back to article Apple staff in UK told to cancel holiday in early October

Apple staff have been told to cancel all leave for the first two weeks in October – which would appear to confirm industry talk that the arrival of the iPhone 5 is imminent. Al Gore, Apple board member and self appointed eco-warrior, poured fuel on market speculation that the next generation phone is about to launch earlier …

COMMENTS

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  1. JDX Gold badge

    Cancel holiday?

    If I've got it booked and paid for, screw you.

    1. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Unhappy

      Indeed!

      Couldn't agree with you more but this is high-street retail and there is most likely a clause in the contract that says something like, "When we say you have do something for us, it's our way or the highway, take your pick!".

      1. Steve Evans

        IANAL

        but I don't think they can legally do that, if they have approved it, then they can't unapproved it.

        If they then sack you for taking the holiday anyway, or sending them the bill for the cancelled holiday, then you could have great fun with them with an unfair dismissal hearing... Plus with this being the ever so media attention hungry Apple, I think sending your story "Apple ruined my holiday and then sacked me" to every paper you can think of would be the order of the day.

  2. miknik

    I doubt there will be a supply problem at launch

    Love em or hate em Apple know what they are doing when it comes to marketing. Whenever the next ne w Jesus phone comes along they say nothing until the very end, announce it and then you can buy it within a week. If they don't have enough ready and think it will hit sales they will just wait a little longer before they announce.

    1. jonathanb Silver badge

      They do know what they are doing, and they like to have people queuing down the street for the next Jesus Phone or Fondleslab. Having restricted availability makes their product more desirable.

  3. Bear Features

    Any chance they can just do normal PR without all this shullbit? Perception is a wonderful thing.

  4. Any Mouse
    Thumb Down

    5th coming

    Great!! We will get to watch all the macaholics queue up and swap their perfectly good Jesus Phone 4 for a Jesus Phone 5. You really have to wonder at the mentality of a group of people who gladly trade their hard earned cash for a gadget that will do no more than the current gadget that they use.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I am one of those people...

      Wonder at my mentality, Any Mouse, and cringe, unworthy dog. I shall have an iPhone 5. You shall have eternal bile and shame.

    2. Rich 30

      "will do no more"

      How exactly do you know?

      It will probably look different, work a bit different, a bit faster, have some new features etc... ANd if people want to buy this, then thats fine, surely?

      1. Hardcastle the ancient
        Paris Hilton

        Perhaps you need to hold this one differently?

    3. The Fuzzy Wotnot
      Stop

      Live and let live

      So you have no interests or hobbies that make you happy on a daily basis then? So much so it appears, that you have mock these people. Although they may appear sad to you they seem to be happy praising their messiah, so good luck to em!

      I notice people have been getting up and going to the church every Sunday for the last 2,000 years? What about the Muslims being called to prayer several times a day, they seem happy enough as a clan. People join camera clubs, angling clubs 'cos they want to enjoy doing something special that makes them happy. Same with the Apple mob, they seem happy enough forking over money to make them happy, even if it does seem a little vacuous to me personally, it seems to make them happy, so I leave them alone.

      1. BorkedAgain
        Coat

        Hear hear.

        Quite so, fuzzy. An odd bunch, but not the oddest by far. They could be doing worse things with their money, and at least this keeps them out of trouble, bless them.

        It is rather exciting, though. It'll be good to see what all the other phones in the world are going to look like in six months' time. Eh? Geddit?

        Ah, I'm pulling yer leg.

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    No shortage of Nathan Barley type remtards...

    ...queuing for Apples overpriced shiny shit.

    Clear the schedules, make room for the Jesus Phone mark 5. Even the real Jesus only pulled that trick once!

    There's one born every minute.

  6. cocknee
    Thumb Down

    a good time to take a holiday....

    The Apple marketing machinery is in motion with all the contrived stories. Zzzzzzzzzz

    Would be a good time to bury bad news for politicians as the media slavers over the new toy on launch day and for the next bloody week.

    Lemmings to the cliff edge

  7. chipxtreme
    WTF?

    not again

    Oh so they will try the "we're short of stock" to try to create an artificial demand for the phone. Getting boring now

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Cancel Holiday?

    If you think I'm doing that you can get stuffed!

    I know Apple think they're god, but they really don't own people & they're entitled to take time off when they bloody well want!

    1. Dick Emery
      Trollface

      tell that to the police

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Samsung may try to ban the iPhone 5 in Europe as the patent wars between the tech giants continues."

    Now we know why they've been hoarding $76 billion. A war chest like that will probably just about buy all the lawyers in the world. They're going to need them.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    i REALLY hope

    Samsung get the ban on sales.. just so i can watch as apples fanbois weep outside the apple store...

    fuck.. i might even take a deck chair and a flask of coffee for that one!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      please don't forget

      your video camera then.

      Youtube needs fanboi tears documented.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      please don't forget...

      ...your video camera then.

      Youtube needs fanboi tears documented for eternity.

    3. Bear Features
      Thumb Up

      I'll join you. You do the drinks and I'll bring the snacks.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        ...and I'll do the tears. I am a fanboi and if I don't get my iphone 5, I'll blub like a girl.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          To quote Minka in Hut 33

          "You are huge lady-shirt"

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Aha!

