but not to the point of stupid wastefulness...
and I'm not even speaking as a shareholder, as I'm 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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but not to the point of stupid wastefulness...
and I'm not even speaking as a shareholder, as I'm not.
Urmm...but this building will only be four storeys high? I don't think swaying is a concern.
Added: and because of its rounded shape, it might even be aerodynamically good enough to ensure zero swaying? Hahaha
I disagree. They can build an amazing campus without adhering to every single detail Steve Jobs wanted. And quite frankly - there's not a customer alive (I believe) that would know either way what was a "requirement" vs what was compromised.
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.)
Is that how you'd "sell" it to the board? lol
Not something I was thinking about. I just thought it provided some perspective on the scale that Apple is operating at.De Beers has convinced people that 3 months salary is appropriate for an engagement ring. And here we are debating the extravagance of Apple spending 1 month of income (after all expenses) on a corporate HQ.
That is not the issue at all - you and many others are missing the critical point.
Under Tim Cook there is a clear and growing problem with execution. To have a 70% overrun on any project demonstrates a lack of control and management of the project.
Yes true. Customers are unlikely to know the difference. But here's still hoping that this building be made with minimal to zero compromises. Because it will bode well with Apple's ethos.
He is no longer here to keep up with the times and make decisions, I can not see Apple following 100% what he left in the pipeline as time will change things and he will not be here to alter with them. I imagine what he set forth will be integrated, but his way of my way or nothing is long over. When the iPhone was King and stood alone, ok yeah Steve got his way, but these times are changing, so Tim will have to change a bit with them. I am not saying anything bad about him, just that he is not physically here to alter things.
De Beers has convinced people that 3 months salary is appropriate for an engagement ring. And here we are debating the extravagance of Apple spending 1 month of income (after all expenses) on a corporate HQ.
You can return a diamond. And they retain their value pretty much.
And even when diamond buying - people might go in with expectations of what they will buy - but somewhere along the line - most end up compromising somewhere on the spectrum of the 4 Cs.
It's hard to inspire greatness in your employees while sticking them in carpet padded cubicles in a crummy rectangle building. If you want something artistic and amazing out of them, put them to work in a creative and above average place. It'll rub off on everything that they do.
Also, that extra 2 billion is going to go into the economy and create more jobs. It'll probably do more to stimulate the economy than Washington DC has. And, unlike Obama, Apple isn't borrowing money to spend it.
I think they should build it exactly as Steve wanted.
Also, that extra 2 billion is going to go into the economy and create more jobs. It'll probably do more to stimulate the economy than Washington DC has. And, unlike Obama, Apple isn't borrowing money to spend it.
I think they should build it exactly as Steve wanted.
Just pay the damn $5B...
The fact that Apple is possibly looking to shave cost by cutting corners on "fit and finish" quite frankly, disturbs me.
Regardless if this is a building or a product, fit and finish is what Apple is. The minute Apple begins with the "it's good enough" attitude, they become just another tech company.
Can't wait for my 2016 iMac, complete with weld lines and injection molded edges.
The fact that Apple is possibly looking to shave cost by cutting corners on "fit and finish" quite frankly, disturbs me.
Regardless if this is a building or a product, fit and finish is what Apple is. The minute Apple begins with the "it's good enough" attitude, they become just another tech company.
Can't wait for my 2016 iMac, complete with weld lines and injection molded edges.
6 square kilometers of glass
, that is about as much surface as my home town!How big is this thing? (Diameter)
So are you suggesting that the great minds at Apple are stifled in their creativity by their current working environment?
Just build it like Steve wanted. Damn the cost. If anything, they should find cost savings through the vendors without compromising on Steve's vision.
I agree that the building can have a psychological effect on employees resulting in pride and higher quality work.
The bottom line is they can afford it, so just do it! Settle for nothing.
I agree that the building can have a psychological effect on employees resulting in pride and higher quality work.
The bottom line is they can afford it, so just do it! Settle for nothing.
Creativity and inspiration do not do better under stress and out of desperation.
Perhaps one does one's best feral business thinking when hungry, and a willingness to do others down, but that is not the case for creativity.
