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List of Apple Employees Authorized to Carry Pre-Release iPhones Personally Monitored by Steve Jobs
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So you can stop posting drivel, or go to GoogleOSRumors.com.
EHY! I'm a APPLE big big fan!
I have a macbook and a iMac27 inches i5.
It's too much to demand from Apple a good quality mobile like they are doing with computers?
It's wrong to be angry with who put smoke in your eyes pretending that iPhone will be a mobile phone that will change the mobile world and it is not?
It is wrong to defend a poor guy that (if he's true) just drink too much, was thinking to his problems and forget a new iPhone around?
Gosh, this guy sure sounds like a bad pick to carry a 4G and essentially an unreliable loser type.
I assume he has some special tech skills and hence they had to give it to him for testing, rather than someone else -- doesn't sound like they picked him for his responsible personality.
Redwood City is a real low-class city in Silicon Valley - not the kind of place you would expect Apple employees to go to celebrate. (Cupertino, on the other hand, is a great city, and so are many other neighboring towns such as Palo Alto or Menlo Park, all of which have tons of restaurants, bars, and entertainment where you might expect to find Apple folk). The bar itself also doesn't look high class exactly. Of course I know we all have our personal tastes -- but if he decides to go drinking at a low-class place in a low-class city, why doesn't he leave that 4G at home? Doesn't sound like the smartest, most responsible guy for sure.
I assume he has some special tech skills and hence they had to give it to him for testing, rather than someone else -- doesn't sound like they picked him for his responsible personality.
Redwood City is a real low-class city in Silicon Valley - not the kind of place you would expect Apple employees to go to celebrate. (Cupertino, on the other hand, is a great city, and so are many other neighboring towns such as Palo Alto or Menlo Park, all of which have tons of restaurants, bars, and entertainment where you might expect to find Apple folk). The bar itself also doesn't look high class exactly. Of course I know we all have our personal tastes -- but if he decides to go drinking at a low-class place in a low-class city, why doesn't he leave that 4G at home? Doesn't sound like the smartest, most responsible guy for sure.
Exactly. I don't think the guy is very popular among his co-workers these days. It was a stupid mistake too.
After much thought, I have concluded that this was an elaborately controlled leak.
NO ONE is that careless with their phone. No one. Be it a Motorola Razor or a priceless iphone prototype. Think about what this young man's job was. His job was to engineer the part of the phone that makes and receives calls! He may be young, but he is no dummy. Who leaves a phone on a stool? That it was not left on the bartop (where a bartender would have easily grabbed it) gives rise to suspicion. That the person who found it did not give it to the bartender/owner also gives rise to suspicion.
We ALL knew/expect the next gen iPhone is to include front facing camera/ichat/skype before this incident. The evidence in the SDK betas was overwhelming.
Think about the timing. This was 'lost' right before the rumored release of the Verizon Nexus One. But since that never happened, look at when this became public: Right after the announcement of the release date of the htc Incredible, another Verizon juggernaut. A leak like this would generate a ton of free, non-Apple pre-product release publicity that would serve as maybe something to wait for and hold off for. Apple is at war with Google, whether they admit it or not. The question is will Apple announce a CDMA capable phone in June for a fall rollout? We will wait and see.
I have to believe also that this is not the final design. No way would Apple release something so sterile/unpleasing to the eye. No curves, ugly fit and finish. This allows Apple to still have a "Wow" effect at June Update. If you have in your possession something so precious, so crucial, you do not lose sight of it. Ever! Yes, people are human, but this is field testing prototype from the hands of a brilliant engineer. Apple knows not to fire him. They can't take the risk of what happened in China to that FoxCon employee when he lost one. We all know what happened there. It's not good for business. And one thing we all know: Apple does not do what is not good for business.
NO ONE is that careless with their phone. No one. Be it a Motorola Razor or a priceless iphone prototype. Think about what this young man's job was. His job was to engineer the part of the phone that makes and receives calls! He may be young, but he is no dummy. Who leaves a phone on a stool? That it was not left on the bartop (where a bartender would have easily grabbed it) gives rise to suspicion. That the person who found it did not give it to the bartender/owner also gives rise to suspicion.
