Apple Plans New Spaceship-like Campus

itwbennett has a story that might answer the question of what Apple is doing with the billions they have in the bank. "Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Tuesday presented plans for a new Apple campus to the Cupertino City Council. The office building will look 'a little like a spaceship landed,' said Jobs. It will also be just 4 stories tall, is big enough to house all 12,000 Apple employees (with room for growth), and will generate its own energy." Keep reading to see the riveting town council meeting.

Re:Penis Spaceship ?

[betterunixthanunix]

Perhaps because a penis (once removed from a person's body) is homeomorphic to a torus?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeomorphism [wikipedia.org]

Re:He looks sick

[0100010001010011]

I still have to give him props for actually showing up to the meeting. He could have easily sent the summer intern or any number of other people involved with the project. Instead the CEO of a Forture 50 company shows up to a town hall meeting to discuss the new building they're building.

And regardless of what company is building this (and peoples opinions of that company) this actually looks like a pretty cool 'green' endeavor. Less wasted space on parking, more trees, less energy consumption. I wish more companies thought like this.

Free WiFi??? WTF?? @13:19

[rotide]

I'm no Apple fan, but damn do people elect stupid people to City Council. That Kris lady or whatever doesn't care about anything besides "Free WiFi" [goto 13:19]. That's what she wants for the city. Screw tax revenue, new residents, etc, etc, no, she wants Apple to give her free WiFi. Again, I don't like Apple, but Steve's response was great, basically, (paraphrased), "We'll give you WiFi when you stop taxing us, since that's what taxes are for, public works projects".

Interesting Highlights

[guttentag]

• The new campus would be not far from the existing campus, on the north side of Interstate 280, one exit east, between Wolfe and Tantau, adjacent to the freeway.
• The new building would provide office space for 12,000 to 13,000 people starting around 2015.
• The new building would have its own auditorium because they don't like having to go up to the Moscone Center in San Francisco (the traditional home of the MacWorld expo, which was once Apple's primary stage for announcements) every time they announce a new products
• The property seems like it would be like a large park with a parking structure WAAAY off by the freeway and a lot of parking underground.
• Jobs said Apple has learned a lot from building all its Apple stores around the world and as a result can make really big pieces of curved glass that would be used in construction here. There wouldn't be any flat glass on the building. He said he felt architecture students would come from all over to see it.
• The land was originally apricot orchards and he has hired a Stanford horticulturist to consult on ensuring indigenous trees are planted, including more apricot orchards.
• Jobs mentioned that he called Bill Hewlett at home (looked him up in the phone book because there were no unlisted numbers then) when he was 13 and asked him for some spare parts, and it was about that time that HP bought the land Apple plans to use for this
• One member of the city council attempted to haggle with Jobs, listening to his plans for this new campus and suggesting that in exchange for letting Apple stay in the city Apple should provide free WiFi (a la Google in nearby Mountain View). Jobs responded by calling himself a simpleton, and said he's always believed that the city should provide those services using the money Apple pays in taxes as the largest taxpayer in the city. He did offer to provide WiFi if the city would allow Apple an exemption from paying taxes. She played if off like she was joking at that point, but I think she seriously thought she was going to haggle with Jobs over this.
• The city asked for their own Apple store so they don't have to go to Apple stores in Santa Clara's Valley Fair mall or downtown Los Gatos, but Jobs said the traffic isn't there to make it work, to which the city replied, "we'll help you make it work." No response from Jobs on this, though. The new campus would be walking distance from the Cupertino Square Mall, which is relatively small, anchored by a Sears, Macy's and JC Penny and underwent a major renovation a few years ago. That brought in a nice new AMC theater which I think does well, but the rest of the mall seems constantly on the brink of folding, with lots of empty spaces (even before the great recession) and cheap no-name stores... Jobs would never say it but Apple doesn't want its brand associated with that.

Re:He looks sick

[Low Ranked Craig]

No. He HAD pancreatic cancer which (probably) spread to his liver. He has a new liver and as a result has to (or had to) take anti-rejection drugs, and no pancreas and a bunch of other missing stuff due the whipple procedure used to remove the pancreas, etc. He probably has a hell of a time absorbing nutrients, maintaining his blood sugar, etc. I respect the man for continuing to get out of bed every day.