Goodbye from Caffe Macs...

[LaserSteve]

Dear Managers, Owners, Employers, Supervisors who read this blog,

Please do not cancel "Bring your Child to Work Day" because of this one incident..

Not everyone is this brazenly stupid with corporate intellectual property.

In fact I'm shocked that his co-workers allowed filming to continue...

See:

https://gizmodo.com/apple-reportedly-fires-engineer-after-daughters-iphone-1819952027

Steve

[Mr. Scram]

It wouldn't surprise me if this is mostly a publicity thing. It isn't the first time a super secret prototype gets leaked. It may have not been orchestrated, but as the saying goes, you shouldn't let a crisis go to waste.

[LaserSteve]

I did think of that before posting. 

Steve

[ataradov]

It wouldn't surprise me if this is mostly a publicity thing.

Done by which side? I would not think it is a good message for Apple that they had to fire someone in such circumstances.

But yes, being loose with trade secrets like this, will most definitely get you in trouble.

Videos released bu journalists in a more or less controlled manner is one thing, industrial espionage kind of videos are very different, IMO.

[Mr. Scram]

Done by which side? I would not think it is a good message for Apple that they had to fire someone in such circumstances.

But yes, being loose with trade secrets like this, will most definitely get you in trouble.

Videos released bu journalists in a more or less controlled manner is one thing, industrial espionage kind of videos are very different, IMO.

Like I said, it may not have been orchestrated, but we can be very sure the PR department is making the most of it. By blowing it up like this you both warn other employees to be careful and, more importantly, get some nice media attention. Apple is very good at constructing hype. Though it wouldn't surprise me if it were to be fully constructed either. The timing is absolutely perfect, with the phone already being revealed, but not quite yet launched.

We should remember that an employee lost an about to be released phone is a bar a couple of years ago, which sounds a lot like this incident. It's also no secret that the response for the iPhone 8 has been lukewarm.

And, let's be real: nothing really exciting got revealed here, just a quick look at some minor features. Adding a bit of scandal to a minor reveal might just grab that extra bit of attention.

[Cyberdragon]

It's Apple...they deserved every bit of it. (WARNING, incoming!)

Leak what corporate secrets? Apple has nothing worth keeping secret. From what I read it's exactly what you would expect from a new iPhone, a phone with the same avarage hardware and little hardware features with the only "new  features" being some shitty wanky hipster software features that on any normal phone would just be added in an update. But no, Apple has to release an entirely new machine just for:

a few features such as the Cover Sheet notification screen and Animoji

If anything leaks should in theory demonstrate my point. But alas, hipsters will never understand.

[Mr. Scram]

It's Apple...they deserved every bit of it. (WARNING, incoming!)

Leak what corporate secrets? Apple has nothing worth keeping secret. From what I read it's exactly what you would expect from a new iPhone, a phone with the same avarage hardware and little hardware features with the only "new  features" being some shitty wanky hipster software features that on any normal phone would just be added in an update. But no, Apple has to release an entirely new machine just for:

a few features such as the Cover Sheet notification screen and Animoji

If anything leaks should in theory demonstrate my point. But alas, hipsters will never understand.

That's how clever marketing works.

[ataradov]

Leak what corporate secrets?

If all of this is true, then it may be just to make an example for future leaks. To be fair, visual appearance, and most feature descriptions were leaked way before the official announcement.

Not sure why this would work as a marketing either. I'm not sure how this is supposed to convince someone to buy this thing.

[Cyberdragon]

Not sure why this would work as a marketing either. I'm not sure how this is supposed to convince someone to buy this thing.

I hope it does the opposite so sales tank and Apple finally starts losing. Mybe they'll finally learn their lesson and stop producing average and just adiquate crap. We need to bring back the old commercials that used to make fun of Apple (remember those?).

[Mr. Scram]

If all of this is true, then it may be just to make an example for future leaks. To be fair, visual appearance, and most feature descriptions were leaked way before the official announcement.

Not sure why this would work as a marketing either. I'm not sure how this is supposed to convince someone to buy this thing.

Marketing based on rational arguments hasn't really been a thing since the early 60s. Since then, playing on emotion has become the norm. Being part of something, or being different. Sounds familiar, right?

[Brumby]

I think this might incite the wrath of the powers that be - not the emoji:

Apple has a strict policy on how employees are expected to handle confidential in-house information, and Peterson's footage featured both private employee-only QR codes and a notes app with product codenames.

[Cyberdragon]

They can cry like the babies they are all they want but it won't make a damn bit of difference when what we found out was the lamest we could have exepected. I mean, what are they afraid of, that someone would dare copy inferior technology?

[tooki]

I think this might incite the wrath of the powers that be - not the emoji:

Apple has a strict policy on how employees are expected to handle confidential in-house information, and Peterson's footage featured both private employee-only QR codes and a notes app with product codenames.

^^^^ this.

