Apple's North Carolina data center nears completion

Hey I checked this out on google earth, and it seems the image has ben "messed with" . Using Todd Lockhart's coordinates, I found the all right. 321 and Startown Rd. But if you look carefully, the map has been modified. If North is Up, about 100-200' swath of original footage remains, and the rest has been replaced by an off-color stock image of forest. Roads which clearly have construction vehicles and other things on them simply dead-end, all along a straightish line that mirrors Startown Rd. Very interesting.

I concur, i live 5 miles from this locatio. The ONLY benefit this facility has had for me is i now have access to fiber internet to the home. Heh other then that the building is an eyesore.

Stopped by a few weeks ago on my way back from the mountains.
Absolutely no Apple logo or sign anywhere, double swing arm gates, plus security fence with sliding door for entrance.

Guard shacks with uniform patrol at both entrances.

I wrongly assumed there would be a sign with an Apple logo, and my simple intention was to stop by on my motorcycle and snap a pic of it.
Nothing to see.

The video is a least a year old. It's been floating around for longer than that. The data center is probably almost done by now and it could possibly be used for iTunes in the cloud and MobileMe users. Theres gotta be about a couple thousand OSX servers in that building alone.

Noticed something funny:

From both Apple's new data center and Apple Cupertino there is a town called "Mountain View" 8 miles away in 320 degrees NW direction. Strange coincidence I guess....

And one more thing, that helicopter flyover must have been filmed a long time ago, it's winter landscape.

Based on a quick scan of the surrounding area via Google Maps, the facility seems to be about here 35.588364,-81.26235

Cool, this is only about an hour's drive from where I live. I'll have to look for it next time I'm up that way.

Looks like you have a typo:

"the company reportedly paid one family upwards of $1.7 million for their one-acre lot. Even having paid that amount for such a small bit of land, Apple could have come away from this having paid as little as $35k per acre."

I'm guessing by reverse calculation you mean they paid $1.7m for their 50-acre lot?

Deals like that aren't that uncommon. When an impending deal to locate a BMW factory in SC was predicated on a runway expansion, there were a few people that sold their properties for a few million dollars; 15+ years ago.