How Apple Does Controlled Leaks

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/how_apple_does_controlled_leaks/

by prat • 17 years ago

116 30 17 years ago

pohl3• 17 years ago

What's more interesting to me is how they avoid unintended leaks. I've been told of a keycard system that knows if two different people are working on different components of a product, and won't let them into a particular room with each other at the same time, lest they put 2 and 2 together...like, for example, if one person is working on a touch screen and another is working with cell phone transmitters.

RyanMcGreal3• 17 years ago

Reminds me of the old analogy of the blind men and the elephant.

prat• 17 years ago

That's a very strange/sad way of working. At work, I have always known the end product toward which I am building. I can't imagine working with so many firewalls.

RyanMcGreal3• 17 years ago

OTOH given Apple's track record, employees can probably just tell themselves, "Whatever I'm working on, someone smarter than me is overseeing it. I'm sure it will be awesome."

That's got to be more encouraging than knowing exactly what you're working on and despairing as a result.

mbrubeck• 17 years ago

It depends how often it happens. If it's only for a small portion of employees for a small percentage of the time - say, several months every five years, when your team is involved in the launch of a brand new product line - then it would be a lot more bearable than if it were a constant requirement for everybody.

jacquesm• 17 years ago

It is interesting that people would accept such working conditions voluntarily.

Reminds me of the movie 'the cube'.

pohl3• 17 years ago

Yes, exactly! (I love that movie) I had a similar reaction when I first heard this, but I could also see myself enjoying working on a mobile multitouch interface prototype circa 2005 without necessarily knowing that it would be used in a phone. I'm sure there are some pretty cool upsides.

petewarden• 17 years ago

I spent five years at Apple, worked on a few secret projects, and never heard of this system. How could you make sure they didn't meet in the elevator or cafeteria?

There is an impressive infrastructure of areas restricted by keycards though.

pohl3• 17 years ago

I'm glad to get another source on this. The other one could have been having some fun yanking my chain.

flogic• 17 years ago

This has all the hallmarks of being a perfect bogus rumor. Apple is notoriously secretive so it can't be denied, no matter how stupid the idea would be in practice. It's also outlandishly juicy which means makes people want to tell it.

cmgarcia• 17 years ago

This article shouldn't be surprising to anyone with their ear to the ground for Apple news, but it certainly was nice to read from the former Senior Marketing Manager for Apple.

andrew1• 17 years ago

A small slightly pedantic point, but that should be 'a Senior Marketing Manager' rather than 'the Senior Marketing Manager'.

The Senior Marketing Manager is, I imagine, a very important person. A Senior Marketing Manager is, well, a manager in the marketing department who is in some sense 'Senior'.

blantonl• 17 years ago

sigh... small pedantic point?

izg• 17 years ago

Yup. Doesn't surprise me at all. I always suspected this.

Controlled leaks (and fake rumors?) achieve the following, also:

- builds suspense, makes fanboys drool in anticipation - the media of course rides these waves because rumors are exciting, hopefully novel... this ensures that Apple is in the news daily (it gets tiresome for those of us who care about truly, actionable news) and thus boosts their brand recognition - a secret/something hard to obtain is more desirable - engineers/designers get early feedback

wallflower• 17 years ago

For those who missed it (I was wondering why people were now saying March):

"Apple to Ship Tablet Device in March"

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405274870358090457463...

jcnnghm2• 17 years ago

It's behind a subscription wall. Do you know what the suggested pricepoint is?

thaumaturgy• 17 years ago

Apple's putting its toes in the water with a $1,000 price tag.

eli• 17 years ago

Google the URL and then click through from google.

How Apple Does Controlled Leaks

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