by John Macdonald | Mar 25, 2023 | The250
We filed into the funeral parlor, knowing but not yet believing our fate. Emotions are running hot. This is the morning after the leak, and the execs don’t yet know it, but the leak strategy has backfired. The tension manifests itself differently in each... by John Macdonald | Mar 24, 2023 | The250
Word has gotten out. It always does in these situations. Barry tells me, I tell Doug, and so on. The executives usually leak it on purpose so that the catharsis can begin before the official word comes down. It’s an executive strategy to soften the blow. ... by John Macdonald | Mar 23, 2023 | The250
“You’re joking, right?” “I wish I was. I’ve been fighting for the last two weeks. They won’t listen. They’re doing it. They’re gonna kill the project. They’ll announce it tomorrow. I felt you should know.”... by John Macdonald | Mar 22, 2023 | The250
Gladys’s New Shoes were to be the first generation iPod Nano and the first iPod with Video. Both cutting edge and groundbreaking. Statistically speaking, you probably owned one of them. In our lab, we have some of the (extremely confidential) new bits and pieces... by John Macdonald | Mar 21, 2023 | The250
I joined the cult in 1984. I was excited to work on Gladys’s New Shoes because I’d been in the cult already for 20 years. I saw the super bowl commercial like millions of others, and then I got to touch one in person. I was hooked. The look,... by John Macdonald | Mar 20, 2023 | The250
The engineering team is rolling. Apple, famously, and to their credit, is hard on their partners and suppliers. But not in the “we’re gonna grind you up and toss you to the wind so we get ahead” way. I’ve had the misfortune of working...