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Steve Jobs' Requirements for 'Fit and Finish' Leading to Massive Cost Overruns for Apple's New Campus
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Well he was spending the money on his job and not on booze and hookers. So I think the parents would give the ok.
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This is probably one of the only building projects in the world where money is no issue. Would be a builder's/architects dream.
That money is stockholder money. It is wasteful to treat Apple corporate offices like Steve's yacht. I understand and promote having a nice working environment, but this is ridiculous.
This is art. And people ought to have it. If you stifle all art in the world for the sake of a few $$. The worse off the world will be.
I think it could be useful for a project like this to be done. In this country it seems the workmanship ethos has gone utterly to crap. Cheap, fast, loose, flimsy, rough, gaps and junky overall execution. There was a time in the USA where craftsmanship meant something. Now all anyone cares about is cheap and fast. Nothing much is made with care and most things wear out far too quickly and are hardly elegant and robust even while new. Contractors are lazy children of retired/retiring parents who did better work than their successors are willing to do. And the same holds true for those retiring (their predecessors did better quality work). This has been going on for generations and has reached an all time high of cheapness and crappiness. This process was humorously noted as a generational difference in Back to the Future (an 80s film!):
Doc Brown: I think I found the problem. This component was made in Japan!
Marty: Doc, all the best stuff is made in Japan.
Doc Brown: I think I found the problem. This component was made in Japan!
Marty: Doc, all the best stuff is made in Japan.
Striving for perfection is one thing, but for a business, if that perfection comes at the cost of making money then that's not perfection!
All that aside, if it is true about Steves obsession for perfection, he'd certainly be turning in his grave now! I'd also love to know what Steve would have (honestly) thought about the HTC One, about windows tiles and a larger iPhone screen to compete against (for example) Samsung?
All that aside, if it is true about Steves obsession for perfection, he'd certainly be turning in his grave now! I'd also love to know what Steve would have (honestly) thought about the HTC One, about windows tiles and a larger iPhone screen to compete against (for example) Samsung?
In a world where quality is going down in favor of quantity, speed and money, I think Apple still stands out and shout keep standing out as a company that focuses on making things amazing without compromise. Make the campus amazing and set a new standard, I say. Change the world instead of listening to people who just want money.
Good stuff. I'm just like Steve. It's amazing, going in new buildings and homes today, how shoddy the quality is. It speaks volumes about society. No care for craftsmanship or quality, just as cheap and fluff as possible.
A $4B boondoggle experiencing first world problems. Are we supposed to feel sympathy for the technical difficulties, or amazed at the ostentatious spectacle of it all?
It's been years I don't write in this forum but I felt compelled to do this now, just to ask something none pointed out before.
Since when a glass tower is a better project than this? Come on, look at the green space. I would exchange that green space for any glass tower in a heartbeat. Such a lousy comparison. We need to fight this mindset, towers are a stupid solution in urbanism.
Show some respect, without the return of Steve Jobs to Apple, Apple wouldn't be how it is today.
There was a day in America when public buildings were proud, tall and beautiful...
This building is a celebration not only of Steve but all that Apple has been. All that Apple will be. Something truly great like this uplifts the city and region. It's A celebration of humanity. And I mean that.
In an era where California is going to hell I think it's wonderful.
And for the critics...I feel sickened that the disease of mediocrity is spreading.
This building is a celebration not only of Steve but all that Apple has been. All that Apple will be. Something truly great like this uplifts the city and region. It's A celebration of humanity. And I mean that.
In an era where California is going to hell I think it's wonderful.
And for the critics...I feel sickened that the disease of mediocrity is spreading.
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Big difference
I admire Job's attention to detail and the demand for perfection.
The problem is trying to apply the same principals for the Apple products to the Apple building is that it doesn't scale down.
Apple products are multi-generational. Apple learns what works, and what doesn't, and applies that to the next generation of their products. No product is perfect with gen 1.
However, in this case, the building is gen 1, and it has to be perfect.
Apple didn't do that with their stores. Just like their products, they build full scale prototypes, which they scrapped and started over more than once. The first store they eventually opened was the results of a lot of tests and experiments.
If I were in charge of this project, I would experiment on a smaller scale with smaller offices in other regions. Let them work the bugs out. And there WILL be bugs. That may take 5 years. But once it is done, then build the big building.
I fear that this will become the same as Romania's Palace of the Parliament.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament
A giant white elephant building representing the oversized ego of a dead dear leader.
I admire Job's attention to detail and the demand for perfection.
The problem is trying to apply the same principals for the Apple products to the Apple building is that it doesn't scale down.
Apple products are multi-generational. Apple learns what works, and what doesn't, and applies that to the next generation of their products. No product is perfect with gen 1.
However, in this case, the building is gen 1, and it has to be perfect.
Apple didn't do that with their stores. Just like their products, they build full scale prototypes, which they scrapped and started over more than once. The first store they eventually opened was the results of a lot of tests and experiments.
If I were in charge of this project, I would experiment on a smaller scale with smaller offices in other regions. Let them work the bugs out. And there WILL be bugs. That may take 5 years. But once it is done, then build the big building.
I fear that this will become the same as Romania's Palace of the Parliament.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palace_of_the_Parliament
A giant white elephant building representing the oversized ego of a dead dear leader.
I'm laughing at all the ignorance being purported on tolerances. Please. Unless you have the specs to determine what material constraints this article is alluding to I suggest you stop hyperventilating on what it is you don't understand.
The spec requirements of the flooring is the same that were in NeXT. Nothing new.
The spec requirements of the flooring is the same that were in NeXT. Nothing new.
The building won't be perfect. It only strives to a higher standard of quality.
Here's hoping that in 50 years this building is seen as a treasure to be preserved, and not a candidate for demolition.
