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Apple Planning To Build Private Restaurant

First time accepted submitter a90Tj2P7 writes "Apple is building a 21,468 square foot private restaurant in Cupertino so employees can talk shop over lunch without being overheard. Apple's director of real estate facilities, Dan Wisenhunt, stated that: 'We like to provide a level of security so that people and employees can feel comfortable talking about their business, their research and whatever project they're engineering without fear of competition sort of overhearing their conversations.'"

160 of 234 comments (clear)

  1. lol by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    >apple
    >research

    nice try

    1. Re:lol by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 5, Funny

      In unrelated news, many Samsung employees are now trying to find a new place to eat.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

  2. Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by decora · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Adele Goldberg -- "actually, i did think of that, and told you guys, but you ignored me"

    Consumer - "and that democratization of information between Xerox, Apple, and Microsoft brought technology to the masses and created the computer revolution of the 80s and 90s"

    Apple CEO - "and we cant have that again, because the 80s and 90s were brutal for the entrenched interests. like Xerox"

    Google - "no shit. thats why you shouldnt base your fucking business model on making information secret, when your entire history has been based on borrowing ideas from other people"

    1. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by mad+flyer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd rather have companies "stealing" information from each others (maybeee apple)
      Rather than megacorporation systematically stockpiling private information from the whole planet population (Google Dark Empire of Doom)

    2. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by alen · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Except that all of google's algorithms that their business depends on are secret

      Maybe google should release all their secrets as well?

    3. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by icebraining · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Funny, considering the algorithm most important to them - PageRank - is described publicly in a patent. Not to mention that it doesn't even belong to Google, but to Stanford University (since it was developed by Page and Brin as a research project).

    4. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by VortexCortex · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Except that all of google's algorithms that their business depends on are secret

      Maybe google should release all their secrets as well?

      From a competition standpoint: It doesn't matter now. Google could release every secret in their search algorithm, and no competitor would be able to compete because it's the collected data that's important. Without the search data, the algorithm is near useless -- You'd be starting from scratch and they have how many years of a head start?

      From a user standpoint -- I sure as hell hope they don't release their algorithms. Do you like link-bait and search spam clouding your search results? I don't. As long as they disclose what information they collect, then it's fine with me. Sure people can figure out how to game the system, but the algorithms can also be changed behind the scenes.

      To those who argue the "security through obscurity is no security" fallacy: What about 256 bits of obscurity? What about 512 bits of obscurity? 1024? 2048? Our whole security infrastructure is built on obscurity, tiny obscure secrets of the 1's and 0's -- Individually: not secure; All chained together: Obscurity is Very Secure. If the secret key isn't "obscured" in PKI, it would have no security at all.

    5. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by phantomfive · · Score: 1

      Rim - "Nuts!!"

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
    6. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by Nadir · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And that it is derived from the earlier Hyper Search algorithm developed by Massimo Marchiori at the Università di Padova.

      --
      --
      The world is divided in two categories:
      those with a loaded gun and those who dig. You dig.
    7. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by HyperQuantum · · Score: 1

      Why do you assume that they are still using the exact same algorithm?

      --
      I am not really here right now.
    8. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by Compaqt · · Score: 1

      Well, if it belongs to Standford, there's the possibility of them licensing it to Bling, right?

      --
      I'm not a lawyer, but I play one on the Internet. Blog
    9. Re:Xerox - "damn, why didnt we think of that" by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      So when is google going to open source those search algorithms?

  3. I hope by kelemvor4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I hope they serve more than just apples.

    1. Re:I hope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      My guess is it'll be a mix of Japanese inspired cuisine (borderline overly-santized pretty food) and yippie (yuppie+hippie) food. I'm kidding about that, but really this sounds depressing to me. Apple employees are known for not being allowed to have lives -- you'll find plenty of Google, Facebook, and other South Bay company employees living in San Francisco, but not Apple employees -- and this is just part of that isolated lifestyle. I used to want to work there, but there are much better options for employers that give you that type of pedigree on your resume.

    2. Re:I hope by jcr · · Score: 5, Interesting

      you'll find plenty of Google, Facebook, and other South Bay company employees living in San Francisco, but not Apple employees

      Really? Then why does Apple run a fleet of busses between Cupertino and San Francisco every day?

      Got anything else you want to make up like that?

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:I hope by shugah · · Score: 4, Funny

      It will undoubtedly have a walled garden.

      --
      If you aren't part of the solution, then there is good money to be made prolonging the problem
    4. Re:I hope by Guy+Harris · · Score: 1

      you'll find plenty of Google, Facebook, and other South Bay company employees living in San Francisco, but not Apple employees

      You just haven't looked hard enough.

    5. Re:I hope by lxs · · Score: 1

      And it will be called "the Compound" when the feds storm it.

    6. Re:I hope by MartinSchou · · Score: 1

      why does Apple run a fleet of busses between Cupertino and San Francisco every day?

      Because they're greedy bastards who hire migrant workers!

    7. Re:I hope by BackwardPawn · · Score: 1

      I heard they wanted to hire a famous chef...then decided that would be too much flash.

    8. Re:I hope by Tarlus · · Score: 1

      Their full menu includes:
      Apple Pie
      Candy Apples
      Apple Fritters
      Dried Apples
      Apple Jacks
      Apple, egg, sausage, and Apple (but that's not got much Apple in it)

      --
      /* No Comment */
    9. Re:I hope by BackwardPawn · · Score: 1

      They do live in San Francisco. They live in a garden style apartment complex behind a large privacy fence.*

      * I just made that up.

    10. Re:I hope by StuartHankins · · Score: 1

      I see what you did there...

