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Apple 2001

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Re: Apple 2001

#11

Post by em3rgent0rdr »

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened.

Smart idea...do a bunch of random input as if you were a confused user and see what happens.

Re: Apple 2001

#12

Post by smcl »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #11

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened…

That is indeed a fine test to perform and I’d hope that random clicking was already part of the testing. But I think the issue is that he was testing functionality that wasn’t yet (fully?) implemented and when it inevitably crashed he berated the team. Don’t personally wanna relitigate the “was Jobs a bad boss” thing as I feel like that’s been done to death, but feel free to pull that thread and consider why Jobs might have behaved this way.

Re: Apple 2001

#13

Post by jolux »

smcl wrote: post #12
em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #11

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened…

That is indeed a fine test to perform and I’d hope that random clicking was already part of the testing. But I think the issue is that he was testing functionality that wasn’t yet (fully?) implemented and when it inevitably crashed he berated the team. Don’t personally wanna relitigate the “was Jobs a bad boss” thing as I feel like that’s been done to death, but feel free to pull that thread and consider why Jobs mig…

I dunno, I feel like unfinished functionality should probably be feature flagged in your demo releases, or you're just asking for problems like this.

If it was literally a nightly or something though then that's different and definitely an asshole move.

Re: Apple 2001

#14

Post by simonh »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #11

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened…

I don’t think it’s either of those. Steve cared first and foremost about the user experience and the only way to understand that is to use the device.

As for perfectionism I think that’s overblown. I’ve read or listened to many people who worked with him and yes he was demanding but almost all oft gem had huge respect for him personally and professionally.

The thing is Jobs hired the absolute best engineers he could get, and worked with the best for his whole career. That was just the standard he was used to and expected.

Re: Apple 2001

#15

Post by ronenlh »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #11

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened…

If so, I think he knew the features weren’t finished, but he demanded the product not to crash nevertheless. It’s an interesting thing to expect as a product owner: A stability-first approach to development.

I personally hate the “it’s temporary” excuse we developers often have.

Re: Apple 2001

#17

Post by l1k »

> This was the first time that I was aware of Apple had shipped a little Endian processor.

FWIW, the LaserWriter 16/600 PS (introduced 1994) uses an Intel 80168 as I/O processor for AppleTalk serving etc.

So Apple did develop for and ship little endian CPUs way before the iPod.

Re: Apple 2001

#18

Post by Stranger43 »

l1k wrote: post #17

> This was the first time that I was aware of Apple had shipped a little Endian processor. FWIW, the LaserWriter 16/600 PS (introduced 1994) uses an Intel 80168 as I/O processor for AppleTalk serving etc. So Apple did develop for and ship little endian CPUs way before the iPod.

The MOS 6502 powering the apple II was as far as i know also litle endien.

Most PPC chips would actually run both big or little endian and but im not sure weather MAC OS Clasic ever ran anything other then big endian.

Re: Apple 2001

#19

Post by poyu »

em3rgent0rdr wrote: post #11

> You usually get 30 seconds in before Steve would grab the iPod out of my boss’s hand and would just start clicking around to play with it. And of course that’s the worst thing ever because half of the stuff isn’t hooked up yet and Steve’s going to hit something and then it’s going to crash. And then Steve just decides that you’re all a bunch of idiots because your software crashes. So we hated it when that happened…

Sounds a lot like Chaos Monkey

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_engineering

Re: Apple 2001

#20

Post by amelius »

> Apple had a lot of special projects that would go on at various times. There were people who would have their office doors closed, and whenever you would go and see if they wanted to go to lunch, they would actually have black cloth they would put over whatever they were working on. This was not that uncommon.

Come on now, these are consumer products. And the technology already existed. If you want "special", then work for NASA, DoD, or CERN.

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