There was a day when our documents were paper. You locked them up if privacy was an issue. Really important? Use two locks. Not that many people owned a bolt cutter. Those who did liked to take things they could hock.
Apple has chosen to not comply with the government's request to help crack the phone used by one of the San Bernadino terrorists. Their argument is that privacy is paramount. They furthermore claim to not be able to crack their own encryption. The request has been to release a new IOS version with a 'back door' to be utilized under appropriate circumstances. Certainly most software vendors have such provisions, probably for their own use.
My background includes a fair amount of time in the IBM mid-range systems world including System 36, System 38, AS400 and iSeries. One of the stories I heard regarding the System 38 was an instance where an organizations IT staff had died or disappeared and the security officer password(s) was also lost. IBM had a procedure which involved a system engineer or two, no other staff in visual range and some mumbo jumbo and all was retrieved. Certainly most software, hardware and services companies have this capability.
In this particular circumstance I have to disagree with Tim Cook's stand. Privacy is critical. Terrorism puts privacy, security and lives at risk. Apple's statement in response to the request expresses general criticism and empathy for victims while declining the opportunity. Frankly I find it in the tradition of Apple, a certain arrogance, an attitude of being better, long commitments to closed systems and yet admittedly responsible for sea changes in technology, leading first in personal systems and setting standards for mobility, but I believe they have taken an incorrect position.
Life at the small business...
- We've not see Harriet for several weeks. Normally she stops for soup and salad on Thursdays after visiting her husband who is in long term care.
- A distraught woman came in after we closed last week. She needed coffee. We chatted. Finally it came out that her uncle, Gilbert, had died and she was on her way to his funeral. Suffering from Alzheimer's, he'd become abusive and foul-mouthed over the past couple of years. Before that he'd been a nice guy. We encouraged her to go the nice-guy Gilbert's funeral. We seem to have a lot of this sort of thing. We're open when we're closed.
- Allison is getting married. We're happy for that.
- We get many requests for donations from neighboring churches, non-profits and individuals trying to raise money for whatever. We're amazed at the number of people come in, announce "I've never been here" and then ask for donations. Often they're driving a Lexus or Escalade.
- It's all good. It's a tough business. Out of ever five hundred customers one is a rock in your shoe. That's hard to overlook. At a point you have to become hardened or a one-legged person.
It's a long story but this project has been in the family for a long time. When I ran the continuous process improvement project I learned a few things. The 5s approach helped with organization and looking at the efficiency opportunity is part of the reason I now have so many ViceGrip devices. They're cheaper now (unfortunately from quality and lost jobs to China) and I leave them where they are most likely to be needed. I also leave a roll of duct tape at each location that I periodically need it (e.g. the the stupid dryer exchaust).Leftover paint is probably pointless. I cannot recall a single instance where I 'touched up' something after the project was complete. While digging in the walk-in closet I found the paint from an earlier project here...2004. I'd labelled each container with the date and the rooms where applied. Of course I have absolutely no recollection of doing that project. I don't know if that's from paint fumes or aging or too many painting projects.
The Meat Just Falls Off The Bone...
The title came first and then some other task or commitment prevailed. Returning to Blogger I'd lost the idea. It had something to do with an earlier allusion to organizational character of innovation turning into an over-stewed chicken when burdened with 'process' and 'committee' and 'budget' or it had something to do with motivational speakers. The title was better than anything else written here today...but the goal is to write everyday, good or bad. I'll re-use the title.
I'm undecided about Apple's stand. I think they are being a little "High Minded" for my opinion of the company ethics on the average.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand I think the issue of privacy was settled the wax stamp. If you have a password you have the same expectation of privacy as you did when you sent a letter.
I doubt that much will be learned from the cell phone. It is more issue of control. For all their intelligence gathering on us all, they still didn't figure out these people were going to go on a rampage.
They should probably focus on the obvious clues right under their nose rather than going high tech on a cell phone which will probably give them a lot of dead ends. My opinion...