    11. Re:I hope by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

      I like to make up stories too. I fought the kaiser in the great war.

  4. The Good Earth by yoctology · · Score: 1

    I remember when everyone was in Bandley 3, you could just sit at the local The Good Earth restaurant and hear all kinds of chatter.

  5. Sssh. don't tell them about cell phones or tablets by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 5, Funny

    If they don't know those have microphones and cameras, they won't realize security is a waste of time.

    or that you can hear everything just by the vibrations off of the windows.

    be vewwy vewwy quiet, I'm hunting trilobytes.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  6. Next up... by poity · · Score: 5, Insightful

    employee dorms to prevent honey trap operations.

    --
    your thin skin doesn't make me a troll
    1. Re:Next up... by siddesu · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And next - entry and exit permits will be required. Been there, but it was a whole government in charge.

    2. Re:Next up... by ricera10 · · Score: 1

      Aren't they supposedly building some with their future campus in Texas?

    3. Re:Next up... by paiute · · Score: 1

      employee dorms to prevent honey trap operations.

      Apple-issued spouses to prevent honey pot operations.

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
  7. Re:House passes CISPA by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 3, Funny

    Oops looks like there is a bug, /., this post belongs to another story :-)

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  8. Employees can talk without being overheard... by DWMorse · · Score: 5, Funny

    And lose iPhone prototypes without being publicly embarrassed.

    --
    There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
    1. Re:Employees can talk without being overheard... by Barbara,+not+Barbie · · Score: 1

      And lose iPhone prototypes without being publicly embarrassed.

      No - that's what they'll open their first private "genius bar" for.

      --
      Let's call it what it is, Anti-Social Media.
  9. Whatever will they call it? by macraig · · Score: 1

    Cue the orchard jokes in 3...2...1....

    1. Re:Whatever will they call it? by wiedzmin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Applebee's

      --
      Bow before me, for I am root.
    2. Re:Whatever will they call it? by game+kid · · Score: 1

      It's quite close to the Apple offices, so you can tell the co-workers the restaurant is just Outback!

      --
      You can hold down the "B" button for continuous firing.
    3. Re:Whatever will they call it? by slew · · Score: 1

      iRestaurant

      A nearby (not so good) chinese restaurant just down the street with that name in cupertino closed last year.

      Who knows, maybe they got a buyout deal that they couldn't refuse ;^)

    4. Re:Whatever will they call it? by mschaffer · · Score: 2, Funny

      How about "Walled Garden"?

    5. Re:Whatever will they call it? by Nerdfest · · Score: 1

      And then they'll sue Applebees for using the name (I'll assume this is a joke, although I should probably check to see if this has actually happened)

    6. Re:Whatever will they call it? by macraig · · Score: 1

      Disturbingly apropos, both from the described purpose of the restaurant AND the company mindset in general....

    7. Re:Whatever will they call it? by DesScorp · · Score: 1

      Applebee's

      "iEat... at Applebee's!"

      --
      Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    8. Re:Whatever will they call it? by DigiShaman · · Score: 1

      Starbucks?

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
  10. Next logical step by Grayhand · · Score: 1

    Taking a nod from their Chinese counterparts wouldn't dormitories be the next step? If workers don't leave except for vacations wouldn't it limit people leaving prototypes in restaurants and other issues that arise?

    1. Re:Next logical step by wiedzmin · · Score: 1

      limit people leaving prototypes in restaurants

      Right, and start spending money on actual marketing campaigns? No way.

      --
      Bow before me, for I am root.
    2. Re:Next logical step by toriver · · Score: 1

      Why go to China for inspiration? Most American universities have dormitories.

  11. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by siddesu · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    How do you tell them apart from the crowd, do they have a yellow apple stitched to their overcoats or something?

  12. Thanks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Now I just have to bug/record one place to get all the industrial espionage I need!

  13. What's new? by Snowgen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've worked for big companies, and for startups. I have to say that on-campus dining facilities are pretty standard for big companies. We normally call them "cafeterias" but if you want to call it a restaurant knock yourself out.

    Not to mention that Google's in-house chefs are a thing of legend. I really don't see what's news here.

    1. Re:What's new? by Un+pobre+guey · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I can't believe I had to scroll down this far before someone pointed this out. "Apple to set up an employee cafeteria" is some kind of news item? What about "Apple adds 25 spaces to parking lot D," or "Apple to install new urinals on the fourth floor." Remind me why we should give a crap about this.

    2. Re:What's new? by Greystripe · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well if it's urinals I'd think they'd really want you to not give a crap.

    3. Re:What's new? by Miststlkr · · Score: 1

      ROFL. I wish I had mod points...

    4. Re:What's new? by ahoffer0 · · Score: 1

      I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking this. I used to work for the UBS, just outside of Zürich. The cantina had great food and the price was subsidized by the company. Hardly nefarious.

      But for whatever reason, I had a flash back to the days of IBM golf courses, IBM private resorts, and even an IBM gun club. After all, IBM had great products, their competitors couldn't touch them, and their stock was better than bricks of gold. They might as well throw some money around, because nothing could ever threaten their empire, right? Right?

    5. Re:What's new? by Truedat · · Score: 1

      I can't believe I had to scroll down this far

      Yep. Could even use it as a metric for slashdot idiocy.

    6. Re:What's new? by quacking+duck · · Score: 1

      It's not just an on-campus cafeteria--Apple already has this at their 1 Infinite Loop HQ, and they have food stands outside in the quad, too.

      But that cafeteria is accessible to visitors with a pass and employee escort. This new place looks to be Apple employees only, no exceptions. A quick search didn't suggest Google does the same thing.

      Also, the GP missed the fact that this new one is *off campus*, so calling it a restaurant isn't wrong.

