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ghsDUDE

macrumors 68030
May 25, 2010
2,921
740
Well their stock seems to be taking a ****...get the Steve Jobs military formula back and keep making that $$$
 

DakotaGuy

macrumors 601
Jan 14, 2002
4,226
3,791
South Dakota, USA
What might be good for Google might not fit into Apples culture as seamlessly.Just because x% time works at Google doesn't mean its a great idea for Apple.

Everyday it seems that Tim's main mission is to make Apple more like any other tech company, rather leveraging what makes Apple unique. Their half-assed "me-to" nexus 7 clone aka ipad mini is the best example of this to date.

Tim is doing fine and last I checked people have gone nuts over the new iPad Mini. As long as it has the Apple logo it is going to sell and sell well. You can take one look at Tim Cook and tell he is a much easier man to work for then Steve Jobs, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have expectations. It is possible to have a very successful company even with a slightly more relaxed work environment. Having a CEO that is more open to new ideas also can empower the engineers to come up with new exciting products without worry that all their work will be for nothing.
 

damitssam

macrumors 6502
Sep 22, 2009
275
0
Seems like the most hardcore iFans are waking up to reality and moving on. How fitting. :cool::cool:

About time Apple stops taking for granted its employees.
 
S

syd430

Guest
As long as it has the Apple logo it is going to sell and sell well.

What posts like these fail to account for is the sheer momentum that Apple has at this stage in the game. While the above statement is absolutely true, consumers at large are surprisingly more rational than most people think in the long-run. Eventually people are going to catch on.


The Mini is just the canary in the coal mine. It is signals a huge departure in their overall business strategy. And i've gone fairly in depth with this in some of my previous posts.
 

sensorian

macrumors member
Sep 18, 2012
78
11
Manchester, UK
I've kind of been wondering if the C-level moves were to open up the field for the next level(s) down to crave out some space to shine. This would seem to be another move in the same direction. Will it work, no idea without more info or time. It really could go either way.

To me it seems like a good transition plan for finding the right people to replace the top brass when the time comes.

Exactly that, good succession planning depends on multi faceted talent emerging in an organisation. Allowing people to explore projects outside of their immediate role provides a platform for identified talent to shine (or not).
 

rmwebs

macrumors 68040
Apr 6, 2007
3,140
0
May help Google in what way? By completely taking our privacy from us? Give me a break. Apple is one of the few where you know what the deal is. I commend Apple for having this initiative for it actually may help Apple in their good innovation trail, not spying on internet and mobile phone users like Google.

Answer this for me please:

What has Google taken from you that Apple has not, and what proof do you have that Google spy on your internet and mobile phone activities?

Lets put it this way:

Google takes the following details, anonymously, and they use it to serve up adverts - note that at no point do they pass these details to 3rd parties:
- Browsing activity within the Google sites (e.g search results, YouTube plays, etc)
- Generic stuff that EVERY site notes down (e.g browser, OS, IP, approx. Location)

Other than that - nothing else is used. They dont read your friggin emails, and dont sit there spying on you.

Now, lets look at Apple's iAds.

Funnily enough, they use the exact same information as Google. So does Bing, Yahoo and just about every damn website in the world.

This 'Google is stealing my data' talk is pure crap.
 

everything-i

macrumors 6502a
Jun 20, 2012
827
2
London, UK
I think their special project should be debugging Maps.

Already done, they have the Apple store guys working on that one ;)

----------

Answer this for me please:

What has Google taken from you that Apple has not, and what proof do you have that Google spy on your internet and mobile phone activities?

Lets put it this way:

Google takes the following details, anonymously, and they use it to serve up adverts - note that at no point do they pass these details to 3rd parties:
- Browsing activity within the Google sites (e.g search results, YouTube plays, etc)
- Generic stuff that EVERY site notes down (e.g browser, OS, IP, approx. Location)

Other than that - nothing else is used. They dont read your friggin emails, and dont sit there spying on you.

Now, lets look at Apple's iAds.

Funnily enough, they use the exact same information as Google. So does Bing, Yahoo and just about every damn website in the world.

This 'Google is stealing my data' talk is pure crap.

Yeh right, so they weren't collecting everyone's WiFi traffic from their street view cars :rolleyes:

Google makes all their money from marketing so tracks you and collects as much information about you as they possibly can to sell to their marketing clients. All the search companies work the same way, data harvesting is big business for them so every search, every YouTube video you watch, every time you use maps its all cataloged, profiled and sold.
 

