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New York Times Reports on Apple's Obsession With Secrecy

ObsidianIce said:
Fair...but having never worked at Apple...how can you comment on it? Do you know firsthand what they are and aren't allowed to do?
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Nope, but I can gauge by the way they go about their business. Company culture can give you a false sense of security. At the end of the day the company is interested in surviving itself and only bestows it on you such that you can better perform for the benefit of the company.
I wish everybody was a freelancer. Then we could hire each other services and cut the company culture crap.
 
robbyx said:
Secrecy is fun!
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And thus the nail is hit on the head, or at least one of the nails. That's what Apple is all about: taking technology and making it fun. Best way to achieve it is to live it.

The other reason the secrecy is important is that Apple's strength lies with getting things pretty much 'perfect' and high quality - that real polished experience - as opposed to keeping up with features etc. They don't do something (take copy/paste on the iPhone as an example) until confident that they can meet their the quality-of-experience standards that people love.

But what would've happened if everything about the original iPhone was already known early in development? I think that companies like Palm would've come along, said "Ha, we can do that but with all these features" (i.e. the Pre would've been first) and people would've flocked to it, without realising the importance of a highly polished experience. Apple would've been the Betamax.

In other words - Apple are inventors, innovators. Usually, people like that lose - they have the passion to make their dream product, but other companies with more resources and lower standards come along, steal the idea and beat them to it. Even though the product isn't as good, it gets out there first and gets all the glory and market share. Apple seem to have found a way to guard themselves against this, which is a really good idea instead of just relying on the (rubbish) patent system.
 
Good for Apple to maintain what it thinks is right policy regarding secrecy. Having worked in similar type places before, it's no big deal.

As others have said, it sounds like the media is upset that they can't get the story. So be it.
 
>>>according to one former Apple employee
typo. should read:
>>>according to one present or former MS employee

more weapons of mass destruction FUD
 
frabber said:
Nope, but I can gauge by the way they go about their business. Company culture can give you a false sense of security. At the end of the day the company is interested in surviving itself and only bestows it on you such that you can better perform for the benefit of the company.
I wish everybody was a freelancer. Then we could hire each other services and cut the company culture crap.
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Interesting thoughts, but as someone who has worked for Apple the culture is not locked down the way you seem to think. And free lancing wouldn't really help. It's obvious businesses are there for them selves...having all freelance employees would do absolutely nothing to fix that issue..the nature of the beast doesn't change just because you feed it a different type of food.
 
synth3tik said:
It all sounds like sound business practices to me.

That's how you can stay ahead of the game.

As far as Steve's health is concerned. That to me seems like a topic for Steve's Family, and close friends. Have a hard time figuring how that is any of our business.
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The reason why this is considered "our business" is because of the geeral impression held by the press that Steve Jobs is what fuels Apple – almost entirely. The Guardian newspaper in the UK thought that he would be one of the most important people in 2009 precisely because of his control over the company. No other CEO is so intertwined with the day to day business of a company, and it it is his personality specifically that people believe may be difficult for Apple to replace successfully in the future.
 
omg,
Apple needs to keep there products safe because when the information is leaked im telling you it assists other companies in the way they develop there products, as soon as Apple products get released they are copied (well people try and copy them ;) )


The employees themselves have chosen to work for an amazing company and if they are so worked up about having security around the products than they aren't really the people we want testing or developing our products :)
:apple::apple:
 
I don't blame them for being secretive. How crappy would it be if everyone stops buying things weeks in advance if they know about the new product? Honestly, only a small fraction of people do the right amount of research before buying any piece of electronics.
 
In other news, the sun rose up in the east this morning and it will set in the west tonight.
Wow, talk about a non-story. :rolleyes:
 
Wow, I can't believe the bitching about Steve Job's health, lets be clear here people, he has ONE responsibility to Apple's shareholders; to ensure that if something should happen to him (hormones, liver disease, cancer or just a good 'ol double decker bus with his name on it) should take him out of the picture, there must be plans in place to ensure that he has a successor, and that Apple will be able to continue on without him. THAT'S IT! He has no other responsibilities to talk about his personal well being or divulge medical information simply because whining reporters want him to. Quite frankly, I think Apple's well set up for Steve Jobs to leave (death or retirement or other), Tim Cook has been doing a fine job as CEO, and Jonathan Ive promises lots of shiny new toys for the faithful (and those who have yet to be converted :D )
 
breeze said:
that Apple's real investors and loyal users, are quite happy accepting the secrecy and trusting Apple and it's board.
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*********. As an investor I (and the rest of the market) could give a rat's ass about secrecy or full transparency - doesn't matter just as long as the stock continues to climb and the dividends keep coming.[/quote]
 
I do not believe the black cloaks part,the rest ya I do.The black cloaks bit sounds to much like intel agencies covering files on their desks etc.I mean would not an extra secure room with no windows be a lot better.


I wonder if some of the untrue rumors they put out there include SL features?
 
droz said:
yes, especially considering that this article is a pure ripoff of one or two that were published last year. Wired wrote an article about the secrecy at Cupertino http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-04/bz_apple. And I know there was at least one other, maybe by Businessweek or Time (and many others actually), that touched on the legality behind the health information being shared, or lack thereof.

