My grandpa used to say: The thanks is in the paycheck.
You want my weekends? Fuck you, pay me.
Apple's inspirational note to new hires
81–90 of 141 posts
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#82nice, but how many of you are ready to sacrifice your life (weekends) for a company's profit. - Curing cancer: yes - Saving lives : yes - Building an outlet for yet spending more money : no As much a I love my work, I won't love it more than my wife, or my future children.
Here's the question (which I sincerely don't know the answer)
Do Apple offer stock options? Bonus per project?
Other factors could be: what's the impact of having Apple in your CV? Getting to say you worked on project X ?(Apparently this is something Apple limits disclosure, still, if you're an cell phone engineer not a lot of projects you could work)
Sacrificing your life for a company's profit looks like the job is only a physical process of "turning a money machine".
And of course, I hate sacrificing weekends and holidays.
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#83Reading the comments, a question just struck me - honestly how many of the really competent people (the ones who make real difference in the world) think about what corporation they are willing to work for and on what grounds?
Brad Fitzpatrick (memcached fame) for instance mentions this in the Android performance related video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... - believes in open source, doesn't want Android to fail due to responsiveness issues - that's his motivation.
What might be the motivations of great people lately working for Apple - they can make a great product anywhere, why with Apple?
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
'Enterpreneurial' is defined as 'willing to take risks in order to make a profit.' Yes, I've quit my nice day job to run a company on what was basically a bluff. Yes, I was literally hungry on more than one occasion. Yes, I don't have a clue how things will pan out within more than 3+ months with my company. Yet, I go on, and I'm not without an option to go back to comfort cave. There's nothing enterpreneurial in get…
No-one has said otherwise. Some people do not want to take the risks that you have. That doesn't make them any less of a person or less ambitious, it means that they have different goals and priorities to you. If you weren't so wrapped up in hubris you might actually learn something from it.
Point taken on being wrapped up in hubris.
But, what I failed to get through with the reply is the explanation why HN folk (enterpreneurs) might not resonate with the Apple message which is basically a pep talk for a non-enterpreneurial job position masqueraded as the opposite ("deep waters" ~ "risk taking").
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#85Reading the comments, a question just struck me - honestly how many of the really competent people (the ones who make real difference in the world) think about what corporation they are willing to work for and on what grounds? Brad Fitzpatrick (memcached fame) for instance mentions this in the Android performance related video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... - believes in open source, do…
"they can make a great product anywhere, why with Apple?"
How many software/hardware companies are making great products? I'm an Apple user (though I very much dislike the behavior of the company), but I'm hard-pressed to name any company building better products than Apple. Or even name many that are in the neighborhood.
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#86Reading the comments, a question just struck me - honestly how many of the really competent people (the ones who make real difference in the world) think about what corporation they are willing to work for and on what grounds? Brad Fitzpatrick (memcached fame) for instance mentions this in the Android performance related video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v... - believes in open source, do…
"they can make a great product anywhere, why with Apple?" How many software/hardware companies are making great products? I'm an Apple user (though I very much dislike the behavior of the company), but I'm hard-pressed to name any company building better products than Apple. Or even name many that are in the neighborhood.
Well, Apple is sum of its parts - it's the people that make Apple into what they are. So presumably they can build great products under different corporation? I can think of the money problem - if a great product requires the kind of money that only Apple can afford - but how many great products require that kind of money?
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#87nice, but how many of you are ready to sacrifice your life (weekends) for a company's profit. - Curing cancer: yes - Saving lives : yes - Building an outlet for yet spending more money : no As much a I love my work, I won't love it more than my wife, or my future children.
> As much a I love my work, I won't love it more than my wife, or my future children. Steve Jobs clearly did, and wanted people with that level of commitment. Can't fault him for trying to find people willing to give him their lives.
Sorry but I can't helped thinking about Adolph Hitler.
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#88So 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…
A lot of people don't seem to grasp that there is no dichotomy between turning ever-higher profits and creating outstanding value for customers. At least not in the minds of the many people who admire Apple, so your implication that they are somehow deluded rings hollow.
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#89>>There's work and there's your life's work. Sure there is, that is why we choose to do it for a price that makes our life rewarding and deserving of such work. Talking of work and no rewards and compensation is not very impressive these days. >>The kind of work that has your fingerprints all over it. Yes that is why commits to source code repos exists. So that users who make them are traceable. Nearly every Open sou…
I suspect they didn't actually say the same things to the slaves that built the Pyramids; I suspect they just told them to get on with moving rock and whipped them if they didn't. Certainly I'd much rather work for Apple than the ancient Egyptians.
Re: Apple's inspirational note to new hires
#90Since this message is directed to new hires, probably in a new-hire orientation, I don't see a problem. New hires know exactly what they're getting into with Apple, at this point. At least this message has more soul and honesty than "we're a people company". Also, isn't it saying you're not a cog here. If that's a flat out lie, then ok, but its a nice thought.