Apple’s employee NDAs leave little to the imagination (I know, I’ve signed one before), and this guy was a fool for allowing his daughter to even hold the damned thing, never mind post a video of it. But Tim Cook’s warmer-and-cuddlier Apple may not have made a big deal of that alone, it being post-keynote. Whereas sharing confidential information like codenames... that’s beyond dumb, it’s tantamount to walking into Jonny Ive’s office and taking a dump on his desk, as far as job security goes. And I think most big companies would react the same to an employee sharing internal information.

P.S. it’s called Caffè Macs.

[LaserSteve]

quote:

"P.S. it’s called Caffè Macs."

Fixed the title for you..

Steve

[Cyberdragon]

Apple is going to try and sue every ever loving penny from them. They protect their crap like a swarm of hornets. We've seen what they did when someone dared copy their rectangular phone design.

[ataradov]

Apple is going to try and sue every ever loving penny from them.

Nah, termination is as much as Apple can do in this case. They pulled the video, and that would be the only reason for a lawsuit.

[ConKbot]

Company trade secrets... On display in the cafeteria. Sounds like they were real concerned about keeping it secret. 

[ataradov]

Company trade secrets... On display in the cafeteria. Sounds like they were real concerned about keeping it secret. 

It was not on display. It is a work phone that she took from her dad. I assume he also unlocked it for her.

[VK3DRB]

From a company like Apple that is infamous for avoiding paying taxes in the countries they sell their products to, making money is the only reason they exist. Apple leaks information on their new products in advance to delay potential purchasers of competition products. The whole story is likely a load of spin created by the corporate desperadoes at Apple.

[Cyberdragon]

From a company like Apple that is infamous for avoiding paying taxes in the countries they sell their products to, making money is the only reason they exist. Apple leaks information on their new products in advance to delay potential purchasers of competition products. The whole story is likely a load of spin created by the corporate desperadoes at Apple.

Leaking if Apple "secrets" should hasten the purchase of anything else. They don't need to tease anything, sheeple hipsters will always flock to them like fleas to a dog despite all of there announcements screaming: "hey, we're releasing a new phone that would have been amazing five years ago but now it's just average and worse then everyone elses. But hey, we'll throw in some stupid simple software crap just so it's not the same as last years, so come any buy our overpriced  crap anyway!"

[A Hellene]

If Apple would build an oscilloscope...

If Apple would build an oscilloscope it would be called 'iScope' and would have been made from a single block of Aluminium, with only one button, and a ultra high resolution touch display with 48 finger multitouch support, It would look absolutely great, but would also have a single 542.7256 kohms input with proprietary connector which requires either special probes (in Apple white, 100MHz x10 for $579 a piece, 250MHz x1/x10 switchable for $799) or an 'iConvert' adapter ($449) which converts the proprietary input to a standard 1 Mohms BNC input. It would technically have 1GS/s real-time sample rate but Apple would call it '50G Supersampling' because that's what the scope would do in multisampling mode and this would be the only mode available (real time sampling could be unlocked after a jailbreak, though). Of course the scope would run 'iScopeOS' (which would be based on iOS) and come with the new 'iMeasure' application which would be something like iTunes but for waveforms instead of music. It would also come with its own integrated store where users can buy waveforms so they don't have to make measurements themselves any more.

A year later the new iScope 2 would come out. It would of course be even shiny-er, and come with '100G Supersampling' (still based on 1GS/s ADCs). It would also come with two or four proprietary inputs, but unfortunately the connector is new and the impedance is now 711.3423 kOhms so the old probes and 'iConvert' no longer fit. Along with the new scope a new version of iScopeOS for scopes would be introduced, now with different color scheme ('Norwegian Tundra' as default color scheme) and support for biometric user identification by licking of the single scope button which also functions as biometric sensor, but since this requires a lickable button iScope 1 would be no longer supported.

 

Sorry, I couldn't resist...


-George

[Mr. Scram]

If Apple would build an oscilloscope...


Sorry, I couldn't resist...


-George

To be fair, Apple rarely tries to compete on technical specifications, even if they're actually superior. They seem to have moved that way since Jobs left, though.

[Rick Law]

I am actually surprised by the negative comments about this firing.  This employee was careless with company confidential material.   He shown the iPhone with sensitive information to his daughter, that was mistake number one.  Worst, he let her play with it.  Even worst still, he let her video it.

If I am looking for a developer with intend to develop something for a market with loads of competitors, I would need the confident that confidential material stay confidential.  NDA or not, I consider it common sense that one should handle company-confidential material with care.

I feel bad for the guy - very bad for the guy.  But, I think this firing is appropriate.

[Cyberdragon]

Of course he deserved it, that man is going to have a terrible time finding a new job now. The fact that it was Apple only nullified any potential impact. Had it been any other company, like Samsung or Google, we wouldn't be laughing as the damage would have been far more severe.

[Mr. Scram]

Of course he deserved it, that man is going to have a terrible time finding a new job now. The fact that it was Apple only nullified any potential impact. Had it been any other company, like Samsung or Google, we wouldn't be laughing as the damage would have been far more severe.

Because...?