* * * * *
                                        
               “Don't mind us, we're just using these offices …”
                                        
The story of two programmers, with no contract and no managers and no access
managed to write a very popular piece of software that officially, didn't
exist.

> In August 1993, the project was canceled. A year of my work evaporated, my
> contract ended, and I was unemployed.
> 
> I was frustrated by all the wasted effort, so I decided to uncancel my
> small part of the project. I had been paid to do a job, and I wanted to
> finish it. My electronic badge still opened Apple's doors, so I just kept
> showing up.
> 
> …
> 
> I asked my friend Greg Robbins to help me. His contract in another division
> at Apple had just ended, so he told his manager that he would start
> reporting to me. She didn't ask who I was and let him keep his office and
> badge. In turn, I told people that I was reporting to him. Since that left
> no managers in the loop, we had no meetings and could be extremely
> productive.
> 
> …
> 
> Twenty percent of Apple's fifteen thousand workers lost their jobs, but
> Greg and I were safe because we weren't on the books in the first place and
> didn't officially exist. Afterwards, there were plenty of empty offices. We
> found two and started sneaking into the building every day, waiting out in
> front for real employees to arrive and casually tailgating them through the
> door. Lots of people knew us and no one asked questions, since we wore our
> old badges as decoys.
> 
> …
> 
> On March 11, 1994, the front page of the Times business section contained
> an article on the alliance among Apple, IBM, and Motorola, picturing Greg
> and me in my front yard with a view of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Someone I
> knew in Apple Public Relations was livid. I had asked if she wanted to send
> someone for the interview, but she had said that engineers are not allowed
> to talk with the press. It's hard to enforce that kind of thing with people
> who can't be fired. It was positive press for Apple, though, and our
> parents were pleased.
> 

Via 0xDECAFBAD [1], “The Graphing Calculator Story [2]”

There may be a lesson in this somewhere, but I'm at a loss for what it may be
… 

[1] http://www.decafbad.com/links/
[2] http://www.pacifict.com/Story/

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

.