Jessica Lessin’s 2014 Profile of Kim Vorrath

Jessica Lessin, writing for The Information back in 2014:

Ms. Vorrath, who has worked on all seven iOS releases, generally operates by asking lots of questions of engineers, sticking to the facts and getting them to explain in plain English why a particular feature should be included in the operating system. She’s easy to get along with, say former colleagues, who recall playfully mocking her 1990s feathered hairstyle and late 1980s fashion sense. But she isn’t known for chitchat and has been known to “blow up” on occasion when people miss deadlines or make excuses, colleagues say.

During a tense time before the first release of iOS software in 2007, Ms. Vorrath grew irate when a colleague was heading home early before another marathon weekend meeting. She slammed her office door so hard that the door knob broke, and she locked herself in. Mr. Forstall grabbed a baseball bat to try to break her out, people who worked at Apple at the time recall. Mr. Forstall didn’t respond to requests for comment.

My understanding — from someone on the team — is that Forstall did bust her out, smashing the doorknob off with the bat. Every good software team needs a baseball bat.

★ Friday, 24 January 2025