Comment by 9d
19 hours ago
> It was exciting working at Apple, knowing that whatever we invented would be used by millions of people.
I admit it is exciting to make something you truly believe is good and helpful.
And that it's disappointing when that thing isn't used by anyone.
It's even worse when it turns out it's just not that useful.
But in the end, everything is replaced anyway. So I guess it's fine.
> I admit it is exciting to make something you truly believe is good and helpful.
I want to double down on this - I’m lucky enough to have worked places where I truly believed the world would be a better place if we “won,” and not on the margins, and it really, really makes a difference in quality of life. I’ve worked at other places, too, and the cognitive drag of knowing that your skills and efforts - your ability to change the world - is at best being wasted is something you don’t truly feel until it’s gone.
I've wasted countless years on pursuits I thought were good but later determined to have been bad, and therefore deeply regretted. I don't wish this on anyone.
I've also wasted countless years on pursuits I still think were good but overall never truly helped make the world better. This was less bad and seems inevitable.
Yeah I got a couple places on my resume I don’t like to talk about anymore. Turns out an awful lot of things are bad for the world in the wrong hands.
Still, if I’m going to spend a third of my life on something - and, more importantly, if I’m going to be responsible for my efforts contributing to something - I’d prefer it be something I find value in. I’ll take the risk of being wrong - although I’m certainly looking at the world through less rose-tinted glasses than I used to.
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> I admit it is exciting to make something you truly believe is good and helpful.
It's sad when management takes that work and locks it down, and puts it in a walled garden.
> whatever we invented would be used by millions of people
Two billion active Apple devices in 2025.
I was reflecting on his thoughts and my life's work.
I mean, as long as the average number of Apple devices per person is > 2 (which seems pretty likely, I have three on me right now), that’s still technically in the millions range.