      Still not really worthy of giving a crap, but it involves Apple, and highlights their culture of secrecy, so it makes the news.

    7. Re:What's new? by greed · · Score: 1

      IBM, at least at their Toronto HQ facilities, even goes so far as to have separate "visitor" and "employee" cafeterias. The "visitor" one is outside the badge-secured area, and adjacent to the training centre.

      The "employee" one is inside the secure zone. The food was pretty good, too... back when "Java 1.1" was cool, anyway.

      Can't say the same for the new Lab facility on Warden... about the food quality. The caf is in the secure zone. Even the Tim Horton's is in the secure zone.

    8. Re:What's new? by Kaenneth · · Score: 1

      It's news because Apple is calling it iEat, and patenting it.

    9. Re:What's new? by Translation+Error · · Score: 1

      They'd prefer you just piss off.

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    10. Re:What's new? by fran6gagne · · Score: 1

      I really don't see what's news here.

      There is nothing new. This is Apple business model applied here: to take a preexisting concept, add a couple feature to it, wrap it in a white case with round corners and find a "cool" name for it.

      Apple is 95% marketing and 5% innovation.

    11. Re:What's new? by Johnny+Mnemonic · · Score: 1

      Google's cafes, (and Facebook's also, for that matter), allow guests. Employees with families regularly bring in their kids for dinner. I don't recall there being any "employees only dining" spaces at either location. The cafes at the Google datacenters were more much more restricted than HQ for a long time, but contractors and vendors were still allowed.

      --

      --
      $tar -xvf .sig.tar
  14. No big deal by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

    I really think this is no big deal. My office has a cafeteria, and the building is "secured". It's been that way since it was built in the 80's. I realize this place will probably have better food and might be down the street but I think it's the same basic concept.

    1. Re:No big deal by VortexCortex · · Score: 1

      I hear prisons have cafeterias too, and the building is "secured" too boot!

      Sounds like those visits to Foxcon taught them a thing or two.

    2. Re:No big deal by kelemvor4 · · Score: 1

      Yeah but this is Apple, and as with everything Apple does it's their innovation and has never been done before. It's also important we all know about it.

      In another 2 years I guarantee you Apple will be renowned as the company that invented the workplace caffeteria, it'll have patents on it, and it'll be suing for and extracting royalties out of every other corporation that copies this great innovation of theirs.

      Only if the building has rounded corners.

  15. They've run out of space...and this is news? by Elfboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apple has a wonderful cafeteria and a seriously epic variety of food, they are just out of space (food stations are being set up outside etc...). Makes perfect sense for them to house a larger "restaurant" (aka cafeteria) so employees don't have to head out to the local BJ's. Why is this being spun as an OMG Apple is too wealthy and splurging. Yahoo and others have freaking DMV and hairstyling services for employees (okay maybe Yahoo is not the best example here....)

    --
    * We dance where angels fear to tread *
    1. Re:They've run out of space...and this is news? by dsyu · · Score: 2

      Cafe Macs is great, but yes, ridiculously crowded at noon -- better get there by 11:30 if you want a table.

      And that BJ's has got to go -- bland food and below average beer for exorbitant prices in a dull setting

    2. Re:They've run out of space...and this is news? by jcr · · Score: 1

      Hear, hear! Bring back the Peppermill! It was fun to have a little bit of Las Vegas right on DeAnza boulevard.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    3. Re:They've run out of space...and this is news? by MtViewGuy · · Score: 1

      You know, why Subway has not considered opening a franchised branch inside the Apple corporate campus is beyond me....

    4. Re:They've run out of space...and this is news? by highlander76 · · Score: 1

      ... so employees don't have to head out to the local BJ's

      So you're saying Apple is going to start supplying in-house BJ's next?

  16. ok so i did epic fail at the end by decora · · Score: 1

    but i think im mostly kind of right.

    1. Re:ok so i did epic fail at the end by MrMickS · · Score: 1

      but i think im mostly kind of right.

      and I think that youre mostly kind of wrong. Who wins?

      Google keeps what makes it money secret. The rest is just about driving traffic towards Google to allow it to make money. Its not important to the bottom line so there is no need to keep it secret. This isn't so different to Apple placing Darwin and WebKit in the public domain.

      --
      You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
  17. Surprised they had not done this earlier by WindBourne · · Score: 2

    Seriously, many of the reasons for building in-house cafes was to allow those kinds of discussions to occur. Yet, many conversations occur outside in other restaurants. As such, they should have the dining room divided into multiple sections so that it is possible to have conversation with outsiders, but not having others listening in.

    Also, they should seriously consider the idea of having multiple kitchens in it, and allow new chefs that come up with new concepts test it out there and then fund them for other restaurants if it is liked.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    1. Re:Surprised they had not done this earlier by SurfsUp · · Score: 1

      many of the reasons for building in-house cafes was to allow those kinds of discussions to occur. Yet, many conversations occur outside in other restaurants.

      Perhaps this is about positioning to make conversations in an outside restaurant a firing offense.

      --
      Life's a bitch but somebody's gotta do it.
  18. Naming lawsuit ensues by wiedzmin · · Score: 1

    Applebee's is in trouble.

    --
    Bow before me, for I am root.
  19. Just like the mob! by l00sr · · Score: 1

    n/t

  20. Sounds Familiar by Sponge+Bath · · Score: 1

    'We like to provide a level of security so that people and employees can feel comfortable...'

    Sounds like a pronouncement from the Department of Homeland Security.

  21. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    Pretty sure it's not hard to start a restaurant that beats a bunch of mega-chain sandwich shops and burrito joints. And seriously, you consider the above options "variety"? You need to seriously expand your lunch selection.