If you want to get literal about it too, there are countless studies which show that hungry children do not learn well.
This idea of flogging people to get good work out them is wrong and completely dysfunctional.
Design and environment play a large role in how people think and behave, in their productivity. Business thinks, because they have most of the money and consequently must be right, that they can keep skimping on their employees and their customers. That is nothing but an unsustainable downward spiral.
Because 1/32" gaps between seams will get me that much closer to my colleagues than 1/8" seams, right?
It's one thing to say: The physical design of our corporate HQ should fall inline with our overall corporate vision, culture, and strategy. But it's another to say these extremely demanding fit and finish tolerances provide a better collaborative environment.
I can see why Apple would feel justified in creating such an office environment. The attention to details and the design philosophy are things they want all of their employees to "live" and having a corporate complex that embodies this is a good idea. But to claim these demanding tolerances provide better collaboration is a bit of a stretch in my opinion.
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Considering the guy went to Cupertino council when he was weeks from death, looking and sounding dreadful, perhaps Apple wish to finish it to his spec to honour him. It was, in effect, the final thing he worked on.
I don't think Steve really thought this through either.
Expansion and contraction in surfaces and materials is normal as temperature and humidity vary. You can just imagine lots of cracks and buckling in these pristine spaces.
Also people are going to need Segues to get around. And the most often heard words in the place will be "I'm coming to You! Don't Move! I'll be there in 20 minutes!" Meetings will start after people Jog for 10 minutes and have a shower.
On the upside, everyone is going to be extremely fit.
I don't think Steve really thought this through either.
Expansion and contraction in surfaces and materials is normal as temperature and humidity vary. You can just imagine lots of cracks and buckling in these pristine spaces.
Also people are going to need Segues to get around. And the most often heard words in the place will be "I'm coming to You! Don't Move! I'll be there in 20 minutes!" Meetings will start after people Jog for 10 minutes and have a shower.
On the upside, everyone is going to be extremely fit.
If only you were around to advise Jobs instead of all those useless architects and engineers. There's no way they could have thought of that.
I'm just going to point out that the new Campus won't be completed until at least 2016.
Apple may be in quite a different position then then it is today, and I'm not saying that it will desolate and broke. Maybe Apple re-bounces, but maybe it doesn't, maybe Google/Android continues to grow on it's behalf.
If so, a $5 billion building may not be such a good idea, image-wise.
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Apple is building a Taj Mahal?
Apple may be in quite a different position then then it is today, and I'm not saying that it will desolate and broke. Maybe Apple re-bounces, but maybe it doesn't, maybe Google/Android continues to grow on it's behalf.
If so, a $5 billion building may not be such a good idea, image-wise.
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Apple is building a Taj Mahal?
And Tim will drag Apple back to as near the obscurity they were prior to Steve's return in 1997. It's natural, it's not Tim's fault, but the Apple without Jobs was never going to match the one with him at the helm.
Once the roadmap Steve left ends, if indeed Tim even sticks to it, and we see what a true Apple without Jobs is capable of, then we will see. Apple will decline, the Golden Era dies when Jobs project roadmap ends. And if Ive ever leaves? It'll be pre 1997 all over again.
And that's not being melodramatic, you only need to look at the sheer scale of Jobs impact upon his return. I agree that Apple can't spend their days asking what Steve would have done, but while he's not around anymore to keep up with current trends, there's no one at the company who is capable of doing so either.
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Don't quote me with your woeful attempts at sarcastic humour again.
I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I agree with what you're saying. I'm a wage-slave too and I'd argue that our corporate overlords are the ones who have it too good right now and need to be prodded out of their comfortable c-suites and into making bold decisions that actually improve the economy. Of course many of them don't have to because they're just too comfortable as it is. That's my point.
That said, your breathless jump from the comfortable, current state of well-off Apple employees to "hungry children", floggings and ferality leaves me baffled.
Its more than just a "building that just houses people", its space for meeting rooms (where most of the products are brought to life), a workspace for a development team, Ive's secret magical workshop,ect..