Apple accused of ‘trying to thwart emerging startups’
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Chip startup Rivos has countersued Apple, claiming that Apple's employment agreements are unenforceable and stifle competition.
        • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
          2·
          1 year ago

          It’s more than that - once you grow to the point where management don’t all have personal relationships, how do you decide who to promote?

          Metrics. Meaning, money minus controversies… So basically, everyone with decision making power is incentivized to push profits as far as they can without crossing that ever shifting line where the public gets pissed at them…

          At all levels, there’s a selection pressure to find the people who push the boundaries as far as they to maximize short term profits without drawing attention to how the sausage is made…

          With that as the basis for all promotions across all industries, is there any surprise we are where we are, with the system cannibalizing itself now that there’s no new markets to expand into?

  • fartsparkles@sh.itjust.works
    503·
    1 year ago

    I’m an Apple customer but this is straight up wrong. Non-compete clauses this broad are ridiculous and practically stop ex-employees working anywhere they’re actually skilled to work. It quite literally ends someone’s career after their tenure.

    If you’re expertise is SoC design and implementation, to be contractually restricted from working anywhere else that does SoC-related business is effectively kicking you out of the very industry and job pool you’re capable of working. Your mobility is totally stifled.

    These kinds of restrictive covenants need to be outlawed or at least be limited to a short time frame no more than six months, requiring ex employers to pay the ex employee during this time if made redundant or fired or requiring the incumbent employer to pay the new employee during this time until they’re legally able to work again.

    Hopefully this case goes against Apple favour and sets a strong precedent against absurd non compete clauses like this.

    • sebinspace@lemmy.world
      111·
      1 year ago

      Was going to say, fuck Apple, but if you think they’re alone in this, you are obscenely naive

          • set_secret@lemmy.world
            11·
            1 year ago

            you’re were ‘going to say’ but your ‘going’ preface implied that you didn’t actually, even though you did write the text ‘fuck apple’. semantics, however I don’t think we should ever miss an opportunity to say fuck apple. Fuck Apple.

            upon re reading your text I now understand you were using the term ‘going to say’ in a colloquial sense not a literal one, so I misinterpreted the comment sry.

        • dynamojoe@lemmy.world
          1·
          1 year ago

          Maybe not in this article but this is a perpetual accusation for just about any large and successful corporation to deal with. Using “Apple” gets headlines, but you’ve probably read similar accusations against Alphabet, Microsoft, Epic, EA, John Deere, etc…

  • Rapidcreek@reddthat.com
    24·
    1 year ago

    I think it goes back to Rockefeller and Standard Oil. Buy or squash competition until you are the only one standing. Certainly Bill Gates did this and quite aggressively at times.

    • Nogami@lemmy.world
      32·
      1 year ago

      Any big company that doesn’t do this is doing it wrong. You may not like it but that’s the way things work. But all big companies will eventually fall given enough time and management changes.

      • SuddenlyBlowGreen@lemmy.world
        13·
        1 year ago

        Since when is trying to keep someone from earning a living in their field of expertise because they worked for you count as ‘legitimate’?

          • SuddenlyBlowGreen@lemmy.world
            61·
            1 year ago

            And if it doesn’t, they still can’t work. That’s not giving away IP, but they’re still fucked anyway.

            That’s exactly why companies poach people like this.

            Totally not because they are highly skilled engineers that can find other ways to solve the same problem.

            Everybody in the world is after Apple, so they’re completely justified in making sure engineers can’t work in their fields after working for them.

        • naught@sh.itjust.works
          132·
          1 year ago

          Have you used an intel mac vs even the entry level m1? It sure feels like an innovative difference.

          (to be clear fuck apple and all anticompetitive monopolies, oligarchs, etc)

            • naught@sh.itjust.works
              41·
              1 year ago

              Fair. The software settings can be a headache, but in large part because they are so granular IMO.

              I had a high end intel mac for a while for my job and swapping to the m1 pro for the same command went from >50sec to like 17. It was game changing. Where the intel had to spin up its fans as loud as jet engines and got unbearably hot and loud all the time, my m1 never so much as gets noticeably warm. It feels like magic.

              I just wish they were a more ethical company.

                • DriftingDeep@lemm.ee
                  82·
                  1 year ago

                  If you’re gonna participate in a discussion within a specific community, I wouldn’t call it gate-keeping for others to expect of you at least a base level of topic-specific knowledge.

                  Apple silicon, within the tech community, and Apple specifically, was a major thing. It’s the reason Intel needed to up their game as it’s why Apple severed the relationship. It drastically increased both battery life and performance, while reducing heat. Even people who hated Apple took a moment to give credit for the industry advancement.

                  I expect Apple people to understand all that, as well as others in the computer hardware community. I think it’s fair to expect commenters in an “Apple Enthusiast” community to know what Apple Silicon is before they start bashing the company for total failure to innovate.

              • spacecowboy@sh.itjust.works
                14·
                1 year ago

                People like you are why the fediverse isn’t blossoming. You could leave your entire first paragraph out and it’s a fair response.

                Also, if you’re going to be a smug asshole at least proofread your responses.

            • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
              82·
              1 year ago

              If you haven’t heard of it, you don’t follow hardware at all. M1 Macbooks were one of the highest profile, most broadly respected hardware releases in years, at least. Even people who have no interest in Mac OS took serious notice.

              If you don’t know what Apple Silicon is, you’re way too ignorant of the hardware space to comment on how innovative Apple is. Even extremely casual audiences have heard of it.

                • DriftingDeep@lemm.ee
                  61·
                  1 year ago

                  Bro, these comments! lol

                  “I have no idea what I’m talking about, but since people are calling me out for talking out my ass, I’m instead gonna turn it on them for being ‘defensive,’ then recycle my same stupid ‘ear tampon’ insult.”

                • conciselyverbose@kbin.social
                  52·
                  1 year ago

                  I just can’t stand world class stupid comments. “Apple doesn’t innovate” is incontrovertible proof that you have no clue what you’re talking about. It’s not “2+2=5” level. It’s “2+2=sbtaywbshd”.

  • moitoi@feddit.de
    8·
    1 year ago

    Each day, I read people discovering neoliberalism. It amazes me how naive people are.