    Jeez, even the Google cafeteria has 10x the "variety" of those places, and Apple passed Google in absurd cash flow a while ago...

  22. Slashdot by ThePeices · · Score: 1

    Slashdot. News for nerds. Stuff that matters.

  23. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 1

    Pretty sure it's not hard to start a restaurant that beats a bunch of mega-chain sandwich shops and burrito joints. And seriously, you consider the above options "variety"? You need to seriously expand your lunch selection.

    Jeez, even the Google cafeteria has 10x the "variety" of those places, and Apple passed Google in absurd cash flow a while ago...

    Google's cafeterias have more variety than any one of those megachains, but the point was that employees have a choice between thousands of nearby restaurants that collectively have far more variety than a central cafeteria. Furthermore, in terms of quality I think Google's cafeterias are on par with a place like subway and well behind halfway decent places like Panera and Chipotle, not to mention the really good local restaurants.

    --
    "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
  24. I wouldn't eat there anyway. by nblender · · Score: 1

    I work for a company that has an on-site restaurant/cafeteria... The food is fine and is subsidized by the company... But most people don't eat there because, really, there's only a subset of my co-workers that I feel like talking to at lunch. The rest, I don't really want to socialize with. On the one or two occasions where I've eaten at the cafeteria, there's always someone that sits down and wants to talk to me that frankly, I would rather not talk to... So we go out for lunch every day, somewhere different.. We're careful about what we discuss and usually, it's not about work anyway.

  25. Re:Cafeteria by PrescriptionWarning · · Score: 1

    No joke, even IBM has had them on site for decades

  26. Re:Will it have a built in sports bar by reub2000 · · Score: 1

    After it happened repeatedly, didn't everyone come to the conclusion that the whole thing was a publicity stunt?

  27. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by gstrickler · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ah, yes. Blind loyalty and marketing. This explains why approaching 50% of their customers have never owned an Apple product before. Why they have the largest digital music download store, the best selling digital music player, the best selling cell phone, the highest customer satisfaction rating, and the best profit margins in the industry.

    Whatever kool-aid you're drinking is working.

    --
    make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
  28. Re:Cafeteria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Only a slashtard is arrogant enough to call Apple arrogant for calling it a private restaurant when the only source to use that term was friggin' CNet. It's an addition to the Apple campus containing a cafeteria, lounge, and meeting rooms.

  29. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by Majkow · · Score: 1

    but everything will be branded with the apple logo that alone guarantees it to be a better and enjoyable user experience for everyone. just enter your appleid when you enter and your bill will be deducted from your itunes account. need to top up. our tabletops are ipads.

  30. This sounds odd... by KrazyDave · · Score: 1

    This strikes me as something that Cook would do to "seem" Jobsian, but not quite getting the point or overall Apple paradigm quite right.

    --
    www.chihuahuarescue.com- Help to end dog abuse, abandonment and cruelty
  31. Private restaurant? by rsilvergun · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Back'in my day we called these things Cafeterias.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:Private restaurant? by jo_ham · · Score: 3, Informative

      So does Apple, to this day.

      Blame Cnet for the embellishment. Maybe they thought the headline "Apple builds cafeteria" wouldn't draw so many page hits? Couldn't possibly be that!

    2. Re:Private restaurant? by cffrost · · Score: 1

      Back'in my day we called these things Cafeterias.

      Back in my day, "employees" were a subset of "people;" not a distinct group of non-persons:

      Apple's director of real estate facilities, Dan Wisenhunt, stated that: 'We like to provide a level of security so that people and employees can feel comfortable talking [...]"

      --
      Thank you, Edward Snowden.

      "Arguments from authority are worthless." —Carl Sagan
  32. Finally by rush,overlord,rush! · · Score: 1

    They are selling real apples. Are they also bitten?

  33. Re:Cafeteria by UnknowingFool · · Score: 4, Informative

    Um no. The author of the article called it a private restaurant. No one from Apple called it that. The author also says that's the commission calls it but they might have used "dining facility". From the article the author also says:

    The facility will have two stories, meetings rooms, lounge areas, conference rooms, storage lockers, an underground parking lot, and, yes, even restrooms.

    It doesn't sound like it's just a restaurant or cafeteria but a building annex of some sort.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  34. Chatter between member of different teams at Apple by perpenso · · Score: 1

    I doubt that "so our employees can talk shop without the competition overhearing us" is their #1 reason.

    Your skepticism is appropriate. Apple doesn't only worry about chatter between employees and non-employees. They also worry about chatter between members of different teams within Apple. Employees working on Macs may not know anything more about that new iPhone being developed than the public.

    Its been a while since my last visit to Apple but I recall signs on the wall at the cafeteria on Apple's main campus that warned employees not to chat about their work due to fears of being overheard. Again, this is the cafeteria on the main campus, in a secure building, available only to employees and invited visitors that have signed NDAs.

  35. Next Apple sues other chefs and restaurants by Cito · · Score: 1

    For copyright infringing recipes...

    Apple sues pirate chefs for replicating Apple's copyrighted recipes.

    Next Apple sues grandmothers for piracy for baking Apple trademarked chocolate chip cookies :P

  36. Re:iCafeteria by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    They do have one. I'm guessing Apple is running out of space and would like to add an annex and not some nefarious plot. But their mothership new HQ hasn't been built yet. From the article:

    The facility will have two stories, meetings rooms, lounge areas, conference rooms, storage lockers, an underground parking lot, and, yes, even restrooms.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  37. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by Sancho · · Score: 2

    Any other company could do what they do.

    You'd think that they would, then. It seems to be profitable.

