The story got posted to Digg, and got one comment. Here is what it said:

A frustrated and obviously bitter ex-employee decides to “justify” why he left. Somehow a I doubt a guy working in retail decided to leave due to market trends or altruistic reasons like “The focus has become the iPhone instead of the mac and that’s not good for customers”.

Really, every company has ex-employees who left the company because “they were better than the company”, but does that make it news? Someone quit their job… end of story. Happens thousands of times a day in America.

This is what I was expecting. I’m really not bitter at all. I’m happy that  the team I built and left behind is doing well. I’m glad Apple is making money. They are making great products.

I do have an altruistic view of Apple. Apple was founded at least partially on an altruistic world view. Sure, they want to make money, but the Apple I love was about making people’s lives better though this new thing called the personal computer. And without Apple, it wouldn’t have happened the way it did.

And I never said “The focus has become the iPhone instead of the mac and that’s not good for customers”. Leave it to some kid on Digg to misquote a blog post. I’m not here to justify my leaving Apple. Frankly, I doubt anyone wants to read me defending myself against what some would view as a dumb career move. I was simply explaining.

Now, to a blog post that echos mine.

My good friend Kevin Lipe wrote a piece in response to mine. Kevin was a great Genius and was let go over a procedural issue, not because of any “altruistic” issue; but he and I agree: the Apple of today and the Apple of yester-year are different. Kevin writes:

But what I think is more important, and more damning for the company, is that even with the world caving in around them, they didn’t once break the stark white shining public face of Apple, that antiseptic Berlin Wall surrounding the company, standing miles high between the company and its customers. All they had to do was start talking to people.

… and …

No genuinely brilliant, innovative thinker, no visionary, wants to go work at a company that used to fly a pirate flag, but gave up on that a long time ago in the name of being cool and controlling.

I couldn’t agree more. And to the 6 hits I got from within Apple on my last post, enjoy. You aren’t this free yet.

1. Apple’s Shift to Consumer Devices and the Thinning of Resources

The iPod has always been part of Apple Retail, but the iPhone has changed everything. I have nothing against the iPhone. I own one, and use it all the time. I almost can’t imagine life without it. But since the first launch, the company has been focused on those customers. From opening early for iPhone-only sales to giving iPhone customers priority at the Genius Bar, the Apple stores are bending over backwards for the iPhone. And it’s showing. Across the chain, older retail employees (and by that I mean, those who have been with the company for some time) are frustrated. Mac Specialists are spending hours on the phone with AT&T trying to get customers up and running with their new iPhone 3Gs instead of selling Macs (not to mention trying to meet the company’s sales metrics).

With this shift, the thinning within Apple are starting to show. It started with Leopard’s delay for Apple to complete the iPhone. Then a year later, the simultaneous launch of iPhone 3G, the App Store and MobileMe ended up being a massive failure. I worked the launch, I can tell you first-hand that it was a train wreck. Activations failed. The EasyPay (Apple’s mobile cash-wraps) system failed, but the “classic” POS systems are unable to process iPhone transactions. AT&T blamed Apple, and vice-versa all day long. Weeks later, Apple owned up with an email from Steve… and even then, the apology was just over MobileMe and ignored the thousands of people that spent hours outside in lines that weren’t moving.

Even with July 11 behind the company, the focus is still on mobile devices, not the Macintosh. The Mac is why I went to work for Apple, but sadly, it is not where Apple is putting their time and money. The argument that “Snow Leopard” will fix it is just sad. Apple shouldn’t have to release a whole OS to fix the last one. OS X is great, but it is facing more and more challenges as it gets older, and Apple has to address that 10.5 (and 10.5 Server) have lots of bugs.

2. Local Management

Without going into too much detail, the local management in our Store was childish. They played favorites and everything was a battle. As Lead Genius, I was supposed to grow my team and develop them into better Geniuses. However hard I tried, my managers were unwilling (or unable) to help me do that. I had to fight for everything down to getting ink pens for the Bar. It wore me out, and it was rare to get a “thanks” for working 65 hours weeks to keep the repairs under control. It broke me down slowly. Crappy hours and low pay just added to it.

3. The Hardships of Being a Genius

Being a Mac Genius seems like an awesome job,and in many ways, it is. You get to be hands-on with some of the best and coolest technology on the planet. You get to help and educate people. It can be very rewarding, but for every great interaction at the Bar or successful repair, there are 5 angry people yelling about their 4-year-old iPod having poor battery life. Limited appointment length doesn’t help. And the Genius Bar is only half of it. Behind closed doors is the ever-secret Genius Room, where Geniuses work on hardware and software repairs. With more and more Macs being sold (and getting pulled to the Bar to help with iPhone standbys), it’s harder and harder for local stores to stay on top of the repairs. I know that was the case in my Genius Room. It gets frustrating, especially when the company is pushing for better repair turn around times each year. It simply gets to a point where Geniuses get burned out.

I have heard a rumor that 18 months is the average lifespan of a Mac Genius. When I started, most of the team had been there over two years, and when I left, no one had been there longer than 6 months, besides me. While my team was great (and I count them all as dear friends even now), the younger Genius teams become, the less strong they are. Which is scary.

With Apple in my rearview mirror, I feel good about working in the professional Mac support world. I learned a lot in my time there, but my frustrations got to be too much to handle, and I’m not alone. The number of the “Ungeniused” is growing, and as Apple grows, that is not what they need. But it’s not my headache anymore.