Compile 'em all

macrumors 601
Apr 6, 2005
4,130
323
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


Apple is allowing a small group of employees to spend up to two weeks working on projects outside their standard job responsibilities. This was originally reported by the Wall Street Journal's Jessica Lessin, by way of Business Insider.
We don't have too many details for how the program, reportedly nicknamed "Blue Sky", works. It may allow employees to spend time on their own projects, or if they could be temporarily assigned to other working groups within Apple.

Update: Lessin's full Wall Street Journal article is now live. Lessin focuses on how the corporate culture is changing at Apple since Tim Cook took over as CEO, noting that Cook has been more accepting of sabbaticals, has praised employees at Apple's media events, and that the company is more frequently giving counteroffers to employees considering posts at other companies.


Article Link: Apple Allowing Select Employees to Devote Time to Special Projects [Updated]

I wonder if this has to do with the hordes of employees who have been leaving Apple recently. Tons of Apple designers I follow on Twitter have been recently leaving.
 

Zunjine

macrumors 6502a
Jun 26, 2009
715
0
Steve Jobs would have done this under his rule if this idea had any merit. Tim Cook, you may very well be the next Ballmer.

Indeed. History shows that not only was Steve Jobs infallible but nothing that has never been done before ever works. Times don't change and organisational structures never become out of date.

This isn't innovation, it's heresy!

Or maybe that's just bollocks.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Well their stock seems to be taking a ****...get the Steve Jobs military formula back and keep making that $$$

Stock price is substantially higher than at Steve Jobs' time, actually. But we wouldn't want facts to interfere with a good rant, would we?
 

Manderby

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2006
500
92
Why does Google has to be quoted for this? They did not invent spare time or working on multiple projects in parallel. This has been done since ever by every company and person in the world.

They call it a program... Fine. Let all of the personnel be managed.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
I wonder if this has to do with the hordes of employees who have been leaving Apple recently. Tons of Apple designers I follow on Twitter have been recently leaving.

There is one Apple designer in particular, who designed a clock face that got used in iOS 6, and which had an astonishing resemblance with the protected design used by the Swiss Railway, who I suspect might have left.

My own company doesn't have problems with hordes of people plus Samsung trying to find out our secrets, but (1) you've never heard me mentioning that company, (2) I've never posted on anything related to them, and (3) I didn't correct some blatant nonsense that was posted about the relationship between a company I worked for five years ago, and Apple. If any of our designers had twitter accounts telling people where they work and what they are doing, they would be told to stop it. Apple designers showing lack of common sense by having followers on Twitter might indeed be asked to leave.

----------

Answer this for me please:

What has Google taken from you that Apple has not, and what proof do you have that Google spy on your internet and mobile phone activities?

Lets put it this way:

Google takes the following details, anonymously, and they use it to serve up adverts - note that at no point do they pass these details to 3rd parties:
- Browsing activity within the Google sites (e.g search results, YouTube plays, etc)
- Generic stuff that EVERY site notes down (e.g browser, OS, IP, approx. Location)

Other than that - nothing else is used. They dont read your friggin emails, and dont sit there spying on you.

Now, lets look at Apple's iAds.

Funnily enough, they use the exact same information as Google. So does Bing, Yahoo and just about every damn website in the world.

This 'Google is stealing my data' talk is pure crap.

Google has actually been convicted to pay a $22 million fine because they circumventing privacy settings both in Safari and in Internet Explorer. And this wasn't some programming error, because they used two different techniques for both browsers, which are both not used on other browsers.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
Google has actually been convicted to pay a $22 million fine because they circumventing privacy settings both in Safari and in Internet Explorer. And this wasn't some programming error, because they used two different techniques for both browsers, which are both not used on other browsers.

If you read the coverage, you'd know it wasn't a "programming error", it was a bug fix gone wrong. Google were basically trying to fix the +1 button for ads. The programmer who "fixed" it, circumvented the privacy settings using legitimate javascript. It just ended up biting them in the ass.

But that doesn't mean that Google sells your data. Apple does the same kind of data collection, Microsoft, Yahoo, all other ad suppliers and placement agencies. It's part of the online game. But none of them sell it to 3rd parties, that would just be daft.
 

macchiato2009

macrumors 65816
Aug 14, 2009
1,258
1
Last year, in a session of Apple's internal management program Apple University, officials discussed how the company is in some ways more like the military than a traditional corporation, according to a person who was told about the presentation.


well, this is still the case
 

Reason077

macrumors 68040
Aug 14, 2007
3,588
3,532
The tyrannical "work your employees hard and don't accept anything less than perfection" approach has worked extremely well for Apple for many years. Sure, obviously Tim is not Steve and he has a different management style. But should this really extend to letting employees slack around and goof off?

