"In 2007 I started working in research and development at Apple on multitouch hardware. There I spent my time inventing and patenting new touch technologies. Now I lead the Human Interface Device Software Prototype group at Apple."
I am confused: I believe they still have a research lab in Austin that does machine learning (among other things). I also know folks who have interned doing computational linguistics at Apple.
Yep, Apple had the Advanced Technologies Group. Jobs shut it down partly as a cost savings measure and partly to focus Apple on the NeXT frameworks as its long-term technology foundation.
I can't say I disagree with not having dedicated R&D. The notion of having an R&D department is stuck in the 1950's where the geeks and the worker bees didn't mix. Everyone should be able to and be encouraged to innovate.
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Didn't apple use to have an R&D department and one of the first thing Steve Jobs did when he came back to Apple was he scrapped it?
Whether or not it was scrapped when he first came back, R&D doesn't seem like a new thing for Apple.
For example, I remember coming across someone working on touch R&D for Apple: http://murderandcreate.com/
From the page:
"In 2007 I started working in research and development at Apple on multitouch hardware. There I spent my time inventing and patenting new touch technologies. Now I lead the Human Interface Device Software Prototype group at Apple."
I am confused: I believe they still have a research lab in Austin that does machine learning (among other things). I also know folks who have interned doing computational linguistics at Apple.
Yep, Apple had the Advanced Technologies Group. Jobs shut it down partly as a cost savings measure and partly to focus Apple on the NeXT frameworks as its long-term technology foundation.
I can't say I disagree with not having dedicated R&D. The notion of having an R&D department is stuck in the 1950's where the geeks and the worker bees didn't mix. Everyone should be able to and be encouraged to innovate.