2005-01-12

It's almost a year and a half after the fact now. But, all of a sudden, the fact that I was fired by Apple because of my blog seems to be attracting a lot of attention. Curt Hopkins from Morpheme Tales got in touch with me last week. He's been doing extremely thorough research on the recent phenomenon of companies firing, reprimanding, punishing, or simply not hiring people with blogs.

Another writer named Mark Kernan got in touch with me a few days later. He saw mention of me on Curt's site and wanted to find out more, too. Today I just found Dan Farber's CNet story on Apple firing people for their online diaries.

I wonder what is in the air right now that makes this subject so popular all of a sudden. And, where was all the news coverage when it was happening to me?

It doesn't really matter, though. One thing is for sure: I was glad to not work at Apple anymore. My colleagues were great, the pay was great, and the environment was quite pleasant. But, I was depressed with how I spent more than forty hours every week. It seemed like there should have been a better way to occupy my life on this planet. But, I must admit, it's not fun to be fired. Even if you hate your job, nobody wants to get canned. It's like being dumped. You want to be the one who does the dumping, not the one getting dumped.

But, one thing is for sure: more and more companies are firing employees who post to online diaries. My advice to bloggers who want to keep their jobs: Use a fake name. Lie. Or, simply don't get caught.

Then again, who knows? Maybe your life might turn out better. Mine sure did. I got to travel for a year and stay with people who read my online diary. I took photos which were put up in cafes and galleries around the country. I played a slew of acoustic shows to support my new album Thirteen Songs About Love.

Now, I manage a few recording artists. I just got a needle drop in the NBC soap opera Passions. I'm healthy, happy, and I spend my days doing what I want. Sure, there are down times. There are even times I miss my job at Apple—but mostly I miss my friends there and the sunny days in Silicon Valley.

For more information about bloggers being fired for their writing, check out the Morpheme Tales, the blogger's bill of rights, or this CNet article about Apple firing employees for blogging.


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