Does Steve Jobs need Oompa Loompas?

796 days ago in Articles by Brent | No Comments

Remember in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when the industrial espionage got so bad that Willy Wonka kicked out all the human workers and brought in Oompa Loompas instead?

It’s a bit the same for Apple.

Secrecy is more than a gentleman’s agreement and the odd confidentiality agreement when you are working with these guys. It’s a culture that borders on paranoid (until you remember the lengths people will go to to get a sneak peek at a new release). Apple execs get used to not talking about work outside of work. Ever. Not even with spouses.

Potential manufacturers are put through a hazard course of false products, partial manufacturing (so they have no idea what the final product will look like) and security that Obama would be proud of. Or not so proud, if the Chinese reports are anything to go by. A reporter was assaulted by Foxconn guards (Apple partners) for taking photos of a manufactur’s building; A worker threw himself out a window after being interrogated by his bosses after being suspected of the theft of an iPhone prototype he was responsible for. He died. And last but not least, Apple sued reporters who broke the story of sub-standard working conditions in the Chines factories contracted by the company – Personally I think this last one was a combination of corporate bullying and sheer frustration at the constant assaults on the company’s professional privacy.

Although Steve Jobs was, in fact, battling pancreatic cancer last year (thank Jobs he’s back safe and sound), during his absence it occurred to me if he had actually disappeared on an expedition to track down a few willing Oompa Loompas to come and take over the design and production at Apple. Considering that Apple-mania is as big as Harry Potter, it must have been pretty tempting.