  38. US Secret Service Plans to Build Own Strip Club by theodp · · Score: 2

    Problem solved, declares DHS Chief Janet Napolitano.

  39. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by Karlt1 · · Score: 1

    Any other company could do what they do. Most of their magic is simply marketing and/or blind loyalty.

    If that's true, that any other company can do what they do, then why is every single phone manufacturer besides Apple and Samsung struggling? (i.e. Motorola, HTC, LG, Sony-Ericson, Nokia, and RIM?)

    Why is the PC manufacturer that sells the most computers thinking about getting rid of their PC division?

  40. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by Karlt1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Many companies do what Apple does, and do it even better in many cases

    "Doing it better" in business means more profitably or at least with better margins. Which company is "doing it better than Apple"?

  41. so would lunch there be mandatory? by marxz · · Score: 2

    Not surprise, indeed kind of surprised it's 1: not already the case, 2: it would raise any interest external to the enterprise concerned, In fact in house restaurants or cafes (or for the down market canteens) are pretty much De jure for most of the large research organisations I've worked for. Actually one good thing about them is it encourages conversation between areas that would normally not have communications beyond hierarchical memo passing and divisional manager meetings so, for a not entirely hypothetical example - people from the material sciences area end up talking over lunch to people from the electronic engineering area and people from the remote sensing area and so a project is born to build more resistant tidal sensors that don't need to be replaced every 3 or 4 months.

    1. Re:so would lunch there be mandatory? by Guy+Harris · · Score: 2

      Not surprise, indeed kind of surprised it's 1: not already the case,

      It is already the case. It's just a longer walk from, say, Bandley 3, although you can walk to Caffe Macs from Bandley 3.

      2: it would raise any interest external to the enterprise concerned,

      It's Apple - if somebody replaces a toilet tank in IL1, somebody will think it's one of the most significant world events of the day.

  42. Re:House passes CISPA by Truekaiser · · Score: 1, Informative

    if this wasn't a election year, he would pass it.

  43. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by flimflammer · · Score: 1

    All you have to do is recognize an apple security badge one time and suddenly you'll be able to recognize apple employees at large since most people do not put their badges away. It always easy to tell who works at Qualcomm, fellow employees at SCEA, etc, while eating at the local food court over here.

  44. The Menu by Renderer+of+Evil · · Score: 2, Funny

    1. Walled Garden Salad
    2. Beleaguered Sea Bass
    3. ThaiPad

  45. Re:Cafeteria by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1
  46. Re:Will it have a built in sports bar by flimflammer · · Score: 1

    Have a source for that? I don't recall that.

  47. I've heard of this before... by jd2112 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Most larger companies have one of these. It's called a cafeteria.

    --
    Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    1. Re:I've heard of this before... by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 1

      Yes, but this one has rounded corners! (And poor 3G reception...)

      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:I've heard of this before... by MachineShedFred · · Score: 1

      That's exactly what I was thinking. How is this different from any other Fortune 100's headquarters campus? Hell, The company I work at has a cafe at each of their divisional offices too. Unfortunately, the one at my location is garbage; I like the idea of not having to drive somewhere else if I don't bring my own lunch.

      They remark on the square footage, and that is quite large; but the campus is going to house thousands of employees.

      --
      Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
  48. So how did this conversation go? by istartedi · · Score: 2

    Manager: We're building a fancy new cafeteria, just like Google and a lot of other Si Valley companies.

    Assistant: Very good sir. Shall I alert the media?

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
  49. That's not security by xs650 · · Score: 1

    Letting people talk about secure topics while in a cafeteria that all employees are allowed in isn't security.

  50. It will be called... by phreakincool · · Score: 1

    ... Circle Jerks Thank you.

  51. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    So you're saying that every other company in the consumer electronics biz has lousy marketing?

    At some point it's gotta break for you apple haters. Apple is popular because they put out products people like. No more, no less.

    If it was purely marketing, why hasn't anyone out done apple?

    --
    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  52. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by jo_ham · · Score: 3, Insightful

    You've listed one of the very important parts to producing a successful product and/or service, yes. Well done.

    Putting Apple's success *entirely* on "marketing and blind loyalty" is one of the biggest reasons Apple does so well while others flounder. It's very easy to dismiss their success out of hand without understanding what it is they do so well.

    If it really is "so easy" and that "any company could do what they do" (as the original AC post claimed) then... why aren't they? The goal of a company is to make money. If what Apple is doing is so easy then surely there should be lots of companies rolling in cash?

    I'm honestly curious. If it's all 100% marketing, why isn't anyone else doing it? Surely other companies can hire marketing people too, right?

  53. Re:Cafeteria by jo_ham · · Score: 1, Informative

    Only shoehornjob would be arrogant enough to call his cock "shoehorn? more like boot horn!"

    At least, that's what some website said that he said, so it must be true. No need to check sources or anything, I'll just attribute it to him being an arrogant douche.

    DISCLAIMER: This post might contain sarcasm. YMMV.

    (Note, Apple's own description is "dining facility" and "cafeteria with meeting rooms").

  54. so they can forget their prototype devices there - by typo-lfm · · Score: 1

    And get them back without a huge blog leak and lawsuit.

  55. Or... by msobkow · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Or the employees could just STFU in public, like those of every other corporation on the planet.

    But maybe Apple's employees aren't presumed to be capable of discretion, seeing as they've repeatedly proven stupid enough to leave internal prototypes at random bars...

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  56. Re:Cafeteria by _xeno_ · · Score: 1

    I've heard of this place where you can go to talk shop without fear of being overheard. They call it a cafeteria. Only Apple is arrogant enough to call it a private restaurant.

    Except most cafeterias are on campus. Hell, most of them are inside the actual buildings.

