[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Report: Apple's Jobs Tried For Anti-Poaching Deal With Palm here

[Lingo009]

Can anyone really blame Jobs? After all, time and time and time again, Apple's competition just sits back and poorly copies or blatantly steal Apple's ideas. I've been watching this pathetic game for over 25 years now. Kudos to Jobs!

[yamanoor]

His reputation had yet to hit the bottom?

[flavor13]

Nice work with the blatantly misleading title.

[backpacker299]

While I congradulate Apple for becoming relevant enough to be treated like Microsoft (which I never expected to happen), it is cheap that Palm would hire an Apple employee (after iPhone) to compete. I know Palm was essentially dead before the Pre, but if they couldn't develop the Pre on their own, they deserve to fail. At least, that sounds like the free market dribble I hear all the time.

[whateverandever]

Yes, Lingo009, we can blame Jobs for breaking the law... last time I checked he's still on the same plane legally with us mere mortals.

I will never understand the Apple fanbase’s continual insistence that Apple, and Jobs in particular, is some benevolent entity that was placed on Earth solely for the betterment of mankind. They are as vicious and cutthroat as the next business out there, if not more so. You are aware that most of the basis (windowed applications, the mouse, etc.) for the original Mac was taken from Xerox, right?

The “pathetic game” you refer to is known as “competition” and if Apple had a legitimate claim to these mythical “stolen” ideas they would have legal recourse, but they don’t.

[dbdata]

IMHO: Colligan is right. This type of deal should be illegal if it's not already.
Attempting to limit the employment market is sleezy.

[whateverandever]

backpacker299... Palm did develop it on their own.. by making the very smart business move of hiring an Apple employee to help them deliver it.

Part of living in a free society is the fact that employees are free to move about at will. If they feel they are being slighted by an employer (I’ve heard Apple is a frequent abuser of employees), they are free to move on to someone that will treat them better.

As long as they don't directly bring Apple's intellectual property with them, it’s simply competition. If Apple had some legal claim to the ideas implemented in the Pre, I’m sure we’ll be hearing about it in the courts.

[Enginerd]

Lingo, could you be any more of an Apple fanboy or are you just that clueless?
Apple hired (stole) Mark Papermaster straight from IBM. Apple does the same thing every other company does- offer more money, give promotions, etc. to lure great employees away from other companies.

[EdWeirdness]

Limit employment options for engineer? Our Government, Apple, IBM, etc,,, have been doing this for years. Companies don't need to compete for workers, Uncle Sam will simply gen up a few more Visa's and let them pick who'll work cheapest. So long as we tolerate these abuses of our immigration policies, we'll all be headed toward indentured servitude. Overpopulation serves no interst. Too many people competing for the same limited resources is not Sane, sustainable social, economic or environmental policy. You know, there was a time when companies "trained" or assisted in educating their workers. These were the aspirational jobs that made entry level employee's hang on and stay on the straight and narrow. I encounter high school grads who have more computer skills and engineering savvy than many of the multi-degreed imports. Neithe Pal or Apple is guilt free, nor should either hold themselves out as being exemplary.