Google, Tesla, and Facebook Attract 'Hordes of Tech Tourists' To Their Headquarters (siliconvalley.com)

An anonymous Slashdot reader writes: "We just came from Oracle, then we go to HP, Google; we're going to do Tesla, Intel, eBay and Yahoo. And Apple, I forgot Apple..." says one San Francisco resident, describing a tour he's providing for his friend from Tokyo. In fact, Silicon Valley's iconic tech companies have discovered tourists are now dropping in on their headquarters. "It was nice to walk between the buildings, take some pictures and see the employees enjoy their lunch break," wrote one visitor to Google's campus, before complaining that Google hadn't also provided them with bathroom access. "We got told not to use the Google bikes as they are for employees only, which was a bit of a shame," another visitor complained.

"Hundreds of people a day visit the Facebook sign and Google's Android sculpture garden in Mountain View," reports the Bay Area Newsgroup, "with many stopping at other tech giants as well, snapping photos and shooting video..." In fact, Tesla, Apple, Facebook, and Google have all now installed stores where tourists can purchase branded merchandise. (Google sells figurines of their Android mascot for $15). "What you're seeing are people on a pilgrimage..." said Stanford communications professor Fred Turner. "Folks are looking for a physical place behind the kind of dematerialized experience that they have online."
Intel has its own museum, and the Los Altos garage where Steve Jobs started Apple has even been designated a historic site. Are there any other historic tech sites that should be preserved to inspire future generations of tourists?

Comments

NASA Facilities

[grumpy_technologist]

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory attracts 45,000 visitors at their semi-annual open house (disclaimer: I work there). (limited now to 15,000 / event).

They have museums, exhibits, etc. The Space Flight Simulator and Space Flight Operations Facility are historical monuments. SFOF is the hub of all incoming data from the Deep Space Network ... and essentially every bit of information passed from remote probes to humankind.

Re:Really?

[Hognoxious]

I mean, if you were to visit for business reasons would you have to say who you are visiting or prove who you are or something before they let you use their toilets?

Yes, if the toilets are in the "green zone". And why would you have one in the waiting area, just on the off-chance?

I was once chatting to the receptionist when a delivery driver asked for the toilet. She booked him in and asked me to go with him. You don't just let people wander around unescorted.

Before anyone asks, I waited outside.