steve jobs

The Steve Jobs Theater is a Minimalist Dream

By Paul B. Kaiser on October 9, 2017

The new Steve Jobs Theatre looks absolutely amazing. The simplicity of the design creates a uniqueness and godliness aura about the building. Simplicity doesnt come cheap, as the building reportedly cost $179 million alone. Each seat in the theatre cost $14,000. I think Steve would be proud of how the theatre and entire Apple Park turned out.

“To honor his memory and his enduring influence on Apple and the world, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater”

The video below provides a nice glimpse into the building architecture and grandeur.

Some minimal facts:

The theater seats only 1,000 people
Behind the screen and stage is a secret room
The above ground lobby of the theater is 165 feet in diameter, and has 20-foot-tall glass
It boasts the world’s largest freestanding carbon fiber roof.
The entire Apple Park was designed by the architecture firm Foster + Partners
The carbon fiber roof is supported by the glass frame.
The wires and networking are all hidden
Steve Jobs Theater can, according to Apple, ride out earthquakes with a magnitude of 8-plus
The glass elevator that takes visitors from the lobby to the foyer, corkscrews as it rides down

Steve Jobs Theatre Photo Tour

Innovation will Prevail in the Steve Jobs Theatre

By Paul B. Kaiser on March 1, 2017

Will innovation prevail at the new Apple Park – name just announced? It was Steve Job’s last dream to build this spaceship. And that reality is within reach and looks awesome. We should know very soon if innovation will be sparked here, as they are about to move in this April. However, it is expected to take 6 months for the full move. The new Apple Park in Cupertino has 175 acres of rolling parkland and one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the world. For other Apple spaceship facts see this article.

Official video from Apple on the April opening.

Apple’s vision is stated below:

Cupertino, California — Apple today announced that Apple Park, the company’s new 175-acre campus, will be ready for employees to begin occupying in April. The process of moving more than 12,000 people will take over six months, and construction of the buildings and parklands is scheduled to continue through the summer.

Envisioned by Steve Jobs as a center for creativity and collaboration, Apple Park is transforming miles of asphalt sprawl into a haven of green space in the heart of the Santa Clara Valley. The campus’ ring-shaped, 2.8 million-square-foot main building is clad entirely in the world’s largest panels of curved glass.

Steve would have turned 62 this Friday, February 24.

To honor his memory and his enduring influence on Apple and the world, the theater at Apple Park will be named the Steve Jobs Theater.

Opening later this year, the entrance to the 1,000-seat auditorium is a 20-foot-tall glass cylinder, 165 feet in diameter, supporting a metallic carbon-fiber roof. The Steve Jobs Theater is situated atop a hill — one of the highest points within Apple Park — overlooking meadows and the main building.

Apple Park will also include a visitors center with an Apple Store and cafe open to the public, a 100,000-square-foot fitness center for Apple employees, secure research and development facilities and the Steve Jobs Theater. The parklands offer two miles of walking and running paths for employees, plus an orchard, meadow and pond within the ring’s interior grounds.

Designed in collaboration with Foster + Partners, Apple Park replaces 5 million square feet of asphalt and concrete with grassy fields and over 9,000 native and drought-resistant trees, and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy. With 17 megawatts of rooftop solar, Apple Park will run one of the largest on-site solar energy installations in the world. It is also the site of the world’s largest naturally ventilated building, projected to require no heating or air conditioning for nine months of the year.

See construction update for Apple Park – filmed by Duncan Sinfield

My User Experience with Steve Jobs and Apple

By Paul B. Kaiser on October 8, 2011

In my last blog post I spoke about the competition for airtime between the Apple conference being held at 1 PM and Governor Christies announcement for presidency. As expected, Apple brought down Twitter and overran any other news items. That’s not to say all eyes were on Apple, but to point out that we live in an age where gadgets are more important than politics sometimes – for better or worse. What we didn’t know at the time, was the imminent future for Steve Jobs. By the time of this blog entry the world is already aware of the loss and has been inundated with stories of this great inventor and marketer.

I have thought for days what I should write about such an inspirational person for me. The phrase “words cant express” resinated over and over for me. I could not come to a conclusion or a way to get all the words out, so I have decided to share just two tidbits from my life experience with Apple and Steve Jobs. The media will share every other image, quote and historical inventions over the next few weeks.

My story is simple.

512k Mac

1985 – My father-in-law came home one night with a computer called a Mac 512k. Having just barely passed a college computer class the year before, It seemed like the most magical thing ever. Mind you, we had to feed a single line of code into a commands feeder that looked like something Eli Whitney invented. And were taught Fortran at the time.

This magical machine mesmerized me and entertained me for hours, days – really a lifetime. That was it. I was an Apple follower for life. I wont lie though, I did drift during the bad apple days when Steve want around, but always new their innovativeness and marketing skills would purvey. The experience that Apple and Steve brought to the computer changed my world and filled a void.

Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs

In the year 1999, being the Apple follower I was, I attended what would be the last Apple show in New York (with Apple and Steve Jobs anyway). These were events, not shows. You arrived hours early, stood in lines to get in and talked about the future. On a beautiful morning, we saw a helicopter land close to us and realized it was the man himself – SJ. We all ran to the corner to catch a glimpse. Very exciting. The program that day had the following announcements and surprises at the main event hall.

The actor Noah Wyle made an appearance during the keynote address, posing as Jobs in a reference to his role in the TV moviePirates of Silicon Valley. Steve Jobs also introduced the iBook, QuickTime TV, and AirPort. Halo was announced by Bungie Software, although Bungie was later purchased by Microsoft and Halo became an Xbox exclusive. All very exciting.

But the most exciting moment for me was to come.

After the show Steve would walk the floor to meet and greet all fellow geeks. As I saw him approach me, I quickly thought, will I meet him, what do I say…think of something witty. He approached closer. I realized I was going to actually be able to shake his hand and say something to him, something great. Well as you can imagine meeting a famous mentor, when he got to me, my mind went blank, most likely a crazy stare came over me and I shook his hand. To be honest I don’t even remember the word that came out of my mouth. They were probably incoherent. But if they mad sense, it probably would have been “Steve, you’re the most innovative thinker of our day. I love what you do at Apple.”

One fraction of time for Steve has impacted me for a lifetime.