Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The worst things about working at Apple

Just interesting.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-employees-confess-all-the-worst-things-about-working-at-apple-2014-4

Apple's secrecy is sometimes so strict it disrupts your family life.

Robert Bowdidge told Quora:
"I couldn't tell my wife anything; she knew I was working in a different building across the street and pulling very late nights, but she didn't know what I was doing.  When I had to travel to Manchester UK to work with more of the Transitive folks, she asked to come along.  I had to say 'no way' - she worked for IBM at the time, and I knew that the project lead would freak at the thought of our chip vendor learning about the move."

Your spouse will be told "to forget everything."

bertrand serlet apple wwdc 2009
Bertrand Serlet
Kim Scheinberg tells this story about her husband, Apple employee JK, who invented an Intel version of Mac OSX that ran on PCs. Bertrand Serlet, the svp of software engineering, liked the project:
"Bertrand sits JK down and has a talk with him about how no one can know about this. No one. Suddenly, the home office has to be reconfigured to meet Apple security standards."
"JK points out to Bertrand that I know about the project. In fact, not only do I know about it, I am the person who named it."
"Bertrand tells JK that I am to forget everything I know, and he will not be allowed to speak to me about it again until it is publicly announced."
"I guess he had some kind of 'Total Recall' memory wipe in mind."

If you're working on a new product, you'll be chained to it. Almost literally.

apple ipad mini with retina display
REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
An iPad developer told us this story about the lengths the company went to to ensure a prototype iPad didn't leave the building:
"The criteria was that we had to have a room with no windows. They changed the locks on the door."
"Three developers and I were the only people allowed to go in the room. Apple needed the names and social security numbers of the people who had access."
"Apple needed to be able to drill a hole in the desk and chain the devices to desk. They used those bicycle cables."


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-employees-confess-all-the-worst-things-about-working-at-apple-2014-4#ixzz2yObD1n3i

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