    This one isn't.

    It's a private restaurant that's "several blocks" away. Located next to a hotel. Which is why employees need to "take the company shuttles to the cafeteria." (And these quotes are from one of those Apple-astroturfing links!)

    So, in this case, cafeteria probably isn't accurate. When most people say "cafeteria" they think "inside the campus." This isn't. It really is a special private Apple restaurant.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
  57. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by KC1P · · Score: 2

    I did a summer internship at Apple in the late 80s and I'm sure things have changed quite a bit since then, but still one thing I thought was pretty clever of them as out-in-the-open evil schemes go was that they made it very very easy for employees to have no life outside of work. There was *tons* of social stuff built into work (happy hour every Friday afternoon, off-site stuff like going to a ball game or an amusement park with your group during work hours), and there were showers in the building and sleeping in your cube was tolerated. Adding a nice restaurant seems obvious -- one more thing covered that might otherwise make you leave work.

  58. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    1. Apple's marketing people are the best in the consumer electronics industry.

    2. Their top management always knew that they were a CONSUMER electronics company. Not a computer company that also made some accessories. Not a technology company or a software company, although they were really good at those things too.

    Apple's phone doesn't employ much more advanced tech than high-end Android phones.
    Apple's music store doesn't employ any technology that its competitors don't have.
    There's nothing unusually compelling about their music players -- any more.

    Their distinction is that they got there first.

    There are two aspects of marketing where Apple really excelled. The first is conventional marketing: push, push, push that product. The second (which is really the first) is that Apple, unlike its competition, wasn't afraid to go out and create a market where one didn't exist. That's always been part of Apple's business model. It started with the Apple computer. They were the first company to really market computers to home users. They didn't INVENT computers or even computers that could have been sold directly to consumers. They were just the first to ignore their fear that the market wouldn't accept them.

    Apple was right out front with the digital music players and a digital music store. Then they were the first to bring music to phones. It's not like nobody had thought of this before. It was all being discussed in electronics companies across the the USA and Japan. Lots of engineers had great ideas for how this would work. They all knew how these things could be done. But at these other companies management wasn't interested in taking a risk on introducing a new category of consumer product. Apple was all about that risk.

    Steve Jobs, specifically, wanted to be first because he knew how much being first was worth.

  59. prior art by hanshotfirst · · Score: 1

    The cafeteria The break room The watercooler A conference room, with catering A conference room, bring your own food.

    --
    Why, oh why, didn't I take the Blue Pill?
  60. OMFG LOL by Osgeld · · Score: 2

    The Apple Restaurant #1 seller is simply a whopper in a new wrapper that will only cost you 14.99 + tax + applecare with no pickles or onions to spare you any chance of heartburn, and any modifications must be approved by the CEO, but may be revoked later

    Have it your way!

  61. Re:Chatter between member of different teams at Ap by jcr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I recall signs on the wall at the cafeteria on Apple's main campus that warned employees not to chat about their work

    I worked there for three and a half years as an employee, and I've been back twice as a consultant, and I've never seen any such signs.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  62. How can competition sort of overhear? by pwnyxpress · · Score: 1

    Either they do overhear something or they don't, whether they overhear everything is another matter all together.

  63. Re:Chatter between member of different teams at Ap by perpenso · · Score: 1

    I recall signs on the wall at the cafeteria on Apple's main campus that warned employees not to chat about their work

    I worked there for three and a half years as an employee, and I've been back twice as a consultant, and I've never seen any such signs.

    I definitely recall a sign/poster warning about chatting about unannounced projects/products where somewhere nearby can overhear you. It was 1998 or '99.

  64. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by profplump · · Score: 2

    So your explanation is that Apple has a dominate position because they have a dominate position. That makes perfect sense, unless there was some point in the past when Apple was near failure, had virtually no capital, and a negligible market share in all their market segments. But if that was ever the case I guess we can just say "magic" got them to where they are, so we don't have to admit anyone ever wanted to buy an Apple product on its merits.

  65. Re:Chatter between member of different teams at Ap by perpenso · · Score: 1

    ... someone nearby ...

  66. Re:Diner food? by Guy+Harris · · Score: 1

    I'm betting they'll take cheap diner food, put it on fancy plates, and charge 3x more for it. Amirite?

    No, you're not, if its anything like Caffe Macs.

  67. If anybody says "that's just a cafeteria"... by Guy+Harris · · Score: 1

    ...they're right.

    Srsly. As a whole bunch of posts have said, plenty of companies have in-house cafeterias, and this is Apple's second one.

    Maybe it'll save some employees the disappointment of finding out that the Little Mustard Seed isn't a sandwich shop....

  68. Or more importantly by davydagger · · Score: 1
    This right here, is what scares me about corporate America. Why in fuck is your boss so controlling and touchy feely about your personal life. Does anyone in apple see anything wrong with this? I could NEVER work for a company like this. I couldn't imagine anyone who would? How low of a self image do you have to have to enjoy this. Its bad enough giving them 40 hours of your week, but letting them run your life when you are not working for them? Telling you where to go, private parties, and venues "for your own protection". Expecting you to live in a closed world based around your company. The days of the pullman car company are back folks. Next thing you know apple employees will be payed in company scrip.

    Or mabey they are just sick of loosing iphone prototypes...

  69. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They never got there first. There were other computers, tablets, other music players, other music stores, other phones with music. You're talking out your ass.

    Apple has excellent marketing, yes. Microsoft spends tons on marketing too, but theirs sucks.

