Apple's new iPod chief ordered to stop working

Apple's poaching of Mark Papermaster from IBM to run the iPod division is getting more dramatic by the day -- the court on Friday ordered him to stop working at Apple while it sorts IBM's lawsuit against his hiring. For his part, Papermaster (seriously, what a great name) says he left IBM with good intentions and that he kept his old company fully aware of what was going on before he was hired -- a statement supported by the fact that IBM let him keep working for two weeks after he accepted the Apple gig instead of escorting him out of the building. We'll see how this plays out -- although Steve personally handcrafts every iPod out of a kitten, he does lean on his exec staff to keep the Benz washed and waxed.

Read - Papermaster ordered to stop working
Read - Papermaster says leaving was legit

[GenBanks @ Nov 9th 2008 2:34PM]

Steve Jobs kills kittens to make ipods? o.O

[DeoWulf @ Nov 9th 2008 2:36PM]

That, and just for fun sometimes. Why do you think they need to clean his Benz? All that fur stuck in the tires isn't very classy.

[Shinigami @ Nov 9th 2008 3:02PM]

Poor lil' cute cats...

[oGMo @ Nov 9th 2008 3:19PM]

No. They're STILL ALIVE.

That's why they purr.

[Mobius_1 @ Nov 9th 2008 4:09PM]

On all future iPods: No kittens were harmed in the production of this iPod.

[Bryan @ Nov 9th 2008 2:36PM]

The guy to Jobs' left looks like he could be his tougher and younger iClone.

[nosoupforyou @ Nov 9th 2008 2:42PM]

that's johnathan ive. some speculate that he will be the next steve jobs.

[dandaman @ Nov 9th 2008 2:56PM]

He was, after all, designed with that in mind

[Marcus @ Nov 9th 2008 3:01PM]

I speculate that you need to learn left and right. It's Paul Schiller, SVP Marketing.

[cromas @ Nov 9th 2008 3:12PM]

Left? I do not think that word means what you think it means.

[Kamokazi @ Nov 9th 2008 3:16PM]

I think the confusion is the difference between "left of Jobs" and "to Jobs' left". To the left, would be the one left from our perspective. To Jobs's left would be the one on his right from our perspective.

I think the OP mixed those two up, I assume he is referring to the one left of Jobs.

[Patriks7 @ Nov 9th 2008 3:25PM]

Yah.. when I saw that picture I thought it was some random person with a photoshoped face of Jobs..

[konshuss @ Nov 10th 2008 1:07AM]

that's Jason Statham, and if you look at an iPod the wrong way... it's all over, pal.

[Hawk Pidgeon @ Nov 9th 2008 2:39PM]

Papermaster... sounds like some old brand of stapler.

[JAmerican @ Nov 9th 2008 2:41PM]

I think he should have gotten a job at Xerox. He would have become CEO on the first day with that name :).

[Jeff @ Nov 9th 2008 2:39PM]

No, the kitten is still alive, suffering while you jab it with your fingers!

[Fusion Fuzo @ Nov 9th 2008 2:41PM]

NICE, he just giving apple all of IBM's trade secrets $$$$$$ which pays

[MarbleMind @ Nov 9th 2008 4:18PM]

Trade secrets? You mean those that haven't change since the introduction of the RAMAC in 1956?

[mabhatter @ Nov 9th 2008 11:00PM]

IBM doesn't really have that many trade secrets in common with Apple. Perhaps more, now that Apple owns PA-Semiconductor that also makes PowerPC chips from IBM/Motorola's open specs, but that's about all. IBM doesn't spec stuff as small as iPods anyway, they're not in that market even though they might choose to use similar chips. PA doesn't do manufacturing, they outsource that...again to somebody that would pay. This would be IBM sticking to keep those non-competes in place, come hell or high water, pure bureaucracy at it's finest.

[BigD145 @ Nov 9th 2008 2:42PM]

Paid vacation? Yes, please.

[lowdef @ Nov 9th 2008 4:24PM]

I wish I would get ordered to stop working and still get paid. hot damn!

[fetussnatcher @ Nov 9th 2008 2:44PM]

where did this picture come from?

[Alex @ Nov 9th 2008 2:57PM]

where can we get a bigger version of that picture with jobs and his design crew but without the x on fadell?

[dspalding @ Nov 9th 2008 3:04PM]

http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2005/0510/jobs_ep.jpg

[Josh @ Nov 9th 2008 3:14PM]

The Papermaster in all his papery goodness:
http://images.theage.com.au/ftage/ffximage/2008/11/05/faddell1.jpg

[Josh @ Nov 9th 2008 3:18PM]

Hah. Obviously I don't read picture captions correctly. That was the iPod VP, Tony Fadell.
He's the one Apple's replacing. At least trying to...