    Well this might explain why the expected release date of my pre-ordered Samsung Galaxy Note has been quoted as October/Early November! I know which I'd rather have, which is why I've ordered it obviously...

  12. soralan
    Trollface

    contracts

    Hate to rain on the parade of people saying if its booked (the leave) I'm taking it, but my contract (not with apple) says that my employer can request that I cancel my leave if they give enough notice. So unless I was to have a holiday paid for there is not much I can do without a good enough reason. Anyway apple employee's will work it, they need to feed of the souls of fanbois.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Read your contract more closely.

      Your employer can *request* that you cancel your leave if they give *enough notice*.

      Have a chat with a solicitor about the bits between the asterisks, and we'll see you on the beach.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Several problems with that

      You don't work for apple, so your contract is irrelevant.

      It's the 24th September. Telling people to cancel leave 8 days from now isn't "enough notice".

      Get fucked.

    3. Bear Features
      Megaphone

      You're not raining on anybody's parade. First of all your employer, not being Apple, is irrelevant. Secondly just because one party can make a "request" does not mean the recipient of the request has to comply, unless your contract specifies, which is quite unusual in itself. So therefore you'd already know about it and it wouldn't be a big deal because IF an employer specifies this, there must be a compensation package available for people with holidays booked and paid for.

      However, above all of this is that Apple and media outlets reporting this nonsense what us to talk, discuss and argue about this very notion. Though if we think about it for more than perhaps 1.5 seconds we realise that this is nothing than a PR stunt. It's what Apple do, it's all about perception and creating hysteria. Which is odd given that apparently it's all and only about the products. Weird how they need (and spend $$$$) on such church like evangelism where if the products are that good they'd sell themselves. Wait for the.... we've run out of stock due to high demand chestnut too... and other such rubbish like they're selling a billion iphone 5s every .6 seconds ... Apple sources confirm.

      And this is from an Apple user. Though I am looking to sell my MacBook because I can't be a part of this nonsense any longer.

    4. Dexter Berlekey

      I suspect that the message has got bit twisted anyway, I can see that they can decided no one can request leave during this period, i.e. make a new holiday request from now, but if it's booked then you can take it.

      1. Bear Features

        Irrelevant. Fact is that Apple released it, to be reported, twisted and all the rest of it. And it's lame marketing because it's now a great joke in its predictability.

  13. Rich 30
    Stop

    news?

    "Channel sources reckon Apple will experience huge demand and that shortages are likely."

    In other breaking news, the phone will feature an apple logo, and will come in the colour 'black'

    1. Hardcastle the ancient
      Thumb Down

      Black?

      When are they going to use some plastic version of chameleon skin so that apps can change the colour of the phone?

      1. BorkedAgain
        Thumb Up

        Nice idea, Hardcastle...

        Patented it yet? ;)

        1. Hardcastle the ancient

          Nah. It's in the public domain now, I'll let it go GPL.

          I have ideas, not a research lab. In the 19th C you could not get a patent unless you had a working one, and that makes sense to me

          http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/shr/lowres/shrn897l.jpg

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Apple, the caring, sharing company.

    Workers at Foxconn have been told their 5 minute lunch break is being cut to 1 minute.

    1. James Hughes 1

      I'm sorry

      But how can anyone downvote that joke. Made me laugh anyway.

      Unless you are a foxcon worker of course, in which case GET BACK ON THE PRODUCTION LINE YOU LAZY GIT, you've had your minute.

  15. sheep++;
    Facepalm

    Cancelling leave/holidays?

    Do the classic British thing and ring in sick. "Doctor says I need two weeks off".

    I can get away with that because I'm "between jobs" anyway. Not that I'd buy anything that starts with "i".

    Even kids say - I spy with my little eye (whoops, oh hang on a sec...)

    1. Lockwood

      Not even iCe Cream?

  16. Gadget Rage is BAD
    Gimp

    As usual...

    folk moaning about Apples marketing. Its called being good at it. Don't like it, ignore it and stop reading articles about Apple!!

    1. Bear Features
      Megaphone

      Being good at marketing makes marketing invisible because you're thinking about the product. How can a story about staff being told to cancel holiday be 'good' marketing? Are you really excited by this story? Apple's marketing is a great comedy. I don't 'not like it', I laugh at it and enjoy mocking it :p

  17. Alan Bourke

    I would imagine

    that 'cancel all leave' here means don't try to book any.

  18. Bootneck
    Unhappy

    Well, well.

    I bet that is good timing but who will be able to afford one we will be on the dole

  19. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Untrue.

    "Workers at Foxconn have been told their 5 minute lunch break is being cut to 1 minute."

    You make it sound as if they only make products for Apple - which is untrue.

  20. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh no you're not...

    "I know Apple think they're god, but they really don't own people & they're entitled to take time off when they bloody well want!"

    Most contracts say it will say you have to request holiday and for it to be approved - Apple will just not be allowing any new holiday requests at that time. Appaarently even Santa bans the Elves from holiday in the 2 weeks before Xmas.

  21. JDX Gold badge

    @fuzzy

    So you're equating "owning a phone" with "having a hobby" or "being religious"? I don't think you're exactly making a good case here.

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