

[koobcamuk]

Yes, but (weirdly), a prerequisite for being undead is to have been dead already. :confused:

Funny that. If someone says "you're so uncool", you can bet your life they don't think you've ever been cool.

[mdriftmeyer]

I don't even think of IBM has a technology leading company anymore. I wonder if Microsoft will join the ranks of IBM in the 20's.

Then you think wrongly. The R&D has just shifted in other areas, much of which involves pioneering new areas in theoretical physics.

IBM and Apple no longer have to live with sucking off the teet of Microsoft. That is the big change for today. One has Linux to partially thank for this change.

[troller]

Will they serve the needs of all the consumers ? No they won't so who cares ? They will continue to sell overprized crap and ****** accessoirs.

[preservative]

If apple want to take the OS consumer market they have to support pc hardware in the OS. It is so obvious. Sell the OS and support PC hardware and the rats will run to the piper- Taking the business market needs a whole new flute.

[jouster]

They say it has been resolved ... but at what cost?

Don't worry about the cost. Seriously, don't lose any sleep over it.

Why anyone would care what tiny percentage of their stash one multi-billion dollar corporation will pay to another is beyond me.

[Roderick Usher]

An interesting detail (http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=212902972&cid=iwhome_art_Techn_mostpop):

The terms of the settlement, however, place a potentially heavy burden on Papermaster and, by extension, Apple. Papermaster must check in with IBM if he suspects that any innovations he develops at Apple infringe on confidential or proprietary information he picked up during his years of work at Big Blue.

"To the extent that Mr. Papermaster has a question as to whether any information he intends to or may disclose or otherwise use in any way is IBM confidential information Mr. Papermaster will raise such question with IBM before any disclosure or use of that information," Judge Kenneth Karas wrote in a consent order filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

What's more, the settlement dictates that IBM, and only IBM, gets to decide if the techniques in question derive from its intellectual property, and its decisions are not subject to appeal -- even to the court. IBM's determination "shall be final and binding and not subject to review in any way," Karas wrote.

[7egend]

Who said MS is dead ?

They are richest largest company in the world.

If you ask someone do you know ms apple

everyone would recognize ms but apple? Nope

Ms also spared apple from bankrupt way back. Apple have no shame.

Going against company that saved then .. Sigh

MS didn't save Apple, MS just invested in Apple to show them they were serious about a partnership, just like Apple allowed MS to develop an Office Suite for the Mac.

Apple was sitting on a pretty good chunk of money still during that time, yes the company was declining but it didn't need saving from another corporation it needed saving by means of a new CEO, I.E. the return of Steve Jobs.

[jaw04005]

MS didn't save Apple, MS just invested in Apple to show them they were serious about a partnership, just like Apple allowed MS to develop an Office Suite for the Mac.

Well, there were a few things going on at the time.

Apple was in a long-standing and expensive legal battle with Microsoft over patents. Microsoft "invested" in Apple with non-voting shares to end that dispute. Both companies now have a patent-sharing agreement with regards to operating systems.

Additionally, Microsoft needed Apple to regain investor confidence to prove that they still had competitors (U.S. vs. Microsoft).

In return, Apple pre-installed Internet Explorer (and Netscape) on all their new machines. Microsoft also agreed to continue developing Microsoft Office.

The reinvestment in Mac Office was a gold mine for Microsoft. It's now one of their top-selling products, and that division (the MacBU) is immensely profitable.

Microsoft also later sold their shares in Apple (after the Justice Department settlement) for a tidy profit.

Apple was sitting on a pretty good chunk of money still during that time, yes the company was declining but it didn't need saving from another corporation it needed saving by means of a new CEO, I.E. the return of Steve Jobs.

Exactly. At the time, Apple's operating system situation was a complete disaster. Pink and Copland were complete failures, and Apple didn't have a vision for where it was going in the future (enter Steve Jobs).

[IJ Reilly]

Additionally, Microsoft needed Apple to regain investor confidence to prove that they still had competitors (U.S. vs. Microsoft).

You're right about everything but this. The US v. Microsoft case wasn't even filed until 1998.

[polaris20]

MS IS DEAD. So I don't think they will join any ranks anytime soon, apart from perhaps a posthumous sponsoring of a Grateful Dead concert...:rolleyes:

ROFL

All those Windows Server/Exchange/SQL installs across the world must be imaginary then, right? Every desktop is Linux or OS X?

Wow, I must have missed that. ;)

[farmboy]

Pretty much vanquished as soon as he moves to California (the courts tend to toss them there), which is where the last page (page 5) he is required to sign from this decision comes in.

When the judge says, sign this and go to work ... do you?

First, it's in federal court, so California law (nor Texas law) does not apply.
Second, Yes, you do. I see nothing in the agreement that limits Papermaster at all---just don't reveal IBM IP for a year, and swear that you didn't twice. How hard is that?

And for all the others who say California or Texas does not allow non-competes, when you sign almost all agreements, there is a clause that says that "this Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of _______." And it doesn't have to be in the state where you work. The original IBM work agreement said New York, Papermaster signed it, so that's it.

