

Secrets at Apple's Core [Entire Talk] - mindcrime
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2973

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physcab
Pretty interesting talk, though he paints Apple in a glamorous way. However,
in the Q&A he does address the real culture of Apple. Apple is a culture of
work. You put in long hours, you don't get very flexible vacation, you don't
really have a work-life balance, and if you work on a major product you'll be
sent to China to suffer in a factory for 3 weeks every other month. I've heard
the burnout rate is high and the average number of divorces amongst its
employees who have stayed longer than 5 years is 3. Also, Apple isn't an angel
abroad. They put their vendors in tough positions and exert their power of
scale and cash where it can benefit them most.

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glenra
What do you mean by "suffer in a factory"? FWIW, I worked for a Silicon Valley
company that sent me to China on a regular basis to solve problems on the
factory floor and/or in the engineering offices nearby - I'd spend a few weeks
in China, then come home for a week or two, then go back again - and it was
one of the most fascinating experiences of my career. There was no "suffering"
at my factory so far as I could tell. The factory environment was generally
optimized for getting work done and foreign visitors were pretty much immune
to the few mild annoyances the local workers were subject to (such as having
to go through security when exiting the factory floor - we had a badge that
got us around that. And we had access to nicer bathrooms.)

~~~
physcab
Sorry, my comment wasn't very well formulated. I actually was trying to be
slightly sarcastic and over-dramatic to make a point. The point being, Apple
seems to demand quite a bit from its employees, such that they are required to
make sacrifices other companies do not usually require. For me, flying 14
hours to be away from friends and family and not allowed to go anywhere but
the factory and the hotel in which you stay seems like suffering. To others,
that could quite possibly be the best experience of their lives. To each his
own I guess.

~~~
glenra
Why do you believe an Apple employee wouldn't be allowed to go anywhere but
the factory and the hotel? Not that there's necessarily a lot _to_ do in the
area, but are you saying they couldn't go out to lunch at a nearby hotpot
restaurant? Or at least schedule their return so that there's a weekend to
explore Hong Kong on the way back?

Me and my coworkers did a bunch of weekend excursions whenever we were in or
passing through Hong Kong such as: hiking up to see the Big Buddha of Lantau
Island, having dinner at Igor's (a monster-themed restaurant), seeing the
local amusement park, finding a private Thai "dinner club", taking the ferry
to Macau to play blackjack, seeing museums to get their take on the local
history, or just wandering around to find food or souvenirs (the "Temple
Street night market") or illegal software (the "Golden Arcade") or video games
that hadn't come out in the US yet (Dance Dance Revolution was HUGE there in
1999)...

Also, I sometimes scheduled my trips to fly to Hong Kong with a stopover at
Narita Airport so I could stay in Tokyo with a friend and take a few days of
my vacation time there with my company having paid all my travel expenses.

If you _like_ exploring bits of China and the surrounding area, having a
business excuse to be going there a lot is awesome. Even if the neighborhood
of the factory itself is a bit boring - and it is - the journey there and back
can be fascinating. Especially if you like your coworkers - both the ones from
your home company and the ones you meet at the factory - and have tried to
learn a bit of the local languages. I even had fun interacting with the girls
who were working on the line doing electronics assembly - I taught them some
magic tricks and brought pictures I'd taken on prior trips and we tried to
have interesting conversations despite the language and other cultural
barriers.

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pohl
I'm 20 minutes into it and enjoying it. Adam Lashinsky does have some
interesting observations.

~~~
mindcrime
Yeah, I found a gem or two in there the first time I went through it. I didn't
take notes though, so I'm planning to go back through again when I can focus
on it (I was listening at work at the $dayjob first time around) and take some
notes.

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J3L2404
Regarding crapware preinstalled on computers:

"Apple doesn't insult it's customers in the first ten minutes with its
product."

There is a reason it's called crapware.

------
J3L2404
When asked if Apple could been located elsewhere:

"Apple is headquarter-centric....maybe it could have been in Boston, but
Steve's feet would get cold when he walked around."