    What Apple did was to make tech delightful. Simple and elegant. They ditched floppies first. They made it really easy to buy music and put it on a portable device and make playlists without a tutorial. They did something unprecedented when they made the iPhone-- at home activation. I was waiting in line on release day (for the mother-in-law) a hundred people or so from the from the front, yet I walked out with two iPhones 45 minutes after they opened the doors. (then I wisely waited two days before attempting to activate). For the first time, using a web browser on a phone was fun instead of a disappointment.

    Look at the consumer section of Dell's on-line store. Look at Apple's on-line store. Now which one is more scary to a non-technical person looking for a personal laptop? Do they want the Intel Core i3, the 2nd Gen Intel Core i3, the 2nd Gen Intel Core i5, the... Do they want IKEA laptop covers? Or do they instead want something that "Handles daily tasks with ease" but is rated 3/5 stars.

    The Jukebox 6000, and its successor the Jukebox Studio (see below), used standard USB 1.1 technology, transferring data at a maximum rate of 1 MB per second. These models transfer data at a comparably slow rate compared with succeeding Archos devices using the USB 2.0 standard.

    Regarding the popular predecessor to the iPod line, the Archos Jukebox, Wikipedia has this to say:
    This device was released Saturday, December 9, 2000 and discontinued as of Friday, May 16, 2003. It weighs 350 g.
    The Jukebox is historically notable for shipping with a user interface and operating system so unfriendly and bug-ridden as to inspire Björn Stenberg and other programmers to begin to develop a superior, free and open-source replacement operating system. This project became Rockbox.[citation needed]

    Apple isn't so much about making "new categories of consumer product" as they are about finding broken categories of overly complex and unsatisfactory products and re-imagining them as delightful products. I've supported family on Windows and on Macs.. once they get Macs, they don't call me even 1/10th as much for support issues.

  70. LEGAL NOTIVE by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    It appears that your company is running an onsite food preparation & service facility, disguised as a so-called "staff canteen", in flagrant breach of our patents.

    You owe us 28 squazillion dollars.

        Signed [crossed out with a crayon] Steve [/crossed out with a crayon] [written in with a crayon] Tim [/written in with a crayon]

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  71. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by toruonu · · Score: 1

    Not really. Big profit margin means you manage your cost of production extremely well as well as sell it at a good price. A lot of people just dumbly put it all down to marketing while Apple is the king of operational optimization and low cost production. And before you cry slave labor or what other nonsense their main low cost comes from pre-purchasing stockpiles of components well in advance. Basically they give a manufacturer the billions needed to build a new factory and have sole right for anything made there for the first N years at pre-determined price. The manufacturer has 0 risk in building the factory and a sure customer for N years so they go for it happily. The competition however is screwed as they can only buy dribbles from that plant at high cost or got to produce it elsewhere for much higher cost therefore reducing their profit margin a lot.

    And that's not something others can easily do because they don't have such a huge cash horde as Apple has (110B in cash and marketable equities). Throwing 5-10B against a new technology is no problem for Apple yet it's more than most companies can manage at any point in time without taking a loan that will again eat into their profit margin over years.

  72. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by Hognoxious · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's always been part of Apple's business model. It started with the Apple computer. They were the first company to really market computers to home users.

    Wild guess, are you around 13 years old?

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  73. Re:Chatter between member of different teams at Ap by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    I worked there for three and a half years as an employee, and I've been back twice as a consultant, and I've never seen any such signs.

    You're clearly not trusted enough to enter the real top-secret inner party canteen.

    I've said too much. Don't be surprised if perpenso suddenly stops posti
    @!. . &
    no carrier

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  74. Re:If it's anything like the rest of their product by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Note to canteen manager: the phrase "eat your own dog food" is used in a metaphorical sense.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  75. How about by arcite · · Score: 1

    ....in house iHookers? The secret service could use these too apparently.

  76. Confused by oshkrozz · · Score: 1

    I am not even sure why this is news that Apple decided to build an employee cafeteria, I wonder if they are going to try and patent and succeed. Yes we know that pretty much every large company in the USA has an employee cafeteria, and we know that in some of them the employee can order their food online in the morning for a specific lunch shift to be ready right when they arrive at lunch, but I tell you non-thinking members of the patent office this is new how many can do it while talking on a mobile device? Or using a touch screen interface instead of a mouse this is novel and new ....

  77. Really newsworthy ? by Anon8---) · · Score: 1

    They are just building a goddamn canteen, people ! Move on...

  78. Re:Don't be absurd. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Walkability? What the hell are you on about? If you drive around through the areas where most of these companies are located you will rapidly discover that you can't reasonably walk to ANYTHING. They divided fields up with boulevards and built massive business parks in them. Most of the business parks have eateries in them, but often they are just some subterranean vault where food is prepared, and then you can eat it either on the median strip or at your desk.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  79. Nothing new... by gti_guy · · Score: 1

    They're called "company cafeterias".

  80. Repeat customers? by opentunings · · Score: 1

    Let's assume that 50% of Apple's customers are new customers. Consider the other half...

    It sounds like half the customers who've bought Apple products haven't thought the product was superior enough to come back and buy another. And I would think that heavy repeat sales would be an indication that the manufacturer had superior products. I'm not as impressed by 50% of their customers being new customers (that's marketing), as I would be by 80% being repeat customers (that's brand loyalty).

    Remember - if you bought a Mac fifteen years ago but never bought another Apple product, you're still an "Apple customer". You've had plenty of opportunity to go back to Apple, but haven't done so. What does that say about the product?

    1. Re:Repeat customers? by gstrickler · · Score: 1

      You're conflating customer retention (repeat business) with customer base growth. 50% new customers is from expanding their customer base, which directly contradicts the OP claim about it being attributable to "blind loyalty".