[farmboy]

They sued him for violating his noncompetition agreement ... because he was going to work for the competion and/or customer of IBM.

So they did break a big portion of the noncompetition agreement -- upholding the NDA section.

Edit: really hurts IBM since it turned a 1 year noncompete into a 6 month one, so who gets the 3 million dollars the court was holding.

No, actually the clock was running the day he left IBM, so a shortened period was already in place.

[farmboy]

Does signing a non-disclosure agreement mean that you are forever a slave to IBM?

Obviously if you are high enough on the totem pole to be noticed, you can't take a job with any other company in the information technology field.

That's crazy.

Two issues here: non-disclosure and non-compete.

Non-disclosure (also called Confidentiality or Secrecy agreements): IBM (or any other company) gets to protect its property, which includes inventions, research, business plans, patents, etc. That's not unreasonable, right? So if you know any of this stuff, you can't just use it yourself or sell yourself to another company and reveal it to them, sometimes for a specific time period, sometimes for many years/forever. Not exactly a violation of civil rights. And almost universally upheld because it's reasonable.

Non-Compete: This means if you leave a company you can't go to work with a competing company, a company that is essentially in the same business. These agreements are a little more tenuous, because you do have a right to put food on your table. So there are usually meetings with involved parties to see if an agreement can be reached. It usually does not go to court. A few states don't like overly broad non-competes, but some form of reasonable restriction is usually upheld if it does go to court. The courts DO look at what is reasonable, contrary to the opinions of many posters, and it's not always simply black and white.

Most employment contracts have BOTH of these clauses, if not separate agreements for both. Most posters have confused/mixed-up these two types of agreement. IBM's agreement with Papermaster covers both issues, so it was never just about the non-compete.

[convergent]

Then you think wrongly. The R&D has just shifted in other areas, much of which involves pioneering new areas in theoretical physics.

IBM and Apple no longer have to live with sucking off the teet of Microsoft. That is the big change for today. One has Linux to partially thank for this change.

Agree with you on that. So many people on this site I think don't really understand the enterprise computing world. IBM has largely divested from much of the consumer and home use computing. Much of their R&D is focussed on enterprise problems. For example I read somewhere lately that IBM researchers may find cures for some diseases before the medical community does... with their help of course. No one in the world is more of a leader in technology than IBM... their patent awards each year dwarf most of the other big players combined.

As for Linux helping to wean us from MS... IBM has been, and still is, a major contributor and advocate of Linux and open systems in general.

Competition? The only area where Apple and IBM are competing these days is in servers, and Apple is kinda lacking in that arena. IBM doesn't make desktops anymore. They don't make phones, they don't make music players, they don't make much in the way of home software. What was the problem?

Papermaster was a key designer in processor technology for IBM. IBM has a huge business selling technology components. While they may not sell a phone or music player, they may sell technology that is used in them.

[BRLawyer]

Ballmer isn't killing MS - Google and Apple are. ;)

All MS has to do is cut the fat and refocus.

1) Get rid of the Zune
2) Double their efforts on WinMo OS to compete with multitouch OSes
3) Stop confusing the consumer with 20 versions of Windows and offer just one version
4) Make meaner and leaner (more power efficient) Xbox 360s
5) Bust out the guns on Oracle in corporate apps (accounting, manufacturing, CRM, ERP, and other TLAs)
6) Keep plugging away at improving MSN Search (or whatever they call it). They really need to figure-out a way for other people to make money for MSN search like people can from displaying Google ads on their web site. If they've already done that then they need to promote that more.
7) Silverlight everywhere
8) Actually do something with their Robotics Studio. Sponsor a contest eh?
9) Go for the kill on HP Unix
10) Beef-up the MBU to hedge bets and make all Mac products on par with Windows ones. Make Exchange, Sharepoint, and SQL Server Mac friendlier.

And why worry about giving them turnaround advice? Let them rot for their historical lack of innovation and bad taste; it's definitely better for the industry.

[Stuart in Oz]

Don't get me wrong, I love apple and this sounds good for them. But what's the point of those agreements you sign saying you won't work for the competition? Do they not matter if you "really really want to"?

It depends on the jurisdiction but courts are not terribly keen on them as they can be viewed as a restraint on trade and the right to freedom of employment. Some states/countries courts uphold them more than others, but almost never are they totally ironclad.

Generally, the higher you are in a company, the more those agreements have teeth - but even then, it depends on what jurisdiction you're in.

As a theoretical example, making a low-level, ordinary salesperson at Best Buy agree not to work for any other retailer for 6 months after leaving would almost certainly be struck out. That employee has almost no special knowledge and likely not the financial ability to sit out such a period.

Whereas, a senior vice-president of a stockbroking firm earning $5 million a year, who has access to all his firm's top client details and knows all the deals and projects going on in his company... making him wait 12 months before taking work with a direct competitor, and barring him from poaching clients, might well be considered acceptable.