” The last time Apple chairman Steve Jobs appeared in public before resigning as chief executive in late August was not at one of Apple’s meticulously choreographed product launches. It took place in the unremarkable chambers of the Cupertino City Council, where Jobs made an unannounced appearance in June to unveil plans for a new, one-building Apple campus, not far from Apple’s existing headquarters at One Infinite Loop. Yet in many ways the presentation was quintessential Jobs: He pitched the gargantuan, ring-shaped structure with a mix of flair, theatrics, and hyperbole. ‘It is a little like a spaceship landed,’ Jobs said at one point. He later added, ‘I think we do have a shot at building the best office building in the world,'” Miguel Helft writes for Fortune.
“The campus, if approved and constructed, will house nearly 13,000 employees. Along with the existing headquarters, which has space for 2,800 people and which Apple (AAPL) intends to keep, the iSpaceship will provide plenty of room to grow for years to come,” Helft writes. “(Apple now has about 12,000 people in Cupertino, the majority of them in a smattering of aging buildings it rents and which it plans to vacate.)”
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Helft writes, “The iSpaceship, a futuristic behemoth enveloped in giant sheets of curved glass, has the elegance and pizzazz of so many other Apple creations. It’s also the most visible manifestation that Jobs has been hard at work on what might be his most important product. It is neither an iPhone nor an iPad but rather an enduring and permanent Apple that has the architecture, the processes, the tools — and the soul — to outlive its iconic co-founder.”
Much more in the full article here.
Yes, Apple forever !!!
I like the concept that the company itself is the ultimate product. It’s kind of like that feeling you get when Vader says, “Now the circle is complete.” A perfect denouement.
The concept is beautiful, but it boldly contradicts to Jobs’ principles, which are about building products that move the world forward.
If Apple would cease to do this, Jobs would want to kill it ruthlessly. This is because the legacy is about building great products, not about the building or the company — which actually exist only for the purpose of “putting a ding in the universe” (quoting Jobs himself).
If one thinks of the company as a dynamic process, rather than an edifice, then there’s no contradiction whatsoever.
Steve Jobs describes Apple’s culture as that of a startup. The concept of constant renewal is built-in.
Actual product is always primary. Not meta product as in “company is the ultimate product” (and the more so now the building). Jobs does not care who and how created the product unless it is as good as possible. That is why he was always so easy in killing many long-time efforts of his employees, and his own efforts ruthlessly. Quality of products is not always self-reproducable just because the products comes from well-held company, so the ultimate worth and judgement according to Jobs is only products itself.
All of ideas, people, and companies are worthy, but worthless comparing to the actual product they are able to produce. So while it is beautiful thing to say that the company is Jobs’ biggest legacy, it has nothing to do with his core principles.
Jobs biggest legacy is concrete innovations where he was able to push the world forward, improving productivity and quality of life of billions of people with Macintoshes, iPods, iPhones, iPads.
The real aspect of being built to last is Apple University, not a physical structure. The preservation of philosophies and approaches in a post-Jobs era for Apple is the most important aspect of Apple’s longevity.
Apple is going to build a SPACE FLEET!
Jobs: Activate the stargate!
SGC (Stargate Cupertino): Chevron 7 locked, Sir!
if they paint it black then it’s time to shit yourself!