Apple Gestapo: Engineer fired for showing iPad to Woz hours before launch [UPDATED]

[Lotus Esprit V8]

Apple's laws are followed to the letter or else.

 

[nastebu]

There is no correlation between apples ability to generate income and any sort of hostile or unfriendly work environment. Secondly with the recession people are more likely to put up with more crap from an employer then otherwise.

How can you know that there's no correlation between Apple's ability to generate income and its very tight secrecy policies? Apple spends a lot of time, money, and energy on security, so they clearly think their profits *are* linked to it.

I agree with you that intimidation and hostility are terrible corporate policies, but it's not clear that is what's going on here. The only thing that's clear is that the existing policies are very strictly enforced.

If I was king of Apple, I'd give this guy a pass because it's woz. But people like me do not run billion dollar corporations and may well be quite bad at it if we did. It's unpleasant that the punishment was so tough, but I don't feel like we can judge so quickly that it was wrong.

 

[LethalWolfe]

How can you know that there's no correlation between Apple's ability to generate income and its very tight secrecy policies? Apple spends a lot of time, money, and energy on security, so they clearly think their profits *are* linked to it.

You are talking about Apple's secrecy while maflynn was talking about the quality of the work environment. Those are two separate things. A place full of secrets does inherently have a hostile work environment.

Apple does have a rep for being a very demanding place to work and Jobs a very demanding, and often brutal, person to work for so I, for one, am not surprised in the least that this guy go fired.


Lethal

 

[GrindedDown]

While it is getting interesting right now after more details are coming out (update in OP), I noted earlier that he likely could have been fired because of his circumstantial leniency with upholding the NDA and not necessarily just because he showed it to Woz. This act could reflect his behavior and pose the risk of another information leak of greater proportions, and at a later time. Meaning he may f%^k up in the future so they got rid of him now.

 

[rhett7660]

Seems like the story is getting some more details then "he just showed it to Woz and got fired". Sound like he was showing it to a bunch of people. Of course this could be false also. I am wondering if we will ever find out the real truth or if this will all be speculation from here on out.

 

[nastebu]

You are talking about Apple's secrecy while maflynn was talking about the quality of the work environment. Those are two separate things. A place full of secrets does inherently have a hostile work environment.

Yes yes yes, they are different things. But I disagree that having secrets, by definition, is a hostile work environment. In some work situations secrets are necessary, no? The State Department or the Department of Defense have to have lots of secrets. Any organization that does research is going to need to keep something secret, at least for a while.

I agree with you that intimidation and hostility are terrible corporate policies, but it's not clear that is what's going on here. The only thing that's clear is that the existing policies are very strictly enforced.

As I said there, it isn't clear at all that this firing is about creating a hostile work environment. It seems to be just a very strict imposition of the rules. And strictly interpreting the security rules is quite possibly very germane to Apple's financial bottom line.

I think firing this guy sucks, but I'm not at all sure it's the wrong thing to do from Apple's point of view, and nobody--least of all the guy that got fired--should be surprised.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Yes yes yes, they are different things. But I disagree that having secrets, by definition, is a hostile work environment. In some work situations secrets are necessary, no? The State Department or the Department of Defense have to have lots of secrets. Any organization that does research is going to need to keep something secret, at least for a while.

I agree and I'm not sure who you are trying to convince because I haven't seen anyone saying that secrecy inherent creates a hostile work environment.


Lethal

 

[bobob]

Yes yes yes, they are different things. But I disagree that having secrets, by definition, is a hostile work environment. In some work situations secrets are necessary, no? The State Department or the Department of Defense have to have lots of secrets. Any organization that does research is going to need to keep something secret, at least for a while.

I agree and I'm not sure who you are trying to convince because I haven't seen anyone saying that secrecy inherent creates a hostile work environment.

Lethal

You yourself had just stated:

You are talking about Apple's secrecy while maflynn was talking about the quality of the work environment. Those are two separate things. A place full of secrets does inherently have a hostile work environment.

Lethal

 

[*LTD*]

You yourself had just stated:

Nevermind.

 

[LethalWolfe]

You yourself had just stated:

Typo on my part. I meant to say "does not."


Lethal

 

[*LTD*]

Typo on my part. I meant to say "does not."


Lethal

Lulz retracted. Fair's fair.