Apple sacks iPhone X engineer after daughter posts hands-on video to YouTube

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  • Reply 41 of 286
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    karrock said:
    Give me a break people -- not only did engineer dad allow video to be recorded of the unreleased iPhone X on the Apple Campus and in Caffe Macs, he even participated in the demos and handed it off to his daughter to use and show off some features! Jump to 2:09 to skip past her shopping vlog
    I do want to point out that she's not holding the device that's filming her video. Was that her father? I can understand her not knowing better, but if that's her father filming it then that's a major lapse in judgment even if he just filming her in the cafe eating a kale salad.
    edited October 2017 netmagemagman1979baconstangbshankradarthekatbarbchylakjony0
  • Reply 42 of 286
    CobraGuy said:
    The security breach of the century right here.

    Good job destroying the guys life Apple.
    Apple held the engineer to standards that are well known to both parties. The engineer knows he screwed up and has accepted the consequences of his actions. 

    Why blame Apple? Don’t you understand that people are responsible for their own actions, and if you violate a contract, there are consequences?

    I suppose you blame the police, prosecutor and judge for destroying the bank robber’s life, too. 
    tycho_macuserhodarcalinetmagemagman1979SpamSandwichbaconstangradarthekatpscooter63mobius
  • Reply 43 of 286
    jd_in_sbjd_in_sb Posts: 1,600member
    What did she show in the video that wasn't already shown in the keynote?
    That’s completely irrelevant. He signed an agreement to accept job termination if he should do what he ended up doing. If the same video has been shot with the iPhone X powered off he could still be terminated. 
    edited October 2017 netmagemagman1979SpamSandwichbaconstangsandorradarthekatpscooter63mobiusjony0byronl
  • Reply 44 of 286
    Hey Man..  He blew it!  I’d love to have had that job!  She had her 15 minutes.  Game over.  Consequences exist in the material plane.

    over/
    out


    apple jockeyhodarmagman1979bshankbaconstangsandorradarthekatpscooter63mobiusequality72521
  • Reply 45 of 286
    CobraGuy said:
    The security breach of the century right here.

    Good job destroying the guys life Apple.
    Apple held the engineer to standards that are well known to both parties. The engineer knows he screwed up and has accepted the consequences of his actions. 

    Why blame Apple? Don’t you understand that people are responsible for their own actions, and if you violate a contract, there are consequences?

    I suppose you blame the police, prosecutor and judge for destroying the bank robber’s life, too. 
    Bank robber probably threatened people with a gun.

    just when I thought Apple was a loving, caring and diverse company.
  • Reply 46 of 286
    If this were Samsung, I doubt they would be getting much support.
  • Reply 47 of 286
    This product was within days of release and EVERY rumor site in the world has published details weeks and months ago.  Some was undoubtedly leaked by Apple to create a buzz, some was by other NDA violators. So what is Apple to do? Cease all relations with sites like Daring Fireball, Rene Ritchie at iMore—who undoubtedly has an internal leaker violating NDA but gets invited to every press event nevertheless—and the rest of the enablers?
    It's not the firing that gets me, it's the Apple hypocrisy.
    The engineer was a fool to let his stupid daughter do what she did, but have a little empathy. There was nothing in the YouTube video millions of people did not already know.
    A severe scolding and a pay downgrade would have been appropriate but firing is a step too far IMO.


  • Reply 48 of 286
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    I feel bad but Apple did the right thing. I want everyone to understand that there is a serious consequence when it comes to breaching whatever is stated in NDA contracts. 
    magman1979radarthekatmobius
  • Reply 49 of 286
    quadra 610quadra 610 Posts: 6,757member
    An NDA is an NDA.

    Besides it being a basic trust/character issue.
    paisleydisconetmagemagman1979baconstangsandorradarthekatpscooter63jony0
  • Reply 50 of 286
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    jd_in_sb said:
    What did she show in the video that wasn't already shown in the keynote?
    That’s completely irrelevant. He signed an agreement to accept job termination if he should do what he ended up doing. If the same video has been shot with the iPhone X powered off he could still be terminated. 
    Crime /offense/contract violation v punishment is always relevant*. It's why I would be against Jim Crow laws and not say, "Well, he broke the law by talking to a white lady so he deserved what he got." We've also seen this with employees signing noncompete clauses that required them to not work in a field for x-years and tech companies effectively creating blacklists with secret anti-poaching agreements. The former was found to be unlawful in CA and the latter cause former employees to win hundreds of millions of dollars in damages from these companies. 


    * That isn't to say he can make any similar case for damages, only that signing an agreement doesn't automatically mean you have no rights.
    edited October 2017 radarthekat
  • Reply 51 of 286
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Soli said:
    Did the person who lost an iPhone 4 at a bar months before it was to be unveiled get fired?
    I’m not sure why you’re equating the accidental loss of a device intended to be removed from the office for outside testing with the intentional violation of your NDA by letting your kid record a video of an unreleased product inside of Apple’s HQ where any filming isn’t allowed anyway and then publishing it YouTube. Obviously they are not the same. One is an accident. One was willful and demonstrates insanely poor judgement. 