We ALL knew/expect the next gen iPhone is to include front facing camera/ichat/skype before this incident. The evidence in the SDK betas was overwhelming.
Think about the timing. This was 'lost' right before the rumored release of the Verizon Nexus One. But since that never happened, look at when this became public: Right after the announcement of the release date of the htc Incredible, another Verizon juggernaut. A leak like this would generate a ton of free, non-Apple pre-product release publicity that would serve as maybe something to wait for and hold off for. Apple is at war with Google, whether they admit it or not. The question is will Apple announce a CDMA capable phone in June for a fall rollout? We will wait and see.
I have to believe also that this is not the final design. No way would Apple release something so sterile/unpleasing to the eye. No curves, ugly fit and finish. This allows Apple to still have a "Wow" effect at June Update. If you have in your possession something so precious, so crucial, you do not lose sight of it. Ever! Yes, people are human, but this is field testing prototype from the hands of a brilliant engineer. Apple knows not to fire him. They can't take the risk of what happened in China to that FoxCon employee when he lost one. We all know what happened there. It's not good for business. And one thing we all know: Apple does not do what is not good for business.
Oh come on who has not gone out and lost something. House keys mobile wallet etc. As for a personal list of who can and cant use unreleased tech in the real world. Who gives a rats arse as long as they test the dam things to the point of breaking so that its going to work for the rest of us. when this gear comes out and plays. As for the poor guy who did loose the so called new model well lets bear in mind hes only human not a security drone
i am appalled by the general lack of forgiveness towards this guy. what he did was unintentional, and Apple deserves a lot of credits for giving him a second chance. think about this, if YOU were Gray Powell and Apple tells you, "don't do it again." Wouldn't you be a loyal employee the rest of your life? And what kind of message does that send to the company? It would generate a lot of goodwill in the company. Plus, by keeping him, he will prob work harder than anyone now.
If Apple fires this guy, sure it might send the message that "if you screw up, you go." But I think that's poor management and doesn't drive morale. Apple engineers already work very hard (I know several), and they deserve some slacks. Lastly, I personally screwed up several times at work, and when my manager forgave me and encouraged, I was not just surprised, it motivated me to be a better worker. In fact, when I screwed up a big time last time, my manager told me stories of how other higher ups had screwed up before and told me this will be over, etc. It made me want to cry.
Btw, sure Gray might've started the fiasco by a naive accident, but he did try his best to correct it (calling the bar). This wouldn't have turned into such a big deal if the finder of the phone turned the phone to the bar owner as most righteous people would do. Even worse, it ended up at hands of some shady second-class blog company that gives journalism bad name.
If Apple fires this guy, sure it might send the message that "if you screw up, you go." But I think that's poor management and doesn't drive morale. Apple engineers already work very hard (I know several), and they deserve some slacks. Lastly, I personally screwed up several times at work, and when my manager forgave me and encouraged, I was not just surprised, it motivated me to be a better worker. In fact, when I screwed up a big time last time, my manager told me stories of how other higher ups had screwed up before and told me this will be over, etc. It made me want to cry.
Btw, sure Gray might've started the fiasco by a naive accident, but he did try his best to correct it (calling the bar). This wouldn't have turned into such a big deal if the finder of the phone turned the phone to the bar owner as most righteous people would do. Even worse, it ended up at hands of some shady second-class blog company that gives journalism bad name.
Easy. Lights are low, you're young and you're drunk. Your friends say, "Let's go", so you get off your bar stool and lay your phone down on it for a second while you rearrange your wallet or jacket or whatever. You get distracted and off you go, leaving the phone still sitting there.
His job description online said that he creates tests for the iPhone baseband. In other words, he's responsible for the phone portion working correctly. Of all the people on the planet, he's the main person you would want testing it in the field.
Of course he could have just been really drunk.
Good question, if he did so.
