Cupertino: "There is no chance that we're saying no" to Apple's new building
"The Mothership has landed in Cupertino," says Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong. These words were uttered during a press conference to confirm that the California city will welcome the new Apple campus with open arms. The decision is not based on any preferential treatment for Apple because of its reputation. It's a financial one. Apple is one of the largest tax payers in the city, and its directors don't want to lose this revenue.
The circular building will be built on land Apple purchased from HP. The new campus will be four stories high and enclosed in custom-made curved glass. The area surrounding the building will be re-landscaped with 6,000 trees. The building will also include its own energy center and will use California's power supply only as a backup.
In his address to the city yesterday, Steve Jobs says he hopes the building will open in 2015. You can follow the progress of this huge project at http://www.cupertino.org/apple.
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"The Mothership has landed in Cupertino," says Cupertino Mayor Gilbert Wong. These words were uttered during a press conference to...
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Notice how he's the only white guy in the room and 100% of the audience are Asians? NO TAKEOVER GOING ON THERE.
June 12 2011 at 1:53 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt's not a doughnut, it's an "infinite loop."
June 10 2011 at 9:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBeing shaped like big fat ZERO seems appropriate since Apple has created ZERO manufacturing jobs in the United States and instead pays a lower wage to overseas workers and then pockets 64 billion in revenue here in the U.S.
June 09 2011 at 4:33 PM Report abuse Permalink -3 rate up rate down ReplyGee ... seems kind of short sighted to forget the thousands or retail jobs they've added in the US with the Apple Stores, or maybe the hundreds they'll be employing to construct the building, or perhaps employing all the people it takes to design Apple software and products. Not to mention the millions of us who depend on Apple products and software to do our jobs.
Not to belittle your point, but I think things balance out.
At least they still hire Americans to do their software. Apple CLOSED its R&D in India in 2006. 0% of Apple's software is made offshore. Oh wait.... Apple is BOOMING. LOL.
June 12 2011 at 1:52 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIt would be all great if only Steve Jobs would have mention architects...
Thank you Steve... for ignoring architects...
http://archialternative.com/2011/06/09/thank-you-steve/
It's great to see that Apple employees will be able to experience the same open, light working environment, as we, their 'disciples' do in the retail outlets.
I think it will be great to work in such an inspiring work environment, just think what new ideas will come from Apple in the future.
A doughnut, not really, but the Mothership will show up nicely on Google Earth!
Jobs' presentation to city council was awesome. There really is no reason that the city council should approve it, they are planting more trees, and building an incredible new campus. Of course they don't want to lose Apple as a taxpayer, but if this plan somehow actually hurt Cupertino (aesthetically or environmentally) I'm sure they might have had concerns. But being that Apple actually gives a crap, they don't have to worry about that.
June 09 2011 at 11:22 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplySome truly silly comments here this morning. Does TUAW have any readers who touch base with reality - at least occasionally?
We have the glossy screen whine - although the vast majority of LCD screen-watchers in the world [TV sets] enjoy the greater depth and contrast their glossy screen TV sets offer.
And then [har] a dweeb who thinks providing independent energy is motivated by avoiding taxes?! Fracking hilarious. If that were the sole reason, payback on the system would probably be a couple centuries. Someone who reads so little about alternative energy concepts he knows nothing of carbon production vs. capture, climate change, or over the long haul - cost of doing business.
While I agree with your overall point, I take exception to the reason you attribute to Apple's energy decision here.
When Apple is designing a product and identify the specific components they'll need, they spend huge amounts of money up front to lock in supply and price where they think they have a good value. I think the energy center decision is the same type of thing; they're spending money upfront in exchange for reliability and control.
Think about it this way - what if they were using the grid as their main energy supply instead of their backup? They'd need to have their own backup, so they'd still have to build an energy center to serve as a backup for such a massive amount of employees - the cost of 12-13,000 high-caliber employees becoming suddenly unproductive would be massive. The backup would still cost tons of money, though certainly less than the planned-for main energy center. But by implementing the current plan, Apple (at least as far as this building is concerned) will no longer be subject to grid-based rolling brown-outs, black-outs, and general energy price fluctuations (you know they'll be buying natural gas in advance, in bulk, at a good price). I'd also assume that the energy center will be more efficient running at predictable levels rather than having to be on constant standby, ready to gear up to full capacity of the grid goes down.
Jobs is a genius businessman and this is a purely business move. The 'green' angle is just icing on the cake.
I'm sure its going to be an impressive building that we all will marvel at... But, am I the only one who thinks it looks like a doughnut?
June 09 2011 at 11:04 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWith all those glass windows in the new Apple campus, I really really hope all the Apple employees use iMacs which comes with only glossy screens, particularly on the sunny side of the building. Maybe then Apple (i.e. Steve Jobs) will come to his senses to realise that many -- no one is saying everyone -- Apple users need matte, non-reflective, anti-glare screens on their Macs. To see the depth of feeling on this issue, see the 1500+ petitions at http://macmatte.wordpress.com
June 09 2011 at 10:41 AM Report abuse Permalink -5 rate up rate down Reply"The building will also include its own energy center and will use California's power supply only as a backup", thereby avoiding to pay energy taxes the rest of us have to pay.
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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