Former OS X chief working on cloud startup with other ex-Apple employees
Bertrand Serlet, formerly the head of OS X development at Apple, has reportedly been working with a cloud computing startup called "Upthere" since he left Apple last year.
Serlet is working with at least two other former Apple employees at the company in downtown Palo Alto, Calif., according to Business Insider. The company is described as a "cloud hosting provider" with "consulting services in the field of cloud computing."
Said to have joined Serlet at Upthere is Roger Bodamer, a former vice president of product operations and development at Apple, as well as Justin Maxwell, a former Apple user interface designer.
Other details on Upthere are scarce. The company filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Organization in September of 2011, which was granted.
A job posting for Upthere didn't identify Serlet or any other ex-Apple employees by name, stating only that the company's founders "were key to building the world's leading operating system (Mac OS X) and database (Oracle) and have a clear vision of core technology for a Cloud OS."
The departure of Serlet from Apple was announced in March of 2011, making him one of a handful of key executives that would exit the company last year. Retail chief Ron Johnson also announced last June that he would be leaving Apple in November become the new chief executive at retailer JC Penney, while company co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs passed away last October at age 56.
Serlet worked with Jobs for 22 years before last year's departure, which he said would let him "focus less on products and more on science." He was replaced at Apple by Craig Federighi, who is now responsible for the development of OS X.
Serlet is working with at least two other former Apple employees at the company in downtown Palo Alto, Calif., according to Business Insider. The company is described as a "cloud hosting provider" with "consulting services in the field of cloud computing."
Said to have joined Serlet at Upthere is Roger Bodamer, a former vice president of product operations and development at Apple, as well as Justin Maxwell, a former Apple user interface designer.
Other details on Upthere are scarce. The company filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Organization in September of 2011, which was granted.
A job posting for Upthere didn't identify Serlet or any other ex-Apple employees by name, stating only that the company's founders "were key to building the world's leading operating system (Mac OS X) and database (Oracle) and have a clear vision of core technology for a Cloud OS."
The departure of Serlet from Apple was announced in March of 2011, making him one of a handful of key executives that would exit the company last year. Retail chief Ron Johnson also announced last June that he would be leaving Apple in November become the new chief executive at retailer JC Penney, while company co-founder and former chief executive Steve Jobs passed away last October at age 56.
Serlet worked with Jobs for 22 years before last year's departure, which he said would let him "focus less on products and more on science." He was replaced at Apple by Craig Federighi, who is now responsible for the development of OS X.
Comments
Doesn't Apple require non-compete agreements from key employees?
Should they shut these guys down? Why aren't they using what Apple taught them to further Apple's iCloud inititative, rather than trying to kill it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26
Doesn't Apple require non-compete agreements from key employees?
Should they shut these guys down?
Itchy trigger finger?
No one knows (yet) what these guys are doing and to what extent (if any) it violates their agreements with Apple or whether these agreements even apply in this case. I'm not even sure non-compete agreements are very enforceable in California.
Quote:
Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26
Why aren't they using what Apple taught them to further Apple's iCloud inititative, rather than trying to kill it?
Maybe Apple didn't want to do what these guys want to do. Who says they're trying to "kill" anything (let alone what Apple is doing)?
Sheesh.
That is so funny! "Up There" is a long running joke at our office ever since an email interchange that went something like:
- "Ok the file is up there."
-- "I don't know where "Up There" is but I don't see the file."
- "It is in the folder with your name on it."
Ever since then it is always "Up There" with lyrical emphasis.
Too bad Apple didn't buy Sun when they had the chance. They could always snatch up Joyent (its made up largely of ex-Sun engineers) as its pretty much in the same area Up There is targeting.
I for one am glad to see Steve Jobs' "DNA" out there evolving the tech universe. All these guys were hired and trained by Jobs and have the Apple Way in their genes...
Except for Rubin of course. :-)
I'm starting a "cloud hosting provider" business. The name is based on what you think when you think 'clouds' and that is "UP" and the second half of the business name is when you define ALL your stuff and that is "YOURS".
So, 'Up Yours' for a "cloud hosting provider" business name... What do you think?...
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JerrySwitched26
Doesn't Apple require non-compete agreements from key employees?
Should they shut these guys down? Why aren't they using what Apple taught them to further Apple's iCloud inititative, rather than trying to kill it?
Sounds like these guys are creating enterprise solutions which Apple isn`t very big on.
As far as furthering iCloud, these guys probably got tired of Apples half-assed attempts at cloud computing and moved on.
Serlet built Interface Builder for NeXTSTEP 1.0, the visionary UI design tool that has endured and evolved into it's latest incarnation in Xcode, and which has been used to design the user interface for just about every NeXTSTEP, Mac OS X, iPhone and iPad app since. He also contributed significantly to the development of OS X and Cocoa.
He isn't poaching anyones intellectual property, and can pursue whatever interests he wants.
Best of luck to him!
That's surprising, when he left Apple I got the impression he was going in to research, not going to do a startup.
Not really sure what the fascination is with the cloud. Data management seems like such a dull thing to do. It's not like he needs the money.
Sounds more promising than becoming the CEO of JC Penny
Nope! It's another Frenchman: Jean-Marie Hullot…
Quote:
Originally Posted by MiC-MAC
"Serlet built Interface Builder for NeXTSTEP 1.0, the visionary UI design tool that has endured and evolved into it's latest incarnation in Xcode, and which has been used to design the user interface for just about every NeXTSTEP, Mac OS X, iPhone and iPad app since. He also contributed significantly to the development of OS X and Cocoa."
Nope! It's another Frenchman: Jean-Marie Hullot…
Apropos . . .
http://rixstep.com/2/0/people/
Interesting little page.
Think cloud OS, not cloud file storage. These guys are OS experts...
Cloud is really the future and I think Apple will keep implementing new services and features into iCloud.
Thanks for the link, brought back so many emotional memories.
And when he left that's when OS X started going downhill until it will eventually becomes iOS.
???? ????…
Seemingly as fast as his hometowns' company from 1984, which still lives in 1984.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin
Not really sure what the fascination is with the cloud. Data management seems like such a dull thing to do. It's not like he needs the money.
Clearly,you have no idea about the future potentials in Storage Domain.
Storage is big and it is going to get bigger now that we are all firmly integrated in Web 2.0 with information increasing exponiantially.
Informatoin is where the money is whether you like it or not.