Here's an unusual one that's crossed our desk this morning - Apple's getting into the crowded Big Brother CCTV market, and will appear with leading security vendor, videoNEXT (love the Next in that name) at a special event next month.
Yep, that's right, the company that once praised the crazy ones is now looking to deploy its technologies in new ways in order to keep an eye on people, so they don't get too crazy...
So, what's the deal? OK - "videoNEXT and Apple will be co-hosting a panel of industry experts who will be discussing the future of video surveillance and where video meets information technology," we've been told.
The panel will be moderated by Garrett Rice, senior manager, Enterprise Solutions at Apple. (Note the Enterprise Solutions job title there, folks...)
Other panelists at this special session will include
- Chris Gettings, Founder and Chairman, videoNEXT
- John Honovich, PSP, Founder of ipvideomarket.info
- Steve Hunt, CEO and Founder, Hunt Business Intelligence and author of SecurityDreamer.com
- Peter Michael, P.E., PMP, Principal Engineer, Surveillance and Security, SAIC
- Fredrik Nilsson, General Manager, Americas, Axis Communications
Founded in 2002, and headquartered near Washington, DC, videoNEXT's flagship platform, Security Knowledge Manager (SKM), leverages a classical IT approach to video and sensor management for capturing, organizing, storing and displaying video, access control and sensor data.
The free, RSVP-only event takes place on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 at 4pm, followed by a cocktail reception at ASIS 2008 at the Georgia World Congress Center.
We've always been fans of Security Spy for server room cameras ourselves.
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Comments
"Senior Manager"?
Heh, nice title inflation. Garrett Rice has zero direct reports, making him an "individual contributor" - hardly a senior manager. And "Enterprise Solutions" is "Enterprise Field Marketing" with a fancy name, so don't get too excited, he's just a paid shill. :)
Apple employees aren't allowed to speak in public representing Apple without approval from PR, and I'm willing to wager that PR wasn't consulted on this one.
Bet $100 this is shut down or Garrett is off the agenda in less than a week.
Erm - so you are nobody, right?
Erm, but the job title given for the guy is the one Apple says he has. Please can you tell me how that is inflation?
Also I think you owe me $100.
Paypal me, OK?
I worked at Apple for three
I worked at Apple for three and a half years, I know Garrett, and he is a senior manager.
As for Apple Enterprise Solutions, I had occasion to collaborate with them a few times. They're world-class field applications engineers.
-jcr
Surprised?
Big Brother? I'm not surprised. Apple is deep in bed and under the covers with AT&T, one of the largest spy agencies/telecoms in the world. Thanks to Barak Obama and his ilk, they now have Congressional immunity to spy on everyone who owns an iPhone, which is why I'll never buy one, and why I'm sticking with my iPod Touch. Sure they (sic) can read my email, but they can't PROFIT from reading my email.
Oh please
Yes, Apple is making this so the government can buy lots of Macs and spy on everyone! Um, no. This is likely for private industry surveillance, ie, office buildings, supermarkets, etc. If there is telecom immunity, then Uncle Sammy can spy on anyone on the phone, not just an iPhone. I'm sure that if they wanted to, they could put the screws to any company and eavesdrop on people. I think you need to peek out from under that tinfoil hat once in a while.
Probably just flogging Xserves and whatnot.
Apple's got lots of ties to the video industry, and they also make server kit. How convenient. Need to archive your CCTV stuff? They can give you the CODEC to compress it, the Xserve to serve it up, the XSAN to store it... :)
And when I say "give" I mean "sell."
Oh, and if you want to sepiatone your footage, or add some nice text crawls, or whatever, have we got a software bundle for you!
Say Cheese or Apple.
Say Cheese or Apple.