NYT is an also-ran.
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I am glad someone pointed this article out. By the way, I loved the cover they had on that issue. It talked about how when they were developing the iPhone the hardware people were just given a basic os and told to develop portable hardware for it. The software team was told just to work on the os for a portable device. Both sides did not have knowledge of what the product was going to be as a whole. It also stated that for it's meetings with ATT they used the company name of one of their very small, bought companies. So they would not have a connection to having meetings with cell companies. I think in the article somewhere it stated Jobs even has a room in his home that none of his family is allowed into.
 
i actually dont like that all these leaks and rumors about the product before hand. i like to get surprised by Apple. These days we usually always know whats coming and they get it more than half right. i also see a lot of people get disappoint because something that was rumored didnt come true. I cant keep away from sites like these, but i would prefer that there where none rumors at all. Make it a lot more fun at the presentations.
 
Cloudane said:
The other reason the secrecy is important is that Apple's strength lies with getting things pretty much 'perfect' and high quality - that real polished experience - as opposed to keeping up with features etc.
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It is more so of late that Apple choses to focus on the different set of features. Or it is a matter of emphasis. However, they do tend to work out many kinks before it leaves.


But what would've happened if everything about the original iPhone was already known early in development? I think that companies like Palm would've come along, said "Ha, we can do that but with all these features" (i.e. the Pre would've been first) and people would've flocked to it, without realising the importance of a highly polished experience. Apple would've been the Betamax.
Click to expand...

Except other folks did announce touch screen phones in advance of Apple. LG for instance. Folks knew it was coming along before that. Anyone who was poking around the places where cellphone parts vendors were hocking their future products knew this stuff was coming out also.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/18/lgs-ke850-prada-official-iphone-says-wha/

http://www.everyipod.com/iphone-faq...msung-instinct-htc-touch-diamond-lg-dare.html

[ some of these early entries even did video and voice menus. Who copied from whom?????? ]




In other words - Apple are inventors, innovators. Usually, people like that lose - they have the passion to make their dream product, but other companies with more resources and lower standards come along, steal the idea and beat them to it. Even though the product isn't as good, it gets out there first and gets all the glory and market share. Apple seem to have found a way to guard themselves against this, which is a really good idea instead of just relying on the (rubbish) patent system.
Click to expand...

Apple hasn't been a "first mover" in most areas in a long time. At this point more of a "refine the first mover's effort and out pace them because we have some leverage" at this point. (that includes leveraging the rubbish patent system, by the way.) Can perhaps tad them as innovators for evolving products along lines that the originals missed, but blazing brand new paths types of innovators .... not really.
Apple's not Xerox PARC or Bell Labs or IBM Reasearch like in that kind of depth of innovation.


In that second mover context, may actually need to stalk new areas more quietly since they'd know Apple was coming.
 
Really, what’s the argument for how Apple has "suffered" for its secrecy? Questions from the SEC? A few grumbling investors?

Peanuts.

Yes, Apple is far more secretive than most companies, but they’re also far more successful (pound for pound, for instance, they're far more impressive than MS.) Measured by profit and revenue and growth, the big picture tells us that their "secrecy" policy is right on the money. It's a winning formula that carries with it some costs. Small price to pay for the long-term benefits that occurred from Seve Jobs' return over a decade ago to the present day. Apple's policies, practices and philosophy have paid off magnificently - for the company, for users, and even investors.

This should all be quite obvious, anyway. It really doesn't require a half-hearted NYT "report."


deconstruct60 said:
It is more so of late that Apple choses to focus on the different set of features. Or it is a matter of emphasis. However, they do tend to work out many kinks before it leaves.




Except other folks did announce touch screen phones in advance of Apple. LG for instance. Folks knew it was coming along before that. Anyone who was poking around the places where cellphone parts vendors were hocking their future products knew this stuff was coming out also.
http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/18/lgs-ke850-prada-official-iphone-says-wha/

http://www.everyipod.com/iphone-faq...msung-instinct-htc-touch-diamond-lg-dare.html

[ some of these early entries even did video and voice menus. Who copied from whom?????? ]






Apple hasn't been a "first mover" in most areas in a long time. At this point more of a "refine the first mover's effort and out pace them because we have some leverage" at this point. (that includes leveraging the rubbish patent system, by the way.) Can perhaps tad them as innovators for evolving products along lines that the originals missed, but blazing brand new paths types of innovators .... not really.
Apple's not Xerox PARC or Bell Labs or IBM Reasearch like in that kind of depth of innovation.


In that second mover context, may actually need to stalk new areas more quietly since they'd know Apple was coming.
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Apple completely redefined the smartphone market, and created a whole new one with their App Store.

Show me another touch interface like the one on the iPhone appearing on a previous product.

Ditto for the mp3 player market. And those are just two examples.

Seems like quite the "first mover" to me . . . it's as if previous products of that type had never even existed.
 
If any one of us had been the one to create the original Lisa/Mac QUI, and we had made the mistake to show an early version of it to Bill Gates, only to have Gates rip it off and end up making a fortune off of it, then ALL of us would be just as secretive as Apple.

Microsoft doesn't innovate, it imitates. Secrecy is an absolute necessity for Apple.

Mark
 
this is what makes apple, well, apple. Secrecy keeps nearly everyone on the edge of their chairs wanting more.

I'm not much of a MS fan but when is the last time you heard of them having something similar to a keynote? Yeah. The only time I hear about their products is 6 months after apple releases theirs.

You stock holders, get a grip. I am a stock holder as well, just not apple. I haven't felt the need to buy apple at this price point. I will tell you one thing though, I would feel confident in their brand, reputation and "secrecy." Heck, that is apple.
 
shaunymac said:
I'm not much of a MS fan but when is the last time you heard of them having something similar to a keynote?
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CES comes to mind. Maybe even WinHEC to an extent.

I also do like being able to try out Windows 7 as well. It's nice to be surprised at Apple's keynotes but the public does want to take part beyond being a developer.
 
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