[??? @ Nov 9th 2008 2:49PM]

He prolly only takes the carcasses of kittens we kill from, well, you know....

[Josh @ Nov 9th 2008 2:56PM]

Ah, so IBM is the gatekeeper.

[tiuk @ Nov 11th 2008 8:53AM]

Laughed out loud, everyone around thinks I'm crazy. Thanks.

[Evangelion @ Nov 9th 2008 2:57PM]

Making iPods is serious business.

[Ray @ Nov 9th 2008 9:16PM]

No, Making iPods is serious FUCKING business!

[Unique Gift Ideas @ Nov 10th 2008 12:17PM]

Unfortunately for Papermaster, the tortuous act of breeching a contract is, in fact, srs biz. haha

[Valicore @ Nov 9th 2008 3:16PM]

Oh nooooo, he's going to give away all of IBM's revolutionary MP3 Player and Phone designs! Word has it they're even designing a laptop, and tha... oh wait, they sold that to Lenovo.

[domoPod @ Nov 9th 2008 3:39PM]

cats in iPods?

iPussies!

not really.

[Pwnge @ Nov 9th 2008 3:51PM]

Sure about Kittens? Last time I checked, it was actually Pterodactyls brought back through Time Machine

[Gorjan @ Nov 9th 2008 4:05PM]

Yeah, I heard that too...

[Nal @ Nov 9th 2008 4:36PM]

Who cares about that guy. Who's that other bald one next to Jobs? Hmmm..?

[Patriks7 @ Nov 9th 2008 5:57PM]

It's his evil twin brother who actually eats and presumably works out once in a while.. also he doesn't like black turtleneck shirts with jeans from what I saw.. also it is said that he is to take over Apple..

But those are all just rumors!

[chefgon_ign @ Nov 9th 2008 4:43PM]

I don't really understand how IBM and Apple are competing companies anyway. Do they have any overlapping products whatsoever? Papermaster is only in charge of iPods and iPhones, and I know IBM isn't in those industries, so how can a non-compete order apply?

[funnyperson1 @ Nov 9th 2008 8:13PM]

The problem is that Apple bought PA Semiconductor, a company that produced PowerPC processor designs. This is most certainly an area in which IBM competes in.

There are rumours that Apple bought PA Semiconductor with the intention of having them design a processor for next generation iPhones/iPods, and this is probably what IBM is reacting to.

[adrian @ Nov 9th 2008 6:54PM]

That is a great surname though.

[anebg @ Nov 9th 2008 9:56PM]

....sweet corporation drama

[Feldgrau @ Nov 9th 2008 11:05PM]

Yeah, it's better than daytime soaps... And kittens... Combined...

[LiberatedIBMer @ Nov 10th 2008 3:16AM]

IBM is in a serious mess right now. They're leading the charge in outsourcing EVERYTHING they do to India, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, "third world" nations in eastern Europe and others. Their only commodity left which is worth the invested capital are its people and they've been slipping on retention, employee benefits, workload management, and personal growth for over a decade now. IBM has lived past its prime and it's evident in the next round of massive quarterly layoffs right around the corner. This guy just happened to jump before his risers were slashed. Mega-corporation contracts are the only thing keeping that company afloat and while the executives brag about record quarters the actual delivery of service is hanging on by a shoestring due to bloated management structures, bureaucracy which would baffle those in DC, and staggering mismanagement of costs. Hanging onto their talent is only going to prove harder and harder in the coming months and years and congressional bailouts will aim a laser-beam focus on Palmisano and his cronies as they start to pull gilded ripcords. Papermaster is right -- IBM has sold off its consumer PC to the Chinese and never had any serious skin in the PMP game, there's no true conflict at all, unless you mark success as a conflict. What IBM excels at, however, is retaining an army of litigators, bean-counters (of which I was one), and decades-entrenched talons in the necks of nearly every wrinkled business executive in the nation. Since Apple moved away from the PowerPC platform, IBM no longer has any real-world traction with which to pursue Apple's new exec but they are sure not going to let the guy go without some kind of settlement. Go Mark Go!

[Al Bundy @ Nov 10th 2008 8:54PM]

I would only have one comment for the dumbass judge, GFY! Unless there is a warrant, I would keep on working.

[Dan @ Nov 11th 2008 1:36PM]

Yeah, he's just a U.S. District court judge, what can he do, anyway? Oooooh, scary.

*facepalm*

[webon @ Nov 11th 2008 12:04PM]

I thought only Chuck Norris had kitten morphing abilities, huh