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Former Apple Employee Sam Sung Changed His Name to Avoid Attention

It’s tough when you just want to go to work and do your job but people don’t let it happen. Imagine thinking “Right I’m gonna’ sell 20 iPhones today. Pumped for it!” and all that happens is a string of redditors show up to take selfies with you because of your name and don’t buy anything.

I’m guessing (assuming) Apple removed him from the shop floor at his request because he felt harassed, or because his management realised he was having a hard time with his new found ‘fame’.
 
Devyn89 said:
For all Apple’s faults I don’t think they’d fire him for having a name. I can totally understand why he’d not want to be identified as an over decade old internet joke. Also I used to frequent that Apple Store before moving out of Vancouver.
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Yeah it genuinely sounds like they were trying to help him out and avoid unwanted attention.
 
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I recognize that rarely to "feel good" stories make headlines as much as the negative ones, but the amount of "wow, what a terrible, toxic culture to work in unless you're a C-level exec" I hear about Apple (not just in the media but within my network directly from people who have worked there) continues to amaze me.

What is less surprising, of course, is seeing their issues now in retaining their best talent and how it's slowed their product delivery, quality, and innovation.

Years later, Siri still does not work....
 
MacRumors said:
"I was so scared, and I just wanted to keep my head down and stay employed," he said.
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Unfortunately this is where most people are at when it comes to employment. I remember graduating around that time coming out of the Great Recession and it was tricky finding work.

You can even be the best employee scoring excellent reviews year after year and dedicate years of your life to improving their processes and save them millions of dollars, and at the end of the day they’ll still replace you with a random entry level guy in a foreign country augmented by AI. And when that blows up in their face they start firing everyone else and are now a shell of their former selves.

I’m not bitter…I work for myself now making 2.4x and get to laugh at their incompetency. Win-win. But times are getting tough again like it was back then, and this time the AI bubble is going to make the subprime mortgage bubble look like a blip.
 
If he decided to change his name, why did he change his last name? Seems like it would be just as effective but less radical to change his first name to anything that doesn't sound like "Sam". Changing a last name is more of a pain with documents, professional recognition, etc.
 
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unfortunate that he felt he needed to change his name but wouldn't it be easier to change your first name or just start going by your middle name ? (If he had one). Well, i didnt even know this happened, now i do. Thanks MacRumors. Sorry, the specialist formerly known as Sam Sung.
 
I would like to look at the HR department when hiring this employee)

- What's your name?
- Sam Sung
- No **** dude! You are hired!!!

Next day: Tim Apple, look look at this, so now we have Sam Sung which is selling iPhones. But what if he would be the best seller of the year!? - Nah :)
 
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I was kind of hoping that Apple had embraced it. That his boxed tshirt was signed by Tim Cook and they were proud to have him. But removing him from the store floor and sticking him in the back?

This reads like a sad story and I sense he has pain and trauma from this. What a bummer.
 
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