Steve Jobs' Requirements for 'Fit and Finish' Leading to Massive Cost Overruns for Apple's New Campus

The company may, however, have little choice in the matter if it seeks to maintain its image as an iconic and visionary company in the post-Jobs era.
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Ouch. I thought they could do that by releasing better products and always remaining miles ahead of competitors. Instead it has come to spending ton of money on campus buildings to make it look iconic. Sigh. Especially since the original iPhone did not come out of fancy looking campus.
 
Gotta love quality and higher standards. Kudos to Steve, for having the balls to push the limits.

But, the poor shareholders ... better cut the costs and give the money to them, they need it. That's more important than a high quality, unique, artistic project :rolleyes:
 
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! :apple: Steve forever !:)
 
Jobs, Dead or alive, deserves this campus to be built to his exact specifications. Build the thing!! What's an extra $1BN to company that has well over $100+BN in the bank??!!
 
Arcus said:
Meh. While I admire the attempt to create something great, why bother? I would think most people want their products to be good and could not give a crap about the building.
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in his book, it is said Steve admired his father's attention to detail, even making the backside of cabinets look nice when nobody would even see the detail...it is the idea of doing it right all the way, not partially.

As long as Apple isn't laying off a ton of people to make the new campus, I am for it as it can bring about good feelings within and outside to see the new campus.
 
Bonte said:
1/32 of an inch, won't this be problematic with the materials and temperatures?
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Exactly what I was thinking. Expansion cracks and lots of stuck doors coming soon. I can't imagine the requirements of the HVAC.
 
Ingot said:
It's not my money. What do I care...
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Some (many) of the people on these forums have stock in Apple, so it is their money and they do care.

Also, if you've bought Apple products and are planning to continue buy Apple products, then it kind of is your money, because your purchases are where Apple gets the money to develop new products (or buildings) with. On the one hand, if they spend too much on this building, they may not have as much to develop new products (doubtful); on the other, if they cut corners on this building (not sure how that's possible given its all rounded surfaces) - who's to say they won't decide it's okay to cut corners on future consumer products?
 
iScott428 said:
For those that question the need for a building like this read up on the Pixar studios and how the layout of the offices provides for an unparalleled collaborative effort between departments.
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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."
 
My Apple sources tell me they are pulling engineers off of OS X 10.9 and iOS development to help with the building project. I also heard that the new version of Pages would be further delayed as that team is now working on some related project called Pavers, the Keynote team is in charge of all keyholes (but apparently there is some internal conflict with the Keychain Utility team), and the iMovie team is in charge of a special project called iMove (I don't think it has much to do with software). The Compressor team is now on something called Air Compressors, the GarageBand team is in charge of new parking arrangements, the Safari team have been entirely dispatched around the globe to search for specific Maple wood (the Google fork team are switching to Oak btw), the Airport Utility team are working with nearby airports to import all that German glass and the Time Machine team are trying to flip things back to when the cost was $3 billion or less. Last rumor I got was that the Boot Camp team was rapidly procuring pup tents just in case the building is not done on schedule. ;)

And did you hear about Samsung's new "spacecraft" building campus plans? ;)

And both the JR Tolkien estate and several companies in the Jewelry industry are initiating patent lawsuits against Apple for using a ring shape. ;) Edit: I just heard that Trojan and Durex and joining that suit as well.

And 3 analysts report that all of the internal walls throughout the entire campus are one giant 128K or 256K UUUUUHD Apple iTV Television- probably made of curved glass & supported by liquid metal, controllable from iWatches to be distributed to all employees. It's all fed by either AT&T or Verizon LTE but after only 1 hour of downloading video, Apple is projected to burn through the entire balance of cash on hand. ;)

No worries though. In order for the craftsmen to deliver their value in constructing it all, Apple is requiring 30% of their gross receipts right off the top, which should cover about 1/33rd of the next month of LTE data to feed that UUUUUHD Apple television. After that, there's much hope for iPhone 7s, iPad 7 and "something incredible & exciting in the product pipeline" that might actually launch in the next couple of years that is not just another size of an iDevice or a evolved spec of a Mac (something actually new).
 
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Cloudsurfer said:
They have 140 billion on the bank. They can afford it. I hope they stay true to the vision of Jobs.
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No joke. And given the environmental issues they are attempting to address with solar panels etc, perhaps the extra costs are worth it.

Of course folks like Mr Preferred Stocks would rather the whole thing be cancelled and the money given to him, I mean the shareholders.
 
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.
 
Personally I couldn't care about the Jobs link with the story, BUT I DO think Apple have every right to demand a building that THEY want, and one that is built to last and of high quality. Lots of shody it'll do builders out there these day's that just make crap.

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 cheap one.
 
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Executive management approves the capital expentitures, the board of directors approves the appointment of the management team, the shareholders elect the board of directors. Any shareholder who objects can vote against the board. Not much else anyone can do. Apple will do what it sees as best for its shareholders. It has zero to do with how much cash they have in the bank.
 
idkew said:
Steve's dead. Be sane and move on.
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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.
 
parapup said:
Ouch. I thought they could do that by releasing better products and always remaining miles ahead of competitors. Instead it has come to spending ton of money on campus buildings to make it look iconic. Sigh. Especially since the original iPhone did not come out of fancy looking campus.
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I think you're missing the point of such a building. Think of it more as a monument and a permanent reminder of what can be achieved.

chfilm said:
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! :apple: Steve forever !:)
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I agree. Some buildings of the last were pieces of art, decades on the making. These days we are all too often confronted with PC towers of structures; big ugly and far from inspirational.
 
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