3 ms·

I'm impressed at how principled and unflappable Ed Colligan is in his response to Jobs: >On the other hand, this is a small space, and it’s inevitable that we

I'm impressed at how principled and unflappable Ed Colligan is in his response to Jobs: >On the other hand, this is a small space, and it’s inevitable that we will bump into each other. Threatening Palm with a patent lawsuit in response to a decision by one employee to leave Apple is just out of line. A lawsuit would not serve either of our interests, and will not stop employees from migrating between our companies. This is a very exciting time for both of our companies, and the market is certainly big enough for both of us. We should focus on our respective businesses and not create unnecessary distractions. Compare this to Eric Schmidt's spineless response when Jobs complained to him about Google poaching: >Can you get this stopped and let me know why this is happening?" Schmidt wrote. >Google's staffing director responded that the employee who contacted the Apple engineer "will be terminated within the hour." >He added: "Please extend my apologies as appropriate to Steve Jobs." Then again, Google thrived afterward and happily enjoyed the fruits of illegally suppressing wages, while Palm's market share plummeted soon after Jobs' threat.

uniformlyrandom 2y ago
>> illegally suppressing wages This is spot on - Googlers are notoriously poor.
- neofrommatrix 2y ago
  This. This is why companies win.
- wpm 2y ago
  High wages doesn’t mean they aren’t being suppressed
  - seizethecheese 2y ago
    In fact, the higher the wages the more incentive to suppress, right?
- Teever 2y ago
  This is the wrong way to look at it. If the employees of these massive companies who illegally suppressed their wages hadn't done so then the companies wouldn't be so massive, and the employees would have more money and some of them would have had more resources to start competitors to the hypothetically less well moneyed giants. This would have lead to a scenario where there's more competition in the market which means more innovation, more jobs for other people in tech, and lower prices for consumers. Unfortunately this didn't happen and we're all worse off for it.
- oblio 2y ago
  What do you think happens to YOUR salary if one big company, or ideally many big companies, have to pay very high salaries? I'll give you time to study basic micro economics (supply and demand).
xyst 2y ago
Yet after a massive paper trail, "do not call" lists, and "gentlemen's agreements" with C-level executives between not just Apple and Google but with a large majority of SV in a conspiracy to avoid competition in wages. [1] The only response was a civil class action lawsuit. No jail time. Oh, but we do get to look at their dirty paper trail. These people will never learn. Protests haven't done jack shit. Stock market speculators reward their shitty behavior. Government isn't doing their job either due to incompetence, a revolving door policy, or politicians using the threats of DOJ to get billionaire favors/donations. The only thing I have seen work? A lone gunman with an axe to grind against a corrupt industry, careful planning, a gun, and 3 bullets with a message sent directly to the CEO. In the wake of that aftermath, healthcare industry was shook. Anthem BC/BS withdrew their cap on anesthesia coverage almost immediately. [2] Near unification across the board regarding how bad the state of healthcare is in USA. I'm fortunate enough to not be impacted, yet. But seeing the increasing disparity between poor/middle class and ultra wealthy is disheartening. We are slowly entering a second gilded age, if not already a reality for some or most people. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/27/2753701/no-poach-scandal-unredacted-steve-jobs-eric-schmidt-paul-otellini https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/27/2753701/no-poach-scandal-... [2] https://www.npr.org/2024/12/05/nx-s1-5217617/blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-anthem https://www.npr.org/2024/12/05/nx-s1-5217617/blue-cross-blue...
- galeaspablo 2y ago
  Thanks for posting the NPR source. I read about the anesthesia case from VOX, and they claimed the opposite, namely that there would be no additional costs for the patients https://www.vox.com/policy/390031/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-limits-insurance https://www.vox.com/policy/390031/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shi...
MaxPock 2y ago
Wasn't Schmidt serving on Apple board board too at that time?

uniformlyrandom 2y ago

>> illegally suppressing wages This is spot on - Googlers are notoriously poor.

neofrommatrix 2y ago
This. This is why companies win.
wpm 2y ago
High wages doesn’t mean they aren’t being suppressed
- seizethecheese 2y ago
  In fact, the higher the wages the more incentive to suppress, right?
Teever 2y ago
This is the wrong way to look at it. If the employees of these massive companies who illegally suppressed their wages hadn't done so then the companies wouldn't be so massive, and the employees would have more money and some of them would have had more resources to start competitors to the hypothetically less well moneyed giants. This would have lead to a scenario where there's more competition in the market which means more innovation, more jobs for other people in tech, and lower prices for consumers. Unfortunately this didn't happen and we're all worse off for it.
oblio 2y ago
What do you think happens to YOUR salary if one big company, or ideally many big companies, have to pay very high salaries? I'll give you time to study basic micro economics (supply and demand).

xyst 2y ago

Yet after a massive paper trail, "do not call" lists, and "gentlemen's agreements" with C-level executives between not just Apple and Google but with a large majority of SV in a conspiracy to avoid competition in wages. [1] The only response was a civil class action lawsuit. No jail time. Oh, but we do get to look at their dirty paper trail. These people will never learn. Protests haven't done jack shit. Stock market speculators reward their shitty behavior. Government isn't doing their job either due to incompetence, a revolving door policy, or politicians using the threats of DOJ to get billionaire favors/donations. The only thing I have seen work? A lone gunman with an axe to grind against a corrupt industry, careful planning, a gun, and 3 bullets with a message sent directly to the CEO. In the wake of that aftermath, healthcare industry was shook. Anthem BC/BS withdrew their cap on anesthesia coverage almost immediately. [2] Near unification across the board regarding how bad the state of healthcare is in USA. I'm fortunate enough to not be impacted, yet. But seeing the increasing disparity between poor/middle class and ultra wealthy is disheartening. We are slowly entering a second gilded age, if not already a reality for some or most people. [1] https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/27/2753701/no-poach-scandal-unredacted-steve-jobs-eric-schmidt-paul-otellini https://www.theverge.com/2012/1/27/2753701/no-poach-scandal-... [2] https://www.npr.org/2024/12/05/nx-s1-5217617/blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-anthem https://www.npr.org/2024/12/05/nx-s1-5217617/blue-cross-blue...

galeaspablo 2y ago
Thanks for posting the NPR source. I read about the anesthesia case from VOX, and they claimed the opposite, namely that there would be no additional costs for the patients https://www.vox.com/policy/390031/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shield-anesthesia-limits-insurance https://www.vox.com/policy/390031/anthem-blue-cross-blue-shi...

MaxPock 2y ago

Wasn't Schmidt serving on Apple board board too at that time?