Apple's inspirational note to new hires • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#51

Post by praptak » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:41 PM UTC

chc wrote: post #24

davidw wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I had a similar reaction to that line. I might consider working weekends if I get something out of it other than "swimming in the deep end", like, say, extra money, or the prospect of extra money in the future in the case of a startup where one puts in that kind of time in the hope of future rewards. That is made possible by having a significant equity stake in the company. I mean, if you look at it from someth…

Making this material attractive to people who would just as soon work as quants is probably not Apple's goal here. If you don't react favorably, you probably aren't what they want. (I'm not saying this is necessarily a bad thing, just that if money is really all you can think of in a job, some companies are more OK with that and others prefer passion, and it's good that people suited for one kind don't end up at the…

> just that if money is really all you can think of in a job, some companies are more OK with that and others prefer passion, and it's good that people suited for one kind don't end up at the other.

You seem to imply it's either passion or compensation which looks like a false dichotomy to me. Lots of people have passion for their work but still they're smart enough to avoid companies who treat the passion like a weakness to exploit so that they can pay lower wages.

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#52

Post by dsirijus » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:42 PM UTC

lionhearted wrote: post #50

dsirijus wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And you make them accessible by charging more than anyone else for them? Hello from the third world.

Historically, most innovations start expensive and as luxury goods, then the innovations are copied and diffused and become cheaper, and eventually commodities. That seems to be happening here as well.

The relatively recent Apple valuation proves irrevocably that those devices could've came in helluva cheaper than they did and are.

I'm not denying the pinnacle acchievements and innovations at Apple here. I'm denying they're in it for the "computer accesibility and development of the world".

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#53

Post by ThomPete » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:45 PM UTC

The day that any other company is even able to remotely make such a down to earth note and yet so prosaic the negative comments will make sense.

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#54

Post by rscale » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:46 PM UTC

ralfd wrote: post #46

kalleboo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where's the no payment option? Only when you set up a new iOS device? http://imgb.mp/ic5.jpg

Ok, I googled… This support doc details how to do it on creating a new account: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2534 But I honestly don't know if you can change it on an existing US based account to "none". Like in the other reply I can do it in my german based iTunes account (Keine = None) http://imgur.com/c91MA.png

The same option is available on my American Apple ID.

http://cl.ly/2C1n2C3e2z3a2Z0B0o44

Reachable by opening my account in iTunes, then clicking the 'Edit' button next to 'Payment Information'.

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#55

Post by nhangen » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:48 PM UTC

As someone who is currently working in an organization that doesn't offer me that sort of fulfillment, I'd love to be working for Apple and receiving that on day 1.

Not everyone is going to be an entrepreneur, fewer of us will be successful entrepreneurs. If we are going to work for someone else, it's nice to be able to do something we can be proud of. I imagine that working for Apple makes that possible.

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#56

Post by dsirijus » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:51 PM UTC

dsirijus wrote: post #20

SwellJoe wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd go further, and say that Apple is significantly worse than many other corporations in our industry, in terms of how they treat their people, how they treat their customers, and how they view the world and the ecosystem in which they operate. When Apple has power, they abuse it. When they don't have power, they fight tooth and nail to obtain it, while playing the underdog card. And, there are corporations in our i…

When I had to provide credit card information to install FREE application from iTunes, and send copy of ID to Facebook to get my account unlocked (because of their obvious system-wide bug), all in one week, I gave up. I'll finish these Facebook apps I am contracted to build, wrap up iOS apps also under contract, and stick it to the man. No more of this hogwash.

I'm confirming that out of 3 iPhone users I've asked just now, 1 cannot download any apps since he doesn't have a credit card and the 'None' option is not present, and 2 other could only select 'None' AFTER they've provided the credit card information in the first place. I also belong in the second category.

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#57

Post by thatjoshguy » Mon, May 07, 2012, 12:58 PM UTC

theorique wrote: post #39

Apple is a cult? I believe it. Not that I'm complaining, as I type this on my MacBook Pro, with my iPhone beside it and my iPad 3 and iPod Nano in the backpack on the floor. Cult or not, they make high quality products at high prices. I've drunk the Kool-Aid just like many of you.

> I've drunk the Kool-Aid just like many of you.

There's a difference between drinking the Kool-Aid and knowing why people drink the Kool-Aid

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#58

Post by crusso » Mon, May 07, 2012, 1:00 PM UTC

dsirijus wrote: post #52

lionhearted wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Historically, most innovations start expensive and as luxury goods, then the innovations are copied and diffused and become cheaper, and eventually commodities. That seems to be happening here as well.

The relatively recent Apple valuation proves irrevocably that those devices could've came in helluva cheaper than they did and are. I'm not denying the pinnacle acchievements and innovations at Apple here. I'm denying they're in it for the "computer accesibility and development of the world".

You're contradicting yourself. Your first statement indicated that their pricing meant that they weren't making computers accessible to everyday people. Now you're just attacking their motives (that you can't really know).

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#59

Post by [deleted] » Mon, May 07, 2012, 1:00 PM UTC

josteink wrote: post #14

So like... A company bragging about itself in a way to make employees work more without asking to get paid for it? Can't say I've seen anything like that before. How original this makes Apple! Back to real life: every company claims to be best, unique or something like that. Some hollow, BS claim to motivate their employees. But just because they print it on a poster doesn't make it any more real. Apple is heartless…

[deleted]

Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires

#60

Post by ralfd » Mon, May 07, 2012, 1:04 PM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #7

Honest question: is it really possible to do that sort of work as a cog inside a huge corporation? I'm asking because I'm looking at very likely being gobbled up by such a large corporation ...

Apple is famously lean. The Safari version which shipped with the original iPad 2010 was done by only two people. I find that remarkable.

But I too wonder how it is to work there. From other companies like Google or Microsoft there are more stories available, from the hiring process to rants from happy or disgruntled employees. Compared to that Apple is even post-Steve an enigmatic black box. Like, how many hacker news comments are there in which the user is outing herself as an engineer at Apple? I don't remember ever reading one.