Quality technology journalism should always be underpinned by a commitment to ethical practices and privacy protections. I started AppleTLDR to share my passion and unique perspective of the technology industry following almost a decade of employment at Apple. One of the things that made me most proud to work for Apple was the companies commitment to robust privacy protections, environmental responsibility and to improve supplier welfare. I want AppleTLDR to be a trusted source of information and high quality content. So it seems fitting to outline in plain English how I conduct business and to update this page regularly as the scope of the business changes.
A brief commentary on my role at Apple
I was employed by Apple from 2010 to 2020. I left Apple in good standing and of my own choosing. I maintain a personal admiration for the people I worked with, for Apple and its subsidiaries. I performed many roles at Apple over that time frame. The roles I worked in include sales, technical support, recruitment, training and in the software and development process of certain products. I worked at various Apple Retail locations in addition to corporate facilities such as the European HQ in Ireland, Silicon Valley in California and the UK HQ in London.
As it stands, I now have zero visibility to Apple’s future plans and products. But I do have a lot of operational knowledge of existing internal tools, products, services and proprietary technology. I do anticipate this knowledge will be of less relevance over time as the internal tools, policies, systems and indeed the company evolves. I won’t be commenting further on this as per the non-disclosure agreement that I remain subject to post-employment.
Reviews
Content marked as a review will be indicated as such in the title or body of the work. Reviews are formulated based on real-world use of a product or service with extensive hands-on time. In many cases, I am the owner of the reviewed product. Where that isn’t the case, this will be indicated. If a company chooses to send a product for me to review, this will be clearly labelled and the opinions stated will be my own.
Opinion pieces and commentary
From time to time I may choose to create content in the absence of a tangible product or hands-on experience. This will be explicitly stated as such and any opinions will be just that and not presented as fact (except in reference to technical specifications).
Sponsored content
To make AppleTLDR financially viable, sponsored content is necessary. My commitment is to work with brands I trust, use and genuinely like. I won’t recommend products or services that I wouldn’t be proud to suggest to my friends and family. Every effort is made to keep my content as unbiased as possible and to assist in this, I am selective with the companies that I choose to have a relationship with. If I’m not happy with the arrangement a company offers and the terms of our relationship, then quite simply we won’t be doing business together.
Editorial Content
The editorial content found on the AppleTLDR website and across all other forms of media such as Instagram captions is original work written in house. Where other sources are quoted, an appropriate citation is given. Opinions are those of AppleTLDR alone and forged by hands-on exposure to products and services unless otherwise stated.
Advertisements
The AppleTLDR website integrates with the AdSense network. This is a critical revenue stream that enables me to create free content. When you visit the AppleTLDR website you may see adverts in the form of banners embedded across the site. When you view video content on the AppleTLDR website you might see a pre-roll or mid-roll video advert. The specific adverts you see will depend on your own browsing behaviours, the websites you visit and if you have opted out of personalised ads with Google. I do not choose what ads you see and I have no visibility to the particular ads that any one person may see.
Privacy
You have the right to opt-out of adverts when accessing my content by enabling one of the many available AdBlockers. As a privacy advocate, I encourage you to do this and to enable intelligent tracking prevention technologies. More details can be found below under third party disclosures.
If you find my content useful, I’d politely ask you to consider turning off AdBlockers on the AppleTLDR website. I can’t create content without this revenue stream and I don’t collect any of your data. The only data I have any visibility to is broad or general information. It includes all of the following:
- How many visitors have viewed my site on a given date/time
- A broad overview of the parts of the world that visitors are from (but not linked to a specific individual)
- Where my website traffic was routed from for example via search or social media
- If you choose to follow the site, your chosen username is visible
- If you choose to like a post and or leave a comment
Photography
Photography is original where possible and will be indicated as such. If that isn’t possible, royalty-free images from sources such as Unsplash and Pixabay will be shown instead. Although most royalty-free sources of images do not require citation of individual contributors, every effort will be made to do so regardless. As a minimum, the source if not the individual contributor will be quoted. On occasion, images may be obtained from other sources such as by sponsors and will be clearly labelled as such. AppleTLDR does not use copyrighted material without the explicit consent of the copyright holder.
Video
As with photography, video content is original where possible. From time to time brief clips of other video sources may be included within the context of original work. This will to review, make commentary and for giving new meaning to existing work. Where other sources are included in the body of original AppleTLDR video material, appropriate citation will be provided on screen, in video description boxes or both. This is in compliance with United Kingdom copyright law.
Audio
All audio content is original where possible. When that isn’t possible open-source resources such as Story Blocks are used instead. This will be clearly labelled within the body of the work, captions, description boxes or all of the above. As with video, other audio sources may be briefly referenced to review, make commentary or give new meaning to original work. Appropriate citation will be given.
Graphics and other elements
The graphics design across all AppleTLDR platforms is original work or reinterpretations of the open-source material. I use services such as Go Daddy, Over and Envato to assist in the creative process and make extensive use of their libraries of open-source content including fonts, elements, sprites and more. I pay to access these materials and no citation is necessary.
Third Party Disclosures
- Third party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on a user’s previous visits to this website or other websites.
- Google, WordPress and other vendors use of advertising cookies enables them and their partners to serve ads to you based on yout visit to this site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Goole Ads Settings. (Alternatively, you can opt out of a third-party vendor’s use of cookies for personalised advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info.)
Final Word
Over time I anticipate (and hope!) to see the AppleTLDR brand grow. As the brand grows the areas in which I do business will likely change and evolve. The opportunites that become available to me might change too. My commitment is to keep this page up to date with the relevant and transparent information as things change. What won’t change is my dedication to quality, trusted content that respects your right to privacy. Thanks for reading!