I say they should not move away from Steve's Vision.
It's like JJ Abrams once said in an amazing TED Talk Session. Every time he sits in front of his macbook, he's just blasted away by the perfection of this thing, so it inspires him to write something at least equal to the laptop itself on the device.
It 's the same with that building. People who work there will feel, even if it's unconsciously, that they need to go for a product quality equal to their office! Steve forever !
I've gotta be honest, the level of dedication and perfection they put into this should match what they claim to do for products. They have the money, so I say why not.
Is it the most efficient way to spend the money? No. But that drive for perfection should really be embodied in every facet of the company if thats the standard you expect, including the building. That's what I like about Apple, the tiny little details that make such a difference.
Steve's dead. Be sane and move on.
I agree, are they going to let him dictate what Apple does for the rest of their lives? His way of thinking is no longer valid...
Yet employees at Apple don't get free lunch (as employees at many tech companies do).
Well... that's Steve Jobs for ya. Perfection.
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Free organic meals at Google.
Yes. Clearly they have the money to do what they want. Only - they answer to the stockholders and BOD. If it's seen as "waste" and overblown in budget - that's not going to sit well.
Second - I can appreciate that Apple wants to create the campus as per Steve's wishes. But ultimately, he's dead. That doesn't mean they have to cut corners or defy his wishes. But there's no way Steve could possibly predict fluctuations in pricing, materials, etc to pull this off.
If all of the sudden the company that was making the glass no longer existed - what then? Don't build? Build with "inferior" materials. A BROAD example. But the point is the same.
Apple should do what they can and in the spirit that Steve Jobs wanted. But they also need to stand on their own and do what they need to do.
Otherwise - where's the line. Do they concern themselves more with time to finish and/or costs. Both relate to each other as the longer the project takes, the more of a money pit (not being used in a derogatory sense) the project becomes.
Again - stockholders don't want to see a company spending billions upon billions and delaying the opening of the campus for a decade (for example) just because Steve jobs wanted no brush strokes to ever be seen.
My parents built a house and didn't scrimp on the finish. Their carpenters are cabinet makers by trade and one day when we pointed out that something was just a hair's breadth off level they said it was rare and refreshing to find people who actually cared about quality to that level as most people today want it done fast and cheap...If I won the lottery and had my own house built I would be JUST as emphatic about the quality and fit and finish, if your not they will build it to a cost, a chap one.
I agree, are they going to let him dictate what Apple does for the rest of their lives? His way of thinking is no longer valid, however I am not taking away from the things he had an impact on over the time he was with Apple.
Yet employees at Apple don't get free lunch (as employees at many tech companies do).
There is a big difference between designing a building's layout and the material / finish specifications. You can accomplish the former without going overboard on the latter. The questions is what does spending on "amazing" get you over "Better" and "Good Enough." They can get a very impressive design and aesthetics without requiring perfection; at a lot lower cost.The board and C suite have a fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders, regardless of wether or not Apple "can afford it."
I think even Steve told his successors, shortly before he passed away, that he'd like them to run Apple by making their own decisions. One thing about Jobs was, right or wrong, he made choices and followed through with them.
For all the grief people gave about some of his design choices (1 button mice, for example?), he didn't just change his mind and say, "Oh... maybe people don't like my idea so much." He pushed forward with it, and today, people still associate that 1-button mouse with Apple branded products. When he knew the switch to OS X made only 1 button impractical, he still stuck to his beliefs by releasing a "no button mouse" with the mighty mouse and then the magic mouse, vs. caving in and making a mouse just like every other one on the market.
I think the proper way for Apple to handle this building project is to build a campus THEY can be truly proud of, and which reflects Steve's vision for it, while still incorporating current leadership (making decisive choices where it saves the company money, while still resulting in a superior result).
I've worked in construction related business for a long time myself, and one thing I know is -- they LOVE to inflate the projected cost of a project as soon as you demand they do something different than the way they're used to doing it. It doesn't matter if your way is more efficient and superior. They're very resistant to change and automatically think, "Make me learn a new way to do my job? I'm gonna make you PAY for that!"
So this may require getting more bids from newer, more flexible contractors who are willing to try new things?
By all means create your amazing building but there are limits. I think no one is gonna notice those .125 inch gaps or the fact you switched to flat panel glass instead of the curve around that giant building. I mean could you even notice are or circumference that large?
But their products aren't perfect, are they? The quality has slipped in the last few years as they've been pressured to increase margins. Looking at my iPad, it's got 2 significant design flaws, both the result of cost-cutting - the buttons are plastic now and the new dock connector is a piece of **** (and still doesn't have strain relief!)
My parents built a house and didn't scrimp on the finish. Their carpenters are cabinet makers by trade and one day when we pointed out that something was just a hair's breadth off level they said it was rare and refreshing to find people who actually cared about quality to that level as most people today want it done fast and cheap...
When they put it on the market their estate agent said it was one of the highest quality finishes (not the most expensive materials) he'd ever seen!