It's funny, but mostly depressing, how everyone's eager to perpetuate the notion of Steve as this tyrannical, omnipotent and omnipresent puppetmaster.
"Ooooh, I bet Steve's going to cut his nuts off and put them on display in the lobby as a warning.... ooooh, he's not only gonna fire him but also make sure he'll never find work again in his lifetime, not even as a catfood inspector..."
If Steve as Dr. Evil is your sexual fantasy, you need medication.
The guy was clumsy alright, but it's just as much Apple's fault. Stuff happens, and if they were willing to take the risks involved with having hundreds of new iPhones out in the wild for testing, they should also have been prepared for (and willing to accept, however reluctantly) this eventuality. And if they're professional and mature about it, they'll take it as a healthy reality check and ask themselves whether their borderline comical policy of secrecy is A) sustainable, B) productive. After all, the more powerful and controlling you try to be, the more ridiculous and vulnerable you will look when the inevitable leaks occur anyway. Maybe Gray Powell is the best PR Apple has had in a long time, because he put a human face on a company that's looking more and more like a bunch of robots every day.
"Ooooh, I bet Steve's going to cut his nuts off and put them on display in the lobby as a warning.... ooooh, he's not only gonna fire him but also make sure he'll never find work again in his lifetime, not even as a catfood inspector..."
If Steve as Dr. Evil is your sexual fantasy, you need medication.
The guy was clumsy alright, but it's just as much Apple's fault. Stuff happens, and if they were willing to take the risks involved with having hundreds of new iPhones out in the wild for testing, they should also have been prepared for (and willing to accept, however reluctantly) this eventuality. And if they're professional and mature about it, they'll take it as a healthy reality check and ask themselves whether their borderline comical policy of secrecy is A) sustainable, B) productive. After all, the more powerful and controlling you try to be, the more ridiculous and vulnerable you will look when the inevitable leaks occur anyway. Maybe Gray Powell is the best PR Apple has had in a long time, because he put a human face on a company that's looking more and more like a bunch of robots every day.
+1
Only an idiot wouldn't see this (lost phone, nobody looking for it, GC's demand letter over email...). But then, Apple knows there are a lot of them out there (and here).
We've all been had!
Come on guys....this is so clearly another showing of the mighty (and cunning) Apple PR machine! They know they can generate much better publicity through a slow tease than an outright announcement
Come on guys....this is so clearly another showing of the mighty (and cunning) Apple PR machine! They know they can generate much better publicity through a slow tease than an outright announcement
Of course he'll keep his job. He just created a tremendous amount of free publicity for Apple's next phone offering. And to think, it happened around the 2nd quarter earnings announcement. Hmmmm.
Get off your high horses for God's sake!
So what the guy lost a phone?? (assuming it's not staged) It happens. it's never happened to me, but I know very reliable trust-worthy people who lost important stuff! It just happens.
If you take risks (in this case, letting the thing out of the HQ) then you have to bear the consequences. Imagine the number of people who had a prototype phone (let's say 200), with them for 3 months. That's 200x90 times the phone was carried outdoors. That's 18 000 times where the thing could have been lost. Statistically, if you take that and the fact that for the past 3 years no phone has been lost either, it was bound to happen.
It fell on him, that's bad but that doesn't suddenly turn him into a bastard who deserves to be fired, and spat on him by a bunch of nerds on the internet who "would never lose a phone". I bet you've made involuntary mistakes in your life as well. Let he who never sinned...
In any case, let us remind ourselves that this is JUST A PHONE, ok? Nobody got hurt, killed, and iPhones' sales aren't going to be hurt by the release of three pictures of a phone that only a bunch of internet geeks saw anyway.
So what the guy lost a phone?? (assuming it's not staged) It happens. it's never happened to me, but I know very reliable trust-worthy people who lost important stuff! It just happens.
If you take risks (in this case, letting the thing out of the HQ) then you have to bear the consequences. Imagine the number of people who had a prototype phone (let's say 200), with them for 3 months. That's 200x90 times the phone was carried outdoors. That's 18 000 times where the thing could have been lost. Statistically, if you take that and the fact that for the past 3 years no phone has been lost either, it was bound to happen.
