Category Archives: Innovation

Apple’s New Spaceship Campus: Innovation being rewritten

If you haven’t seen or read about Apple’s proposed new campus in Cupertino, CA, this “sneak peek” via Wired magazine will give you something to contemplate. Recently Cupertino city officials gave the go-ahead on development of this new campus.

This blog is partially about innovation and all things creative. When I read this article and looked over the sketches of the soon-to-be “Apple Campus 2,” I began to think of new versions of how that iWord could be applied.

Quoting from Wired, “At this point, there’s a good chance you’ve seen pictures of Apple’s proposed new headquarters — a 2.8-million-square-foot spaceship parked in a verdant man-made forest in the northeast corner of Cupertino. Since the first dozen or so renderings trickled out in 2011, however, we haven’t gotten a much better sense of what all the new campus will entail or what it will be like to work there.

“Until now.

“Apple may be known for its secrecy, but buried in Cupertino’s municipal archive is a wealth of detail on the project — including more than 20 previously unseen renderings of the new campus.

Sketch of Apple's new HQ

Image: City of Cupertino

“Seen for the first time is the space port-like entrance to the development’s subterranean parking lot, a cavernous cafeteria that spills into the grassy landscape beyond, and the glass pavilion that will serve as the entrance to Apple’s new underground auditorium — a secure lair where press will gather for future product launches.

“In short, these documents give us the most complete picture of Apple’s new home yet, a campus that Steve Jobs himself thought had a shot at being ‘the best office building in the world.'”

Progress would suggest that more buildings will be developed across the country with the same environmental and creative foresight the folks at Apple are showing with this design.

Architects and designers should never feel constrained about introducing new elements into the work place. Yes, money will always play a significant role, but isn’t it more important to develop an environment that is not only welcoming to Mother Nature, but inspiring to employees (and stockholders).

As you’re nodding “yes,” and you should be, keep in mind that society needs to do more of this. It’s not always about the bottom line.

Now, here’s a peek at the forthcoming mothership. Enjoy!

Lessons learned from SXSW

Recently at an American Advertising Federation Houston luncheon, Hugh Forrest, the interactive director of the ever-popular SXSW (South-by-South West) festival held each year in Austin, Texas, summed up lessons learned from the experience. While Hugh may be looking at these teachings from a SXSW perspective, they’re not exclusive to the festival.

They’re very applicable to life.

1.) If you try to innovate, you will inevitably fail.

2.) Failure breeds success.

3.) Turn weakness into strength.

4.) Patience. Patience. Patience.

Innovative thinking, let alone innovation, scares the heck out of people. It evokes change, and we all know what that means; the status quo is under attack. Attacking the various challenges inherent in putting on a wildly popular festival every year is risky business. You have to adapt, though. You have to appease, as best you can, your customers’ desires and needs.

If you’re lucky, innovation will lead to failure. Then, failure leads to success. Strange thinking, isn’t it.

Of course, we all need to learn from our failures, our mistakes. That’s the only way to realize some success.

In business, as in life, unpopular decisions are made.  They’re made for, hopefully, the good of the whole rather than the one.

Along the way, you discover different aspects of what makes you and your organization tick. There will always be areas (weaknesses) that need to be improved until you become quite good at them (strengths) or at least good enough to be acceptable.

Because of its popularity, SXSW has out grown Austin. You can still get tickets to go, but getting a hotel room is just about forgettable. Weakness. So, the event’s organizers are considering introducing a virtual element: Experiencing the festival from anywhere you happen to be. Strength.

You don’t have to be great at everything. Life doesn’t work that way. You must constantly improve, though, or else you’ll stagnate.

And in doing all of this, you gotta have patience, sometimes in rather large quantities.

As with any company or organization that tries to innovate, SXSW is continually learning . . . and growing . . . and failing . . . and succeeding . . . and learning . . . and, well, you get the drift.

Not a bad cycle to be in really.

The iPod, iPhone, iPad, and now . . . the iDesk?

Since this blog talks about and attempts to showcase creativity and innovation, the following piece came to my attention via a newsletter from American Luxury Magazine. Give it a read sometime.

I couldn’t resist sharing this. It’s really cool and yet hard to believe it’s just a concept. For now.

Mac|Life (another good publication) has come up with the iDesk, a desk where much of the normal clutter on your desk will be replaced by apps and widgets. It is essentially a huge iPad.

idesk-concept-by-maclife

According to Mac|Life, the entire top of the desk is a touchscreen that can sync with all your iOS devices by just placing them on its surface.  You will have the option of using a digital touchscreen mouse and keyboard or sticking with a traditional keyboard and mouse.  The iDesk will have apps available for everything you need, from setting reminders or marking dates in a calendar, to posting updates on Facebook or sending out emails.

Custom desktop themes would allow you to give your desk a classic look or  you can work on the water.idesk-concept-by-mac-life-water

The iDesk is still just a concept, but  considering the Microsoft Surface windows-based touch-tables have been available for awhile now,  it could be hitting Apple Stores sooner rather than later.

So what do you think? Will this be something to which consumers would be attracted?

Innovation, at times, can be fickle. So what? Kudos to the Mac|Life gang for bringing this to light.

Depending on the price (if it ever gets that far), this reminds me of something  appropriate for the Neiman-Marcus Christmas catalog.

The Ark Project: Noah’s version has come a long way!

I recently received an email from American Luxury Magazine about a variety of inspiring stories. Even though luxury items and the lifestyle associated with them is evidently the market for the magazine, I was stopped in my tracks when I saw the visual and started reading about a modern day concept called the Ark Project. Talk about innovation! This really got my attention, especially the visuals of this thing.

Quoting here, “Keeping in mind things like climate change and extreme environmental conditions, Russian architect Alexander Remizov, has come up with an eco-friendly floating home that could be constructed in just a few months anywhere in the world – the Ark.

“The Ark has its own independent life support sources and is built to withstand floating through rising sea levels if need be. The Ark works all within itself to heat, cool, and sustain energy. Planting greenery is also a part of living in the Ark, in order to produce oxygen and for decor. Constructing this 151,000 square feet living space would cost roughly the same as building an energy-efficient house according to the Russian architect.”

the-ark-floating

the-ark-floating-inside

Alas, creativity and innovation know no bounds. Our society needs more of this, especially when mankind’s betterment is at stake.

Plus, the Ark looks like fun, if not a little imposing!