Live data from Hacker News

Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

macrumors.com

151–160 of 734 posts

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#151

Is there anything HNers feel more passionately about than remote work?

A couple contenders off the top of my head: 1. Defending pseudoscience (as long as it’s related to nutrition and exercise) 2. Disgust with “marketing people” and anyone with an MBA 3. Hating “woke” culture 4. Justifying piracy

These all seem like high priority virtues so it’s nice that you think HN feels similarly about them.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#152
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We deserve to have input into how we work best and if that means walking away from companies run by egomaniacs that need to see butts in seats, then so be it. The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is to organize your coworkers. You have much more bargaining power about your work conditions as an organized union. The history of unionization stems primarily from workers demanding safe working environments.

> You have much more bargaining power about your work conditions as an organized union. You also give away your power as an individual to those running the union.

In much the same way that “getting a lawyer” gives away one’s power in a courtroom.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#153

Good for him. These companies touting their solutions for creating a more connected world can't have it both ways. Apple was able to ship the M1 and roll out new iterations of many other offerings since the pandemic hit. They're just fine. Apple didn't collapse since the pandemic hit, and the flexibility offered by remote work is far more valuable to lots of people than the loss of in-person collaboration opportuniti…

Not to undermine your point, wich which i agree wholeheartedly, but I wanted to address one thing.

I imagine quite a lot of people who worked on M1 hardware probably still had to show up to the office. For some positions it is just required. A friend of mine who worked on hardware at Apple had to go to the office almost every day throughout the pandemic (and no, i dont know what product he worked on, and I am not going to ask given the whole thing with apple being extremely secretive). So clearly, there are certain scenarios for certain positions which might require the person to work in the office.

However, to support your point, that director of ML in the article had been working remote for the past 2 years just fine. So clearly he wasn't in the same position as my friend, and that director's position didn't really have a need for him to be in the office. Which is why imo it was silly to lose him just because of such an unnecessarily arbitrary rule.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What power do you have as an individual in a company? Other than quitting, your leverage is extremely limited.

The problem with this question is there are people, like me, for whom the answer is "a lot". I have repeatedly gotten my employer to do things for me that they would not have done on their own. They need me more than I need them, and we both know it. This is also by the way the main dissenting opinion in the recent Amazon union vote. There were several people who were interviewed by the economist as voting no, who sa…

Open question (I'm not American, so I don't get the full context): would you lose that bargaining power if a union was created at your workplace?

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#155

Good for him. These companies touting their solutions for creating a more connected world can't have it both ways. Apple was able to ship the M1 and roll out new iterations of many other offerings since the pandemic hit. They're just fine. Apple didn't collapse since the pandemic hit, and the flexibility offered by remote work is far more valuable to lots of people than the loss of in-person collaboration opportuniti…

> We deserve to have input into how we work best and if that means walking away from companies run by egomaniacs that need to see butts in seats, then so be it. The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is to organize your coworkers. You have much more bargaining power about your work conditions as an organized union. The history of unionization stems primarily from workers demanding safe working environments.

I would love a union to protect me from nasty working conditions, like remote meetings.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#156

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the on…

The office is where the very expensive labs are. For at least parts of Apple engineering, very expensive equipment and prototypes are under lockdown and too expensive to duplicate for WFH. (at least that's how it was during my several years there.)

People are smart enough ( I'm sure there is a hiding bar at these companies) to go to the office if they require access to certain equipment which they cannot take home. Why impose a rule that doesn't make sense.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#157

I can’t help but notice the timing of this. ML is starting to fizzle out as a “savior” of the industry after lofty promises were never fulfilled. Goodfellow was hired right at the peak of ML hype, so I have to assume his salary/total compensation was extraordinarily high, so he was very expensive to keep around. Apple would’ve made an exemption for exceptional talent. They didn’t make the exception for him.

Don't know about your first point on ML, but I think the second point is the more salient one. If Goodfellow was that productive and that much of a value add they would have found a way to keep him.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#158
post #144

WFH is screwing young workers by eliminating the mentorship, learning by osmosis and relationship-building that has propelled many knowledge-based careers. If Goodfellow were truly a good fellow, he would recognize the higher purpose.

None of those things have to suffer! They just can't be done by accident any more.

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#159
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's just say that is it correct that he is still known for his 2014 GAN work.

It must be difficult to repeat the success of a once-in-a-lifetime finding.

You think GANs are once in a lifetime?

Re: Apple's director of machine learning resigns due to return to office work

#160

Good for him. These companies touting their solutions for creating a more connected world can't have it both ways. Apple was able to ship the M1 and roll out new iterations of many other offerings since the pandemic hit. They're just fine. Apple didn't collapse since the pandemic hit, and the flexibility offered by remote work is far more valuable to lots of people than the loss of in-person collaboration opportuniti…

> We deserve to have input into how we work best and if that means walking away from companies run by egomaniacs that need to see butts in seats, then so be it. The logical conclusion of this line of thinking is to organize your coworkers. You have much more bargaining power about your work conditions as an organized union. The history of unionization stems primarily from workers demanding safe working environments.

I now try to convince anyone who cold-calls me to join a trade union.

The employer can’t be all that good if they’re ignoring the do-not-call registry. And I think it slightly increases the chances of bad actors ceasing cold-calling.

Post reply on HN