Two successful, former Apple executives gave an insightful, profanity-laden interview to the tech podcast Debug. Don Melton is the former Director of Internet Technologies at Apple and Nitin Ganatra is the former Director of iOS Apps. Big gigs. They start out talking about wine in a box (“I don’t buy it because I can’t fit the f*%* boxes in my wine…oops”) and move into what it’s like to present to Steve Jobs. What they reveal along the way is that working for Apple is insane. You’re on all the time. It’s the 21st century, 24/7 work-grind cliche come to life.
Melton wrote a blog post about the nutso hours years ago, talking about how the only relief from badgering by Apple bosses came during The Sopranos, former Apple honcho Scott Forstall’s favorite show. (The Tony Soprano/Steve Jobs comparisons–was Forstall looking for insight?–we’ll leave to you.) Here’s Don Melton on working with Tim Cook, Steve Jobs and company: “It’s a lot like working in a nuclear power plant, but you don’t get one of those protective suits. It’s a lot of radiation and you either learn to survive it or you die.”
