Company: Apple
Date: 2009-09-04
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: former

It's a job, not an identity
Pros: Smart people, good products, competence and focus in abundance.  Certain pride you feel working there is warranted.  Get to work on/with OS X all day every day.
Cons: You may find you're so flattered to be asked to join Apple, the "it" company of the moment, that you'll ignore the red flags.   Does everyone talk about relentless work hours?   Do they seem enthused?   Happy?

The power of the Idea of Apple is so strong that even rational engineers get lost in the meta.  "Are you worthy to work at Apple?"  is the unspoken question that permeates the atmosphere, inciting, especially in the newer hires, a manic desire to prove themselves.  Its power is amplified by the state of the economy.  Employees voluntarily give away large swaths of their time and life energy, essentially subsidizing  a corporation that is quarter-to-quarter  hoarding billions in cash.  

I can only speak for my small slice of the Apple pie, but I found it a tense, unfriendly place, with few glimpses of unguarded humanity.