stream_fusion

The idea of attempting to refactor a 100k+ loc codebase, without static typing and a compiler that can identify issues at compile-time versus runtime is equivalent to asking to be punished. If you must, consider that the role of a type-checking compiler is simply to perform a first round of automatic unit-tests, tests that are conveniently available after providing some typing annotations. To escape static typing - if there is a demonstratable and exceptional need (loose coupling), simply wrap the required events up as objects and switch and downcast on them with enums or use a visitor pattern.

Unfortunately associating dynamic languages like ruby, python and javascipt with some narrative of hacker agility and contrasting against a clumsy slow-moving 'enterprise' culture is confounding the issues. This is not to say that there aren't plenty of vendors/consultants selling FUD and over-hyped and over-complicated 'solutions' in 'enterprise' but it's a non-technical issue.

Examples that come to my mind, would be the risk that the employee gets promoted over the boss, or alternately, that the employee is poached and shifted out of the group by a different group boss.

It assumes that all employees are informed about other employees playing a quit game. From a management perspective, it may be good strategy to make the counter offer, if you could ensure that it is kept quiet from office gossip. Also, an individual employee has no incentive to broadcast the fact that he is using the threat of quitting, and is likely to play into that stratey if he receives what he wants in pay/status/hours etc.

I suspect it was a marketing decision. The consistency of his clothing choice, helps to reinforce the brand (in this case Steve and Apple) in the public mind via his portrayal in media. For those who are aware he always chose the same clothes it's merely an idiosyncratic trait, however for the wider public who are only dimly aware of leading computer figures, it aids recognition ("ahh that's that guy, who runs Apple") above the background noise. There's a bit of an analogy with brand connection/consistency in choosing similar product names eg - iMac, iPod, iPhone. Consistency, helps cross-recognition and positive association. It's all a carefully crafted narrative for the public mind.