
Apple’s new $5B campus has a 100,000-square-foot gym and no daycare - yladiz
https://qz.com/984785/apples-new-5-billion-apple-park-campus-has-a-100000-square-foot-gym-and-no-daycare-aapl/
======
dang
This article is cribbed from [https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-
silicon-valley-...](https://www.wired.com/2017/05/apple-park-new-silicon-
valley-campus/) which is currently being discussed at
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14349147).

Submitters: the HN guidelines ask you to submit original sources.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
yladiz
The guidelines are unclear if the article uses another article as a direct
source, but adds additional content. The Quartz article does use Wired as a
primary source, but it also adds additional content as the Wired article
doesn't mention daycare at all. Additionally, the comments on this post pretty
much all talk about daycare as it's in the title and a major talking point of
the article, rather than just the building itself.

~~~
dang
Yup those are fair points, making this a borderline call. I'm not sure the
article adds much of value—it struck me as a slapdash effort to gin up
controversy, especially at the end. That's most of what such publications do
all day and our job as a community is to filter most of that out. But people
can reasonably differ about any particular case.

~~~
yladiz
Fair enough, although I do respect Quartz enough to not create controversy for
the hell of it. I do agree that the last paragraph is a bit much and possibly
unnecessary, and maybe only there to make it seem something more than it is,
but I think the article overall brings a good question to think about,
considering the magnitude of the building Apple made and the attention to
detail they brought to the project.

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wand3r
Article notes it is not commonplace for daycare to be included and flips the
Apple HQ launch into a personification of Jobs poor parenting of his
daughters. They arent exactly wrong; but this is agenda first journalism 101.

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emtel
There are a lot of places in the valley where it is illegal to build child
care facilities, due to environmental hazards. This may not necessarily be an
oversight on Apple's part.

~~~
Bud
Overwhelmingly likely to NOT be an oversight. I worked on Apple Park for a
year as the IT guy on-site.

I can tell you that every conceivable detail was painstakingly planned. And
many inconceivable details, as well.

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matt_wulfeck
Daycare to me seems like an enormous liability, and is also widely available
already.

Personally I would prefer a daycare credit each month that I can spend where I
please. I think Apple made the right choice.

~~~
aeturnum
You're right, but gyms are also an enormous liability and widely available.

It's not that either service must be offered by the employer, it's more a
rorschach test to see how the company thinks about what services will most
enable their workers to be productive. As an employee, I'd certainly take
onsite childcare over a gym.

~~~
dismantlethesun
Liabilities against adults are treated differently than liabilities against
children.

~~~
aeturnum
In that case, maybe they can only offer 25,000 sq. feet of childcare space for
the cost of 100,000 sq. feet of gym. The choice to not offer it all together
still feels meaningful.

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JustSomeNobody
I don't agree with this article.

Rather than a DayCare facility, just be flexible with your employees when they
have to run and pick up a sick child. Let them make up the hours by working at
home after the child has been taken care of.

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taylodl
Perhaps there's still an opportunity to provide this service - for it presents
a really unique business opportunity:

* Apple gets to see how its youngest customers, and future purchasers, interact with their products. How are they actually being used? What are the real frustrations?

* Apple can provide educational services. Music, art, mathematics, engineering - it can go a long way to making these kids life-long learners.

* Bonus points for having a pediatrician on staff. No need to take time off for a sick kid.

* After school care with pickup from local schools would be a huge benefit. Imagine your children being picked up from school and brought to an engaging environment where they can learn and play?

* Ditto for a summer program.

Taking care of daily life issues go a long way to proving peace of mind and
allowing one to focus and engage fully while at work. That's why so many
companies provide food service, laundry service, workout/health facilities,
etc. I'm thinking there's a huge opportunity here.

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zyang
Apple Park partially sits on a superfund site - not the best place to build a
daycare.

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lostmsu
I would certainly appreciate a daycare facility on a campus more than a gym.

