Well a billion here or there can do wonders to recruit talent - regardless of whether the building shows a paintbrush stroke or not
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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 a billion here or there can do wonders to recruit talent - regardless of whether the building shows a paintbrush stroke or not
I think you should think about that statement quite a bit more, and reach down into your soul.
"All of the interior wood was to be harvested from a specific species of maple, and only the finer-quality heartwood at the center of the trees would be used, "
I miss Steve
I miss Steve
I say go all out
I will say go for it no matter the cost. Yes Steve Jobs is dead, but this is his wish and final legacy (save for the next two generations of iPhone). So why not go all out? This building will be the single greatest reminder of Steve's ideology, serving to inspire many other designers to be like him. To never settle for second best. It's either the best or don't even bother.
Added: And financially speaking, $5bn is practically peanuts to Apple, so why skim on their founder's final legacy?
I will say go for it no matter the cost. Yes Steve Jobs is dead, but this is his wish and final legacy (save for the next two generations of iPhone). So why not go all out? This building will be the single greatest reminder of Steve's ideology, serving to inspire many other designers to be like him. To never settle for second best. It's either the best or don't even bother.
Added: And financially speaking, $5bn is practically peanuts to Apple, so why skim on their founder's final legacy?
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Wrong.
Culture is pervasive. If Apple's goal is to produce the most amazing products then Apple must seek to be amazing at everything it does. It must have amazing buildings and offices, amazing IT infrastructure, amazing training and development etc. Amazing, innovative and world leading cannot only be the responsibility of the product teams. All teams, including those responsible for offices and real estate, must be held accountable to amazing standards.
Amazing.
Sarcastic response #1: They are building a super-secret 2nd building that is an exact duplicate. This way - if something breaks on the original - they will just swap it out with the other one
Sarcastic response #2: Clearly they'll just go to Samsung for a new part since Samsung will have already copied the building and mass producing it for the public.
Perspective
Let's say instead of 140 Billion you had $140,000. Let's say you made plans to spend $3,000 on something really important maybe you're a pro cyclist who is getting a bike custom built.
One day its builder comes and says, "it's actually gonna cost $5,000, not 3,000." Okay, so I wanted to spend 2.1% of my savings but you're saying it will require 3.6% if I REALLY want it to be good?
I would think for about 2 seconds then reply "Go ahead!!!"
Let's say instead of 140 Billion you had $140,000. Let's say you made plans to spend $3,000 on something really important maybe you're a pro cyclist who is getting a bike custom built.
One day its builder comes and says, "it's actually gonna cost $5,000, not 3,000." Okay, so I wanted to spend 2.1% of my savings but you're saying it will require 3.6% if I REALLY want it to be good?
I would think for about 2 seconds then reply "Go ahead!!!"
S
syd430
Guest
Surprised nobody has mentioned that the building (i.e work environment) is one factor that helps to retain and attract the best talent. That's really what it's all about. Helping reinforce an image of prestige to employees.
I think you should think about that statement quite a bit more, and reach down into your soul.
Confused too. I'm not sure what you meant by that.
The point I was getting at is that artists don't care about ostentatious displays of status (like this building). If you've ever been in an artist's studio, you'll know that most of them are haphazard messes. Possibly the chaos they willingly inhabit reflects the creative process - or maybe they are just more focused on their product (the art) than their surroundings.
In any case, this building seems more about hubris and control - absolute control - rather than letting creative people's imaginations run free. In Steve's time, absolute control would've been fine. Steve really knew what he was doing, so it was safe to follow him. Now, I'm not so sure. This place could turn out to be Apple's tomb: Its creativity stifled and ossified into a pretty museum display.
My sentiments exactly. The investors just want to see more dividends. Screw them, because this building will help attract more designers that share Job's idea of perfection. Even if they don't, they will be convinced upon setting eyes on the insanely good 'doughnut'. This building will help Apple eventually and that's what the narrow minded shareholders fail to see.
There's a prestige to working in the world's coolest office building. It's the type of thing that elevates the brand and attracts the kind of talent who can command huge paychecks wherever they go. Once you're well into six figures, it's things like the food quality, surroundings, commute, etc. that are the real draws. You want to feel part of something important. There's something about this prestige that you feel when you're taking the final few steps into your front door at home, feeling like you've really made it in your career and anything a competitor could offer you would be a step down. I think this building is forward looking. This is the world's most profitable company and this building may very well be there for the next 100 years. If there are places where money can be saved smartly, then by all means... but nothing about this should feel like a compromise. Apple's past isnlegendary. They helped start personal computers and mobile computing, tablet computing, and computer aided graphic design. Their advertising changed advertising and they were lead by the world's best CEO. You want to capture this in stone. it should be a story about what Apple was and always should be. This building should be an encapsulation of Apple as an idea. There are places to build monuments because they aren't just remembrances to your past glory but a promise about the future. Spend the money. Do it right.
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Yeah - but in that scenario - you left out the part where you had to justify spending the extra money to your parents who controlled your trust.
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So Apple employees have been working in a craphole until now? I'm just asking since you think this building will matter that much.
Are Apple employees lacking in productivity because of their work environment.
I ask these sincerely. I don't begrudge Apple for wanting an a+ building. But as I said before - I don't really think they need to stick to every letter of every law Steve laid out *IF* it becomes impracticable or at a cost/delay they might not be willing to have.
Money is the least constraint they have on new product development. Money doesn't design or develop product - talented people design and develop winning products, and they're hard to come buy at any price.
Absolutely since materials are affected buy temperature and a few other things. Buildings also move somewhat during high winds and hurricanes etc. the twin towers would sway up to 6 ft off the plumb line I believe.
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syd430
Guest
Lol, the investors own the entirety of Apple. 100% of all net income (what's being used to fund the building) belongs to the investors. "Screw the investors" long enough and you'll see a whole new board pretty soon.
This building is kind of like Steve's final legacy, so why not make it his way regardless of costs?
In any case, Apple has always been about audacity. They are about doing things their way. If they move to a point where they ditch ideas because of cost reasons or impracticality issues that's when we have to worry. Because by then, Apple is just any other big corporations. They will no longer be the Apple that we know.
Don't forget the part where you are also bringing in $8,000-$13,000 per quarter in net income.
Apple could pay for this entire project with about one month's worth of profits! (Assuming modest incremental increases.)