Not only did Jobs make it clear that Apple was more about action than posturing, but he gave clear, concrete examples of how Apple was already ahead of the game. And it's perfectly within character for Apple not to announce future plans. For them to break from this tradition indicates that there has been a strong pull on the demand side.
Combined with the recent excellent financial results, the upcoming launch of the iPhone and the release of Leopard later this year, this latest announcement will keep them in headlines for a while.
Good play, Apple PR, good play.
That doesn't mean Apple can operate beyond the boundaries of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but the iPhone wouldn't have happened without Apple's "we're special" attitude. One reason there's limited innovation in cell phones generally is that the cell carriers have stiff guidelines that the manufacturers have to follow. They demand that all their handsets work the same way. "A lot of times, to be honest, there's some hubris, where they think they know better," Jobs says. "They dictate what's on the phone. That just wouldn't work for us, because we want to innovate. Unless we could do that, it wasn't worth doing." Jobs demanded special treatment from his phone service partner, Cingular, and he got it. He even forced Cingular to re-engineer its infrastructure to handle the iPhone's unique voicemail scheme. "They broke all their typical process rules to make it happen," says Tony Fadell, who heads Apple's iPod division. "They were infected by this product, and they were like, we've gotta do this!"
Apple said it did not tolerate its supplier code of conduct being broken.
In a statement the firm said: "Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible."
The company added it was "currently investigating the allegations regarding working conditions in the iPod manufacturing plant in China".
The article seems to imply that if the "allegations" are true, then Apple would consider the situation to be a breach of their supplier code of conduct.
Slashdot Mirror
Not only did Jobs make it clear that Apple was more about action than posturing, but he gave clear, concrete examples of how Apple was already ahead of the game. And it's perfectly within character for Apple not to announce future plans. For them to break from this tradition indicates that there has been a strong pull on the demand side. Combined with the recent excellent financial results, the upcoming launch of the iPhone and the release of Leopard later this year, this latest announcement will keep them in headlines for a while. Good play, Apple PR, good play.