I understand that he's trying to replicate the Google model here, but the danger is that you end up like Google ... a giant that has a great internal culture, and makes a couple of great products - but also a whole lot of crappy ones.

I worry that Apple's post-Steve decline is really starting to set in. Perhaps it is inevitable? Is it unfair to blame Tim?
 

macuser1232

macrumors 6502a
Jan 20, 2012
668
4
They most certainly do get the rights. In their employee contract there is likely a clause that says anything 'invented' on the campus belongs to the company. The author will get small compensation.

My undergraduate school owned the rights to your senior project and had publishing rights to it. Even if you wanted to publish it, you couldn't as it wasn't technically your own.

Oh sweet what was your senior project? Also, don't you think hackaday is a great website for senior projects?
 

Macist

macrumors 6502a
Mar 13, 2009
783
458
Apple: So team, what have you guys come up with with your 'special time'?

Employee one: Well, I've got a nice MacPro concept with Thunderbolt and the latest Xeon processors. The most powerful Mac ever by far.

Apple: Hmmm... yeah... alright... not really feeling it...

Employ two: I've made the swirliest genie effect EVAH!

Apple: ****, yeah!
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
If you read the coverage, you'd know it wasn't a "programming error", it was a bug fix gone wrong. Google were basically trying to fix the +1 button for ads. The programmer who "fixed" it, circumvented the privacy settings using legitimate javascript. It just ended up biting them in the ass.

What a Google apologist. They circumvented user privacy settings in _two_ browsers. Using different methods. Sure they fixed a bug. But the bug wasn't that a "+1" button didn't work, the bug was that users dared to use Safari privacy settings that didn't allow Cookies to be installed from the site. This wasn't a bug fix gone wrong. This was a lack of ethics. If the user doesn't allow cookies, and that breaks your site, then only a completely ethically challenged moron would ever think that circumventing the user's privacy settings is a way to fix the bug.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Yeh right, so they weren't collecting everyone's WiFi traffic from their street view cars :rolleyes:

No, they weren't. Not on purporse. It was code left in from the original library of the original coder, now long gone.

What would be the point for Google to collect a possible few seconds of traffic anyway? For one thing, it would have to be both an insecure hotspot and insecure traffic. If that describes you, then you have much bigger problems than the one in a trillion chance that a Google map car drives by you while you're active online. Your neighbors are a greater threat by far.

Google makes all their money from marketing so tracks you and collects as much information about you as they possibly can to sell to their marketing clients. All the search companies work the same way, data harvesting is big business for them so every search, every YouTube video you watch, every time you use maps its all cataloged, profiled and sold.

Yes, exactly what Apple does. Only Apple probably has far more personal information due to their iTunes records of our media and app purchases, plus credit card info, and even phone model due to iOS registrations.

As we keep point out though, nobody sells that info directly to anyone. They just sell targeted ad placements, which is anonymous.

Knowledge is power.
 
Last edited:

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Last year, in a session of Apple's internal management program Apple University, officials discussed how the company is in some ways more like the military than a traditional corporation, according to a person who was told about the presentation.


well, this is still the case

Hearsay, really. According to someone who told someone who told someone.

It should come as no surprise that Apple is a different company to work for, for better or worse really. The fact that they encourage people to work on other projects is great and of course, Apple would own that. It seems like a no-brainer. When I think of Apple I think of the movie Antitrust. I just somehow envision Apple's campus and their secretive ways to be similar to that movie. As silly as that may be.
 

KnightWRX

macrumors Pentium
Jan 28, 2009
15,046
4
Quebec, Canada
What a Google apologist.

Drop the ad hominems. I'm not apologizing for Google, I'm simply stating the context. If this were Apple, I'd do the same. Why is it that everytime someone tries to frame the context and remove all the hyperbole, he gets lumped into some kind of "fandom" or "apologist" mold. I pick no sides, I seek the truth.

They circumvented user privacy settings in _two_ browsers. Using different methods. Sure they fixed a bug. But the bug wasn't that a "+1" button didn't work

Yes it was. In 2 different browsers, using 2 different methods (since as you would know if you ever wrote Web code, all browser DOM implementations differ and require little quirky workarounds).

Get off your high horse. The programmer fixed the bug in a very programmer way, he plainly made it work. That his fix was unethical doesn't come into question, it was. But to attribute it to malice on his part is just plainly ludicrous, and that is what I take exception to in your posts.

Google paid 22 million dollars for that programmer's mistake. A mistake that you or I could've have made in our pursuit of "making it work" (as developers or system administrators, you know that sometimes you just want to have something work and will try about anything).
 
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