“The Des Moines Register reports that Apple is in talks with Waukee, Iowa, for a large data center project,” Mark Hibben writes for Seeking Alpha. “According to the Register, the Waukee City Council will hold a special meeting Thursday morning to take up the matter, listed as ‘Project Morgan’ on the Council agenda.”
“The Council agenda shows plans for a development agreement with Apple and the sale of city owned property to Apple. Interestingly, the datacenter will occupy part of a 3500-acre site, shown in red in the [below] graphic, that the city annexed, apparently with the Apple deal in mind,” Hibben writes. “As part of the annexation of what had been zoned for agriculture, the city will provide utilities such as water mains and sewers. The Iowa Economic Development Authority board also plans a special meeting on Thursday morning to consider economic incentives for Apple. No details have been released about the incentives which, The Register notes, is unusual.”
“Apple currently has datacenters in California, Nevada, Oregon, and North Carolina. Overseas, Apple has a datacenter in China and plans for them in Denmark and Ireland. As I pointed out in a Rethink Technology report, Apple’s ownership of the means of hosting and distributing its streaming content could provide a financial advantage when competing with companies such as Netflix,” Hibben writes. “Apple is rumored to be working on a 4K Apple TV. It had better. Apple is very much in danger of losing its position in a product category it more or less created as the ‘hobby’ of Steve Jobs. Given that Apple wants to become a power in streaming video and expand its Services business, Apple very much needs a flagship platform in Apple TV, not just a hobby.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Let’s hope that, finally, the fifth time is the charm for Apple TV.
SEE ALSO:
Apple to build data center in Iowa – August 23, 2017
Apple to build second renewables-powered data center in Denmark – July 10, 2017
Apple’s huge data center in Ireland hits a snag – February 3, 2016
Some residents object to Apple’s planned new €850 million data center in Ireland – June 18, 2015
Apple’s strong commitment to the environment sets a powerful example for other companies – May 15, 2015
Apple to invest €1.7 billion to build two new european data centers – February 23, 2015
Sweet apples will be grown in that Iowa Farmland
“No details have been released about the incentives which, The Register notes, is unusual.”
it’s not only unusual, it is illegal, all city council business is public record by law…how can the good citizens of Waukee vote on something whose total costs are hidden? Are there no Sunshine Laws in Iowa? The state Iowa Economic Development Authority is subject to the same laws.
I suppose the prestige Apple brings to IOWA is worth giving Apple subsidies to sweeten the deal. As you say it is illegal and something should be done about it, its shameful if apple uses tax payers money to make profit
It’s okay if it’s above-board and the council and citizens approve it. It’s their town and their money…and their future.
Very true, so more reason to clarify their position. The secrecy does not help because it means if true details were to be made public, there would be uproar and disgust which Apple and IOWA elites want to avoid
I concur…with the Foxconn/Wisconsin deal, everything was made public beforehand for the people to see what was involved, as far as I can determine.
It’s illegal to HIDE the incentives – not to give them. Public taxing entities give incentives all the time – but they have to be disclosed to the tax payers. I personally don’t have any problem with Apple getting incentives. I think the residents of the city and state should know what is being given in those incentives though.
It’s not illegal until the deal is complete. The article explicitly states that Apple is in talks with the city (and likely county and state). The talks could amount to nothing and Apple could build elsewhere. Talk is just that: talk.
If Apple comes to an agreement with the government entities, then they will make the proposed terms public and the government entities can act on it, possibly holding public hearings among other actions.
Morgan, huh?
Let’s see, that’s a capitalized money ‘M’
-followed by a little ‘organ’…..
Hahah! You make me wonder if some slick name-giver wasn’t thinking that same thing as they came up with that name. Probably somebody’s daughter in reality though.
little organ = small “o”. its ok it happens to a lot of guys
I had thought at one time Apple was supposed to join forces with TimeWarner Cable and build some sort of super cable box that would revolutionize the way consumers view content. I don’t know whatever happened to that plan. Is AppleTV still a hobby? I’m not complaining because I don’t own any AppleTV. I make do with a FireTV Gen.2 and a Roku 3. They easily serve my needs and they work great for me. I mainly use the Roku for a few of the most popular channels and the FireTV is basically for running Kodi and Amazon Prime Video. I can easily sideload Android apps to the FireTV although the memory is quite limited. It’s unlikely I’ll buy an AppleTV because I don’t see anything compelling about owning one. Cost isn’t a factor, although it does seem more expensive compared to competitor products.
4K would be nice, however I can’t help but think AR is going to figure into the AppleTV’s future. NOBODY has an AR platform they can easily incorporate into their set top box and immediately have a nearly 1 Billion user base to market to.
If AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter all throttle the content or “prioritize other traffic”, how exactly will anyone be enjoying the 4K content?
Apple should set up a VNO /MVNO plan as premium ISP service. It is doable.