The new Apple Store will open in NY tomorrow… and as is appropriate for the city that never sleeps, it will be open 24/7. I’m still pondering that…

Literary agent John Brockman emailed this photo to some friends. It is the view from EDGE headquarters.

Dvorak posits that Jobs personally designed the store. The design reminds me of an x-ray of the original NeXT Cube… continuing the cubist design leitmotif.

And for those who doubt that the Apple CEO would get involved in the details of retail architecture, I am reminded of my first days on the job at NeXT. As we walked around the building, my colleagues shared in hushed voices that Jobs personally chose the wood flooring and various appointments. He even specified the outdoor sprinkler system layout.

I witnessed his attention to detail first hand during a marketing reorg meeting. Jobs requested that the org charts be reprinted with the particular blue and green colors of his choosing, and provided the Pantone numbers to remove any ambiguity.

Jobs also had very strong opinions about the Apple Keyboard… But therein lies the Jobs magic. Apple is no Kodak.

46 responses to “Throw No Stones”

  1. eye of einstein Avatar
    eye of einstein

    pondering…

    Reply
  2. nualao Avatar
    nualao

    This is amazing – is the shop below ground?

    Reply
  3. sweet thing Avatar
    sweet thing

    Only from a man this obsessed with quality and detail could such great products spur forth. This is a great story and fits exactly with what I imagine modern day product design "approval" meetings proceeding like.

    Reply
  4. BenODen Avatar
    BenODen

    That’s so wild that he gets so involved in the details. I suppose you could make a case that after the idea, the implementation details are vital to the success or failure of the product that brings that idea to life, yah.. Funny how some people can’t pull it off and get haranged for micromanagement…

    Such a very cool store though. ‘oook at eeee! I’m shopping apple!’

    Reply
  5. Judy B - The Travelling Eye Avatar
    Judy B – The Travelling Eye

    Perhaps Einstein was correct when he posited that genius is the infinite capacity for taking pains….

    Reply
  6. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Hmmm…. I guess there was an allegorical forshadowing of this glass house at the Palo Alto store in March…
    iPod Power

    Reply
  7. Gwen's River City Images Avatar
    Gwen’s River City Images

    Man, I’d love to be able to go to an Apple store at 2 am. UBER-COOL!

    Reply
  8. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    we had the louvre crystal pyramid in paris, now we will have the apple crystal cube in new york.

    Reply
  9. ZeeZ Avatar
    ZeeZ

    this is just too good to be true..didnt anyone notice that theyre building a whole store underground? =S

    Reply
  10. nonstop bat Avatar
    nonstop bat

    Is the circular bits inside a lift for us crips?

    Reply
  11. pfflyerpf Avatar
    pfflyerpf

    ((((())))))

    Reply
  12. benjiman Avatar
    benjiman

    I love this design. And it really is an interesting use of that retail space. For years that underground mall/resturant space there never really worked. Now maybe it will.

    As a New Yorker its always interesting to see the famous locales of NYC evolve with the vision and zeitgeist of the times.

    Reply
  13. ultrascott Avatar
    ultrascott

    I think I want to live there 😛

    Reply
  14. Todd Huffman Avatar
    Todd Huffman

    Is that an elevator running up the middle? Elsewise, how is that ADA compliant?

    Pretty hot design, though what is he going to do once modernist architecture is unfashionable? Geez, what if black turtlenecks go out too?

    Reply
  15. Trajan K Avatar
    Trajan K

    I have to agree with Gigi.

    Reply
  16. ken mccown Avatar
    ken mccown

    I have friends that have designed and built projects for him, and yes, he gets *WAY* involved in all of the details! It’s certainly too much for any professional’s taste.

    Reply
  17. Lil' Mike Avatar
    Lil’ Mike

    Where in NY is this?

    Reply
  18. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    that´s serious… it´s a complication if one sole person is the main hinge in an organization´s mechanism, regardless which position this person occupies in the firm.

    Didn´t know about this. I wonder, naturally, then…

    Does Apple have a self of its own -which will transcend Jobs eventually-? Or if it is like Mazinger-Z, a huge but selfless robot digited by one man inside -which ultimate fate is that of its owner-?

    Reply
  19. Philip Seymour Avatar
    Philip Seymour

    For everyone who’s going to start sobbing about ADA compliance, that IS a glass elevator. Just for you. And I wouldn’t worry too much about glass shattering, the cube is probably built out of the same super-tough glass used on the glass staircases in other flagship stores, and in high-rise office buildings.

    Reply
  20. nonstop bat Avatar
    nonstop bat

    I wouldn’t "start sobbing about ADA compliance" as a) I’m not one of those crips and b) I live in the UK – I was just curious.

    Reply
  21. unique lock Avatar
    unique lock

    its interesting but its an obvious IMPei ripoff.

    Reply
  22. benjiman Avatar
    benjiman

    Lil Mike, its at the corner of 5th and 59th I think, at the GM building, across from the Bergdorf’s Mens Store.

    Reply
  23. eimhinr Avatar
    eimhinr

    i knew architects loved glass but this is a bit excessive, i wonder what kind of u values it has?..

    Reply
  24. BenODen Avatar
    BenODen

    I heard on NPR this morning that it had a genius bar! You better make your appearance there Steve. Or maybe it’s someplace I could go to get a mushware upgrade?

