Apple's $1 Billion Data Center Mystery

1sockchuck writes "One of year's most tantalizing technology secrets involves Apple's $1 billion investment in a new data center in North Carolina. Is it the Death Star in Apple's plan for galactic domination? Some Apple watchers predict it will be the hub for a 21st century broadcasting network. Other enthusiasts are doing flyovers to film videos of the 500,000 square foot facility. There's also an unofficial FAQ about the new data center. What is Apple up to with this huge facility?"

Re:Cloud

[Punchcardz]

Odd that the only device that automatically sent images to a locked down cloud was the Microsoft Kin. I think you are rocking some tinfoil there.

Re:Cloud

[Kantara]

Microsoft is the only one giving you choice, but on slashdot they're supposedly always the bad guy.

You haven't been watch television lately have you. If you were, you'd see the Microsoft 'To the Cloud' [youtube.com] commercials [youtube.com] ad [youtube.com] nauseam [youtube.com]. They are right there with all the others wanting the same thing. To the 'Mainframe' with all of them.

Re:Cloud

[iluvcapra]

MobileMe is "expensive" (by which we mean $99 a year) precisely because it has no ads and doesn't vend your personal information to third parties. You can't have it both ways-- you either go Google and get your cloud for free with ads and metrics, or you actually pay money for your service.

I call BS

[Charliemopps]

Where is this $1 billion price tag coming from? I've seen facotries go up twice that size for under $20 million, so unless the thing is filled with solid gold doorknobs I'm doubting that pricetag. Also, all these "sources" are random apple fanboi tech sites. It's apple rather well known for spawning their own viral mysteries to help build up suspense for their next big thing? To me that looks like your standard manufacturing plant, look at the water towers... why would you need those in a data center? Maybe they're sick of the bad press from china and might start offering an american made version of some of their hardware? It's clear their customers don't care about price.