I totally agree! On Jan 7, 3:04 pm, Michael Neale <[email protected]> wrote: > I don't think Joe's experience is even remotely related to what a > product engineer would go through: keeping your mouth shut over > something really exciting and cool for a couple of weeks is nothing > compared to certain death (dismissal) for a product you are beavering > away on for YEARS. > > On Jan 4, 1:43 pm, Casper Bang <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Sorry but I just have got to add a little additional scary context > > here:http://gizmodo.com/5427058/apple-gestapo-how-apple-hunts-down-leaks > > > For what it's worth, I don't think the Gestapo methods scale with > > their new found success. You order 45 mio. OLED screens and it's bound > > to leak. > > > /Casper > > > On Jan 4, 1:16 am, Spencer Uresk <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I've always thoroughly enjoyed the holiday episodes, despite them > > > being a little lighter in news and Java content. One thing that > > > intrigued me a bit in this episode was Joe's discussion of the > > > measures Apple takes to maintain secrecy around new products, and > > > their reasons for doing so. > > > > Certainly, I understand the benefits of maintaining secrecy around > > > consumer products - I think Apple does a really good job at launching > > > products and that is one of their competitive advantages. However, > > > I've often wondered why they are often so secretive on the developer > > > side of things as well, and was wondering if Joe or anyone else had > > > any insight as to why that is the case. > > > > Two examples: > > > > 1) The (in)famous Java 6 on OS X issues, which the Posse talked about > > > in this episode as well. > > > > From my perspective, this wasn't so much of an issue of Apple being > > > slow to release Java 6 for OS X (other implementers are often behind > > > Sun as well) as it was an issue of them not communicating what they > > > were doing at all. There was no acknowledgment that they were working > > > on Java 6 support, when they were planning on releasing it, or if they > > > even wanted to support Java on OS X at all anymore. This situation was > > > somewhat exacerbated by some anti-Java statements made by Steve Jobs > > > at around the same time. > > > > One unfortunate effect of this - At work, we'd been trying to convince > > > management to let us buy MacBook Pros instead of the usual Dell > > > laptops to use as our primary development machines. They didn't really > > > want to allow us to purchase different hardware, and the lack of > > > information from Apple surrounding Java's future on OS X gave them > > > quite a bit of ammunition. > > > > 2) iPhone Developer Program NDAs > > > > Back when I was first taking a look at doing iPhone development, I had > > > joined the developer program and was looking for some books on iPhone > > > development. A handful of authors had books ready (or at least in beta > > > form) but were waiting for Apple to lift the NDA before publishing > > > them. Several of the publishers I talked to were pretty frustrated by > > > the lack of communication from Apple - they weren't being told when > > > they planned on lifting the NDA. At this point, the reason for even > > > having NDAs in place was unclear - tens of thousands of developers > > > were already working with the APIs and that isn't where the real > > > competitive advantage for the iPhone was anyway. > > > > This delayed potential developers from getting their hands on iPhone > > > development books and frustrated authors and publishers who wanted to > > > get their books out. > > > > So, while I fully understand the need for secrecy when it comes to the > > > launch of consumer devices, I'm left scratching my head at cases like > > > these 2 examples where secrecy seems to only confound developers and > > > offers no real benefit to Apple. What does Apple gain by not telling > > > anyone what their plans are for Java on OS X? As a consumer, surprises > > > are often pretty cool, but as a developer or someone looking to invest > > > a lot of time and money into something, surprises are something I'm > > > looking to avoid. > > > > Is there some value in keeping stuff like this secret that I'm > > > missing, or is this simply a case of a culture of secrecy that has > > > maybe gone a little too far?
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