It fell on him, that's bad but that doesn't suddenly turn him into a bastard who deserves to be fired, and spat on him by a bunch of nerds on the internet who "would never lose a phone". I bet you've made involuntary mistakes in your life as well. Let he who never sinned...
In any case, let us remind ourselves that this is JUST A PHONE, ok? Nobody got hurt, killed, and iPhones' sales aren't going to be hurt by the release of three pictures of a phone that only a bunch of internet geeks saw anyway.
People are forgetting Steve Jobs is not above the (employment) law.
IF Powell had been asked to test the phone as normal and in normal environments then he cannot get fired for losing it. Its a genuine f*ck up.
Employment law as far as I know exists in California. Millions of people lose phones every year, sure its unlucky but in the eyes of an employment tribunal its not a sackable offence.
Perhaps the fact he had alcohol in his system might be a factor, but normal testing would involve normal environments and a bar would fit into this category.
IF Powell had been asked to test the phone as normal and in normal environments then he cannot get fired for losing it. Its a genuine f*ck up.
Employment law as far as I know exists in California. Millions of people lose phones every year, sure its unlucky but in the eyes of an employment tribunal its not a sackable offence.
Perhaps the fact he had alcohol in his system might be a factor, but normal testing would involve normal environments and a bar would fit into this category.
I worry this leak means there is going to be less real world testing of new kit which will be bad. I love Apple products - they make my life better - however there are a few things like single email inbox, info on home screen etc that smack to me of real people not testing the kit enough for real life usage. We become the beta testers. I also worry that they always test the kit in Apple only environments. Now I hate windows but im forced to use it at work and when out and about. Do Apple test their new kit with it enough?
In my profession we have some custom software thats exactly the same its great but - i can tell the programmers have only ever tested it with 3 or 4 items at once in real life I get 80-90 a day to process and the UI sucks for that many.
In my profession we have some custom software thats exactly the same its great but - i can tell the programmers have only ever tested it with 3 or 4 items at once in real life I get 80-90 a day to process and the UI sucks for that many.
People who believe in conspiracy theories are generally the dumbest idiots of all, but by always taking the stance that they smell a rat, they think they appear cunning and perceptive. That's the most annoying aspect of conspiracy buffs – they actually believe they're way smarter than the people they generally refer to as "gullible sheep who swallowed the official story", when in fact most of these dumbasses would perform miserably in an IQ test or any manner of trial where reason and logic are involved. They think the government, the CIA, the FBI, the police and various hired goons can bring together thousands of people for the assassination of a president and not one of them would spill the beans over the course of 50 years. Here's how skilled the people in power are at keeping secrets: Monica Lewinski and the cigar. Two people in the most protected room in the world, and one of them spilled the beans.
Here's the logical fallacy of it all:
If Apple – a company run by some rather intelligent people – had months, even years to design some devious PR scheme where they would plant a phone which would then end up with a gadget site, why on earth would you think they'd do such a poor job that internet pundits (of average intelligence at best) would think about it for 3 seconds and go "Ha! I totally see through all of this".
Had there been any such plan, it would have been much more sophisticated than anything that took place here.
As Gizmodo said in this article...
http://gizmodo.com/5520746/apple-didnt-leak-the-iphoneand-why-that-matters
"Presuming this was a leak is limp thinking. Worse, it hands back the control of the story to Apple because some are more comfortable believing Apple's machinations are infallible than that they're a company made up of human beings who try to control the news cycle — and that even the best laid plan can fall apart because of a single human mistake."
Given that prior to the iPad release only a few big players of the media industry and app-store devs were granted access to the device only after complying to have the gadget bolted to a table in a room with blacked out windows, connected to a self-destruction TNT-unit in case of fraudulent access, and after having signed their death warrants in case of any leak, it seems, well.... just a lil' odd that someone can take that prototype iPhone to a bar, get boozed and then forget it. Apple is so weird.... 