    The GM leaker would of course also be fired if it was intentional as is thought (Gruber). 
    tycho_macusernetmagebaconstangradarthekatpscooter63spankystumblejony0
  • Reply 52 of 286
    It was probably something like this: *BUT DADDY* I *need* this for my YouTube Channel or Billy Johnson will never date me....  :#
    jony0
  • Reply 53 of 286
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,415member
    Soli said:
    Did the person who lost an iPhone 4 at a bar months before it was to be unveiled get fired?  

    No he still works there, I believe. There is a difference between losing an iPhone and knowing that a rule is broken when being filmed. 


    netmagebaconstangpscooter63jony0
  • Reply 54 of 286
    Other sites have reported that even allowing his daughter to film video at Cafe Macs (or anywhere in the Apple campus) was a direct violation of company policy. Additionally, new phone testers normally agree to restrictions for test units (even having his daughter use the phone, not to mention allowing her to film it, likely violated those terms). 
    The engineer that left his phone in the bar a few years ago did not consciously and willfully violate company policy: he made a mistake in leaving the phone behind. This employee knowingly ignored security policies. It was dumb to give his daughter the phone to use; it was idiotic to allow her to film it. it doesn’t matter if the content of that film only showed previously announced (or rumored) information.
    edited October 2017 netroxnetmagemagman1979baconstangradarthekatStrangeDaysjony0
  • Reply 55 of 286
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    While we don’t know the details, sure a demotion of something could also be considered. But it’s not like Apple cut his finger off... Apple engineers can work anywhere they want. Many will sympathize with him and I doubt he’ll have much trouble finding another gig. 
    pscooter63
  • Reply 56 of 286
    bshankbshank Posts: 255member
    karrock said:
    Give me a break people -- not only did engineer dad allow video to be recorded of the unreleased iPhone X on the Apple Campus and in Caffe Macs, he even participated in the demos and handed it off to his daughter to use and show off some features! Jump to 2:09 to skip past her shopping vlog
    Slam dunk
    netroxmagman1979sandorjony0
  • Reply 57 of 286
    all because a someone wanted to become youtube famous.
    hcrefugeebaconstangpscooter63jony0
  • Reply 58 of 286
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    Soli said:
    Did the person who lost an iPhone 4 at a bar months before it was to be unveiled get fired?
    I’m not sure why you’re equating the accidental loss of a device intended to be removed from the office for outside testing with the intentional violation of your NDA by letting your kid record a video of an unreleased product inside of Apple’s HQ where any filming isn’t allowed anyway and then publishing it YouTube. Obviously they are not the same. One is an accident. One was willful and demonstrates insanely poor judgement.
    He may have accidentally forgotten the device but do you think when he was issued the device for testing outside of campus that he wasn't given a disclosure agreement to sign that stated that he's not to leave it anywhere, allow anyone else to use it, and/or not to talk about the device he has in a special case to obfuscate its appearance? I'd think that's pretty standard boiler plate for any company with a modicum of security and probably barely scratching the surface when it comes to what Apple likely had him sign. If I were in charge of this issue at Apple I'd even put in there that the employee should not imbibe if they wish to be part of this testing program because of the greater chance of having a lapse in judgement. Accident or not, the comments here are mostly very adamant about any violation of an agreement being a fireable offense—"no exceptions!," hence my mention of the iPhone 4 incident.
    edited October 2017
  • Reply 59 of 286
    SoliSoli Posts: 10,035member
    netrox said:
    Soli said:
    Did the person who lost an iPhone 4 at a bar months before it was to be unveiled get fired?  
    No he still works there, I believe. There is a difference between losing an iPhone and knowing that a rule is broken when being filmed. 
    There is a difference, including what the loss of this groundbreaking device months before it was to be revealed on stage cost Apple compared to what a crappy video of an iPhone X over a month after Apple had announced it. As I stated previously, there's more to this than just the blanket statement that he should be fired because of an agreement he signed. I'm certain Apple took more time to decide his fate than most of the people on this thread.
    edited October 2017
  • Reply 60 of 286
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,334member
    While we don’t know the details, sure a demotion of something could also be considered. But it’s not like Apple cut his finger off... Apple engineers can work anywhere they want. Many will sympathize with him and I doubt he’ll have much trouble finding another gig. 
    Sympathize? This guy put his coworker's and teammate's jobs at risk to indulge his daughter in a stupid stunt. I wouldn’t be looking for someone with such little regard for his coworkers, team, and company to join any team or organization that I am part of. There are plenty of smart and qualified engineers available to fill the position he held at Apple. Now if he publicly apologized to his former team, coworkers, and Apple and showed some remorse then he absolutely deserves a second chance - at a company that doesn’t have as much at stake or has to endure as much public scrutiny as Apple has to deal with on a daily basis. 

    This isn't a Big Corporation vs Little Employee situation. It’s a case of an individual ignoring or forgetting his personal and professional responsibility to his team and employer for purely selfish reasons.
    apple jockeypaisleydisconetmagemagman1979baconstangradarthekatpscooter63mobiusjony0
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