Hacker News Reader

Comment by hn_throwaway_99 | Hacker News Reader

> One product often left out, which may have started with Jobs, but delivery should be attributed to Cook is the new Apple HQ. The initial impact has crumbled due to Covid WFH.

> However, this campus may turn out to be a force multiplier going forward. If so, it is a victory, but not in the minds of consumers.

Curious, have you ever actually talked to anyone that worked there? While I have admittedly only talked to a couple folks, they either hated it or were at best indifferent. There reasons ranged from "my commute is now twice as long" to "it's still just a giant suburban office park".

Again, in no way arguing this is some sort of representative sample, so I am curious what Apple employees who work there actually think about it.

View on HN

I only worked there briefly (I never officially had an office there — Covid times and all that). I don't see it as any different than any of the other Apple campus buildings I worked in (like Infinite Loop) with regard to productivity.

(I've always compared it to some beautiful, modern art gallery — but without any art.)

But to the above degree, I have to say I enjoyed all large Apple work environments (even some of the more far flung ones I worked at like Results Way).

It's because I have enjoyed being able to walk down a hall, up a floor, and chat with The Guy That Works on IOKit Display-support. I am a "social engineer" (not one to socially engineer though if you know what I mean). I truly disliked working from home for extended periods.

They must have some art!?

You’re expected to build it

Yeah Apple’s DRI system means it’s pretty easy to just talk to the guy. No PM nonsense. It’s nice.

DRI - directly responsible individual, for those who didn’t know.

No PM nonsense but there's some NDA nonsense even between internal teams no?

I don't think devs talking directly across teams is unique to Apple, though. Or do you mean that finding "the guy" is much easier because there's an official registry, and you don't have to guess from commit logs etc?

I don't know whether they've backed off from the open plan office layout for Apple Park[1], but that sounded terrible to me.

Personally I'd almost certainly prefer a real office (even a tiny closet-like one) with a door, maybe in Infinite Loop.

[1] https://www.macworld.com/article/670869/complete-guide-to-ap...

Yeah, no, they were still large glass aquarium-like enclosures for a couple dozen engineers the last time I was there.

That's so ridiculous for a custom designed space. Why not have team offices?!? Something for 6 to 8 people?

I work at Apple Park and it’s awesome. I love it! Been here 4ish years.

On my current team we share a hall-wide office that seats 4. On my old team I shared a half-hall wide room with another person.

Most people have this 2 person arrangement. Some teams sit in groups of 6-8 together. All of this is Siri.

Teams in other orgs are wildly different. I had a friend in iCloud that was in one of those open office style arrangements. She hated it. She left to Netflix eventually.

Apple Campus 2 is about a superblock away from Apple Campus 1, so unless we’re talking about someone whose 5-minute commute doubled to 10 minutes, no one’s commute doubled in any sense where the comparison is meaningful.

I don't know all the details but I'm pretty sure they consolidated a bunch of offices to Apple HQ when it first opened - for this person it was definitely not a 5 to 10 minute change.

More traffic congestion right by there tho.

I could believe 10-20 minutes from home to the Spaceship, and another 10-20 minutes from the parking lot to your desk in the giant aquarium

Make it 25 if you come in late, are looking for a charger and all the bikes are at the building rather than the lots.

Being rich is incredibly hard.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com