    Reply
  25. Victor1 Avatar
    Victor1

    Maybe Jobs attention to ‘one keyboard at a time’ and such minutea explains why the front runner in computing and the creater of the windows environment, mice and ‘human touch’ in the mid 80’s fell to the 5% minority it is today. I was the most ardent mac fan and was sad to watch Job’s decisions cripple the company from dominating the PC industry, which I still wish it had. Ipod is a small compensation for that loss.

    Reply
  26. madrigar Avatar
    madrigar

    Just a correction – Xerox created the windows environment and mouse. Apple just implemented it because Xerox execs killed it. Good movie if you haven’t seen it – "Pirates of Silicon Valley". Follows Bill Gates and Jobs and their companies from the college years to the release of Windows and the macintosh.

    Reply
  27. sub-culture Avatar
    sub-culture

    Will the cement remain all around the glass-ness? How about some greenery? Any plans for public art? Maybe I’m just missing it in the pics I’ve seen…I don’t even see any benches.

    Reply
  28. lonely moose Avatar
    lonely moose

    I think a 3D apple would be cool as well…HOWEVER…..the recent lawsuit of apple (the computer) v. apple records (the beatles label) hinged on 2 things:

    1- is apple (the computer) trying to merge into the music business, stepping on the toes of apple (the record label) and violating their pre-existing agreement
    AND
    2- can the consumer differentiate between a cartoon, flat logo of an apple with one bite missing and a 3D picture of a granny smith apple with one bite missing.

    The courts debated the artwork and advertising end of this case heavily. I think if apple (the computer) started using a 3D logo, it might appear MORE LIKE the apple record logo than it does in its current flat, 2D form.

    In case you hadn’t heard, apple (the computer) won.

    Reply
  29. jenhregis Avatar
    jenhregis

    Curious – looks like it was based on Louvre entrance, opens the same day as "DaVinci Code" movie…. coincidence? Maybe…. the consipiracy continues…..

    Reply
  30. Trajan K Avatar
    Trajan K

    very similar to that of the louvre’s entrance. I’m thinking that Stevey J got inspiration from there.

    Reply
  31. /tmp Avatar
    /tmp

    So, just because I.M. Pei designed a glass pyramid for Louvre, all other people who use glass to create any other geometric structures rips off his idea? La pyramide du Louvre may have inspired the Apple cube, but calling it a rip off is a tad much. Jobs loves cubes (NeXT cube, PM G4 Cube) and loves transparent/translucent materials (glass stairs, PM G4 Cube, Apple speakers, Apple Keyboard/Mouse) so it’s not farfetched to marry the two.

    Reply
  32. /tmp Avatar
    /tmp

    Anyone who is interested can go to http://www.apple.com/retail/fifthavenue/gallery/

    There are pictures showing the glass cube from different angles on the plaza at different times of the day and the store interior/glass stairs. There is a fountain nearby. Not much greenery, though.

    Reply
  33. Michael Cory Avatar
    Michael Cory

    It is one block from central park, thats a lot of green space. Before the apple store was there CBS did it’s morning show in that plaza

    Reply
  34. cranberries Avatar
    cranberries

    Great angle!

    Reply
  35. borealnz Avatar
    borealnz

    Amazing entrance, very futuristic and a real contrast with the others in our theme I have looked at so far.

    Thanks for sharing this in our door theme thread!
    The World Through My Eyes

    Reply
  36. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    Pyramids in Paris, Cubes in New york… and Spheres in Naples (this one seems to have been done for the occasion, tho-. Not a permanent thing)

    There goes the worldwide family of crystal polygons…

    Reply
  37. Infinity Rain Avatar
    Infinity Rain

    Fascinating!!

    Thank you for adding to the doors theme in The World Through My Eyes

    Reply
  38. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    hmmm…. From AppleInsider:

    "Wu noted the challenges companies face when trying to produce a converged product of high quality. However, he said Apple chief executive Steve Jobs "is finally satisfied with the end product Apple engineers have produced in terms of quality and the right blend of cell phone and portable media player."

    Reply
  39. _sarchi Avatar
    _sarchi

    ..there was a tempory glass rectangular loo in london_ for a time.. 🙂

    Reply
  40. byedaniel Avatar
    byedaniel

    Nice picture, nice story. How was it to work at NeXT with Steve?

    Reply
  41. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    I liked the walks. =)

    Gosh, I’m not sure how to summarize for this question. He was memorable and inspirational. He is my mental archetype for the charismatic visionary leader, fiercely persuasive yet somewhat decoupled from the present. …which presents a transmission mismatch of perception for some…

    Well, a good story is a fine tool for broadcast demagoguery…
    The

    Reply
  42. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    oh, and from this week’s town council meeting, we learn that Apple has a core competency in architectural glass!

    See youtube reference here

    Reply
  43. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    This just in from China – Fake Apple Stores.

    And how do you copy the sales experience, the soft side of the service offering?

    "these salespeople… all genuinely think they work for Apple."

    Reply
  44. benjiman Avatar
    benjiman

    …and these salespeople likely also believe we’ve always been at war with eastasia. 😉

    Reply
  45. 以映 Avatar
    以映

    Reply
  46. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    another creative use of glass… 2 months earlier:iPod Power I wrote at the time: "Soon the iPod will be a method to generate and consume media. That means a camera.

    Ironically, this photo was taken with Kodak’s version of that vision, a pen-based camera with a 3” screen and WiFi connection to Kodak services."

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *