For a time period beginning in 2005, Apple enabled 2 US federal government specialists to operate in its workplaces to establish a custom-made variation of the iPod– but exactly what that iPod would do was a mystery, and remains so today, as shared in this fascinating story by previous iPod engineer David Shayer that you must go read.
The story starts like a book:
It was a gray day in late 2005. I was sitting at my desk, composing code for the next years iPod. Without knocking, the director of iPod Software– my employers manager– abruptly gotten in and closed the door behind him. He cut to the chase. “I have an unique task for you. Your boss does not understand about it. Youll assist 2 engineers from the United States Department of Energy build an unique iPod. Report just to me.”
That very first paragraph sets the tone for the whole story, which has an abundance of cool information that just add to Apples famous mythos of secrecy. :
Me, the director of iPod Software, the vice president of the iPod Division, and the senior vice president of Hardware. None of us still work at Apple.
As for what the engineers were really working on, heres how Shayer explains it:
Definitely area on David Shayer … This job was genuine w/o a doubt.There was entire surreal drama & & intriguing story about how this project was begun & & then concealed.
The Case of the Top Secret iPodhttps:// t.co/ jgZqcvKIsV– Tony Fadell (@tfadell) August 18, 2020
You must take a few minutes to read Shayers entire story on TidBITS.
They wanted to add some custom hardware to an iPod and record information from this customized hardware to the iPods disk in such a way that couldnt be quickly identified. It still had to look and work like a regular iPod.
I was sitting at my desk, composing code for the next years iPod. Without knocking, the director of iPod Software– my managers manager– abruptly gotten in and closed the door behind him. Youll help 2 engineers from the US Department of Energy build an unique iPod. Me, the director of iPod Software, the vice president of the iPod Division, and the senior vice president of Hardware. None of us still work at Apple.
Shayer states he didnt know what that customized iPod would be utilized for. However he thought that they were “developing something like a stealth Geiger counter,” which might have in theory allowed individuals to tape-record radioactivity levels while appearing to use a normal-looking iPod.
Everything seemed like something out of a spy motion picture, but previous iPod chief Tony Fadell says its all real. He should understand: Fadell was vice president of iPod at the time.
