The First Time I Was Almost Fired from Apple

10 months ago

The author was hired by Apple in 1995 during a tumultuous period for the company.
Initially working on QuickdrawGX, the author later transitioned to the ColorSync team due to project changes.
Tasked with adapting the Color Picker for PowerPC chips, the author rewrote assembly code in C.
The author created additional color pickers (HSV, HTML, crayon, CMYK) based on personal interest and market needs.
An Easter egg involving T.S. Eliot's poetry almost got the author fired, highlighting a lack of corporate awareness.
Despite the mishap, the author retained their job and became more cautious about corporate policies.
The crayon color picker included playful Easter eggs, like worn-down crayons and anagrams of team members' names.
The author reflects on their early professional missteps and the learning curve at Apple.

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