      The other 50% are by definition repeat customers. Apple has had the highest customer satisfaction and highest customer retention rates in the business every year for ~20 years. When you combine that with a growing customer base over a long time, it can't be attributed to "blind loyalty and marketing".

      Effective marketing is clearly part of it. But what keeps people coming back is that the like the products and service better than the competition's products and services. That's not "blind loyalty" and it's not "marketing".

      --
      make imaginary.friends COUNT=100 VISIBLE=false
  81. Interesting choice of words by rabbitfood · · Score: 1

    ...so that people and employees...

    This always annoys me, whatever the company concerned. The distinction between 'people' and 'employees' mightn't be conscious, but it's an insidious feature of the commodification of human resources. Every time I hear a phrase like it I fear we're one step closer to the sweatshop.

  82. A peek through the cracks by NoSleepDemon · · Score: 1

    While it's lovely that Apple employees are getting their own exclusive place to hang out and drink fancy drinks with umbrellas, my dark side tells me that company policy will mandate they eat there at least once a week, because research has shown that this will decrease corporate espionage by up to 20%.

  83. Why is this news? by Aizenmyou · · Score: 1

    Most large companies have their own restaurants. Baker Hughes, Slumberger, SAS, and BMC for example on most all of their campuses.

  84. Apple already HAS a big private cafeteria by LanMan04 · · Score: 1

    I can't believe I had to scroll down this far before someone pointed this out. "Apple to set up an employee cafeteria" is some kind of news item?

    And what's worse is they already HAVE one...I've eaten there (2003), and it's called Cafe Macs:

    http://www.maclife.com/article/feature/apple%E2%80%99s_corporate_food_court_o%E2%80%99_plenty_reviewed

    http://g.co/maps/aqgpy

    And yes, it's full of silly hippie food. Macrobiotic this and vegan that, although I will say they make awesome burritos (spinach tortilla).

    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.
  85. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by toriver · · Score: 1

    So since Google has 11 gourmet cafeterias in their "Googleplex" - indeed, most large enough single-company sites have restaurants of their own - they are also a cult?

    Any other company could do what they do.

    But they didn't. Dismissing innovation after the fact is just dumb.

  86. Re:Times are a changin' by toriver · · Score: 1

    Cue another clubie attributing to Apple what a CNet hack wrote. Apple calls it a cafeteria.

  87. resident evil? by Eponymous+Hero · · Score: 1

    sounds like umbrella corporation type shit

    --
    insensitive clod overlords obligatory xkcd car analogy russian reversals whoosh pedant fanbois ftfy in 3...2...1..PROFIT
  88. Re:House passes CISPA by Ihmhi · · Score: 1

    Probably related to the same bug that has stories being posted multiple times.

  89. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

    In case you forgot Apple almost went bust and even received money from MS just so MS could basically have a competitor. So do feel free to explain how they went from that to being some huge "evil monster" without having made something that people want.

  90. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 1

    If it's all shit then how did they go from near bankruptcy to being so profitable? It's not marketing alone. Marketing alone hasn't saved Windows Mobile and that's because it's shit.

  91. Re:Will they get the same variety there? by Dahamma · · Score: 1

    Idon't see it replacing the experience and uniqueness of every restaurant that is out there.

    Of course not, you fucking twit (as long as we're being cordial!).

    But if you think the sum of Panera + Boulanger + Aqui + Chipotle is more "variety" than a single *good* restaurant, you probably live off of fast food and consider "variety" not as "variety of cuisine" (ie. unique restaurants of different specialties and cultures) but as how many combinations of cold cuts you can put on bread.

  92. Re:Will it have a built in sports bar by reub2000 · · Score: 1

    Fine. I came to the conclusion that it was all just a publicity stunt.

  93. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

    I'm probably twice your age, not half. I remember the release of the first Apple computer. Before that there were various kit computers like the Altair, designed for hobbyists. Apple made the first one really designed and marketed as a consumer product.

    Commodore's PET was a close second. A PET was the second computer I ever programmed. The first I had to program via a teletype and store my programs on punch tape. The Apple II was the third computer I used and programmed.

  94. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

    Nobody said their stuff was shit. It works and it works pretty well. Some of their products work VERY well. But there are other products on the market that also work very well. The difference is the effectiveness of their marketing.

  95. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 1

    When Apple introduced the Apple I, there was no other consumer-market computer. Before that there were kits for hobbyists and bigger computers for scientists.
    When Apple introduced digital music players there were other players that captured significant consumer interest. So there was no market. A simplistic UI and a flashy iTunes store made that enormously profitable.
    When Apple introduced the iPhone there was no other music phone on the market that was worth the trouble and nobody knew how to make it profitable.
    When Apple introduced iPads there were other tablets on the market. They were klunky and didn't sell very well. Again, no market because the applications that you could run on them were too limited.

    Apple created all those markets by creating products designed for and targeted at a wide consumer demographic. They were easy to use. And Apple really learned their lesson from the troubles they had in the early 90s. Macintoshes were the LAST products they made and maybe the last they'll ever make that aren't targeted to capture a continuing revenue stream for paid content.

  96. Re:Will it have a built in sports bar by flimflammer · · Score: 1

    I wasn't attempting to be an ass about it. I only vaguely remember everything that happened and was curious if there was more to it I did not see.

  97. Re:Will it have a built in sports bar by reub2000 · · Score: 1

    No offense taken at all. I just remember the circumstances being suspicious. The whole thing seemed to be about getting people to anticipate the upcoming announcement.

  98. Apple Cafeteria/Resturaunt by Christopher_T. · · Score: 1

    Will Apple have an on-campus bar for iPhone prototypes to be lost at?

  99. Re:Sounds like self-aggrandization by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    If their employees would stop dropping prototypes in bars, I think they'd think less about it.