Apple's New HQ Actually Works, Says Critic

"The centerpiece of the proposal is Apple's would-be iCon - a four-story ring of smooth aluminum and glass that Jobs likened to a spaceship in the June 7 presentation (to the Cupertino City Council) that stands, for now, as his last public appearance."

The ring, containing 2.8 million sq. ft of space, would require a half-mile walk from one far side to the other. King asks if workers would be given Segways.

The cafeteria seats 3,000; the garage parks 4,3000.

"While the spaceship is the main attraction, it's not the structure that would be most visible to outsiders. That honor goes to the parking garage, which would form a streamlined wall along Interstate 280 four stories tall and 1,440 feet in length, with room for 4,300 cars."

Unlike the original developments that marked the inception of Silicon Valley in Santa Clara county some 40 years ago on the famed fruit tree orchards, the expanded Apple campus would be a consolidation of two office parks; reducing the existing 25 office buildings to five.