It's pretty clear which AppleInsider commenters in this thread have flown on international business class overseas flights and who has not.

First of all, let's break down the revenue/flight numbers.

UAL says Apple's SFO-PVG route revenue generates about $35 million a year, that's about $95K per day. UAL also claims 50 business class passengers a day (average). That works out to about $1900 per one-way flight.

That's not really out of hand. Apple employees are probably flying refundable fares so they can change their schedules if necessary. Remember, these employees aren't paying out of pocket, the company reimburses them per the company's travel policy.

Apple has enough dough where they don't bother enforcing a $20 per diem.

When you fly from the US West Coast to eastern Asia non-stop, it is always a 10+ hour flight so the lay-flat seats in United Polaris class are worth it. Sure, Apple could make employees fly coach, but then they'd probably wreck the person for at least a day. Is it worth losing one day's work of a sharper, more productive employee by saving a few hundred bucks on airfare and letting them fester in cattle class? Not if the person flying has an annual salary of $100K+.

Next, let's address the seat number thing. 50 business class seats per day (average) might be 25 seats to and 25 return. Or more likely, there are probably days when Apple employees are few, but other days where Apple employees are heavy. For sure, every time Tim Cook steps on the private jet to fly to Shanghai, there are a bunch of Apple personnel who are flying commercial, some perhaps several days in advance or afterwards.

As for other airlines, well, airlines these days tend to work out of regional hubs and territories. SFO is a major United hub and anyone driving on US-101 by SFO over the past thirty years would know that because the United Airlines operations hangar is visible from the freeway. Yes, yes, Delta, American, etc. all have flights out of SFO, but they don't own SFO like UAL.

At least on international overseas business class flights on USA flag carriers, United is pretty much the same with other USA flag carriers (Delta, American, etc.) in terms of quality. Meaning, they are all *GARBAGE* compared to top tied international carriers.

The best international carriers are mostly the same as from 30-40 years ago: Singapore, Cathay Pacific, Japan Air Lines, All Nippon Airlines, etc. The best newcomer is Emirates. Virgin Atlantic isn't too bad if you are flying business class (formerly the cheekily named "Upper Class" when it was on the upper deck of the Boeing 747). Famous European flag carriers such as British Airways, Air France, KLM, Lufthansa, etc. are only marginally better than the USA flag carriers on international business class overseas flights.

The modern lay-flat seat is the best thing about business class overseas air travel. There are some people who think that the food in business class is "special" or "good". It's not. It's a glorified TV dinner.

Apart from the lay-flat seats, the best thing about the international business class cabin is the overhead luggage storage capacity. A lot of business class travelers don't try to haul everything aboard so about half of the overhead luggage storage is empty. With the spacious seating arrangement, there are fewer passengers per overhead luggage compartment so there's no mad dash to cram as much stuff in them nor is there any gate checking.

Anyhow, this has been an amusing thread to read.

mark mervich said:

I stumbled upon the Mansion w/ the gate open as well.  I have a few more pictures of the outside.  Someone was keeping the swiming pool clean and there was a small vegitable garden. I sure hope they saved the organ.  As I remember it, they had the demolition equipment stages on the property and when they got the ok, it took about one day for full demolition. Who owns the property now?

The property is still owned by the Jobs family, probably a holding of the family trust now controlled by his widow, Laurene Powell Jobs. She is likely the person responsible for keeping the pool clean and having a small vegetable garden.

The original plans plus revised plans were submitted to the Town of Woodside but are not accessible via the web due to copyright restrictions. You must visit Woodside's city offices to view them and copies are not allowed of the renderings.

https://venturebeat.com/2016/03/18/steve-jobs-widow-is-finally-building-the-familys-silicon-valley-agricultural-wonderland-dream-home/

The revised plans submitted years after Jobs' death are apparently considerably different than Steve's vision. Work was to begin presumably in 2017, I don't know if construction commenced, but the original estimate was approximately two years.

The glass panel is likely from Sedak/Seele, the German glass manufacturer who has provided glass panels for many Apple retail stores as well as the glass panels at Apple Park.

As mentioned by Sandor, all of these panels are custom made for Apple, they aren't standard windows that one buys at Home Depot or Lowe's.

AppleInsider said:

Roberts flew a DJI Phantom 4 Pro over the campus, eventually discovering the crashed drone wedged in between rooftop solar panels. The craft appears to have been mostly intact, and its owner notified Apple about the incident. So far there's been no sign of a response, which may make the property's return unlikely.

Apple could potentially crack down on pilots, since a future crash might damage equipment or hit someone walking in the campus courtyard.

AppleInsider's editorial staff has a dreadfully short memory.

if Apple does not return the property to the rightful owner, Apple would be in violation of the California law that stipulates that a reasonable attempt to return the property if the owner can be identified. 

California Code, Penal Code - PEN § 485

"One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is guilty of theft."

This is the same state law that got Brian Hogan of Redwood City (the finder of a prototype iPhone 4 erroneously left behind in a beer garden) in very hot water and eventually led to the sacking of one of Gizmodo's editorial staffers. Hogan's actions were very dishonest as he did not attempt to do the right thing and turn the phone over to the bar owners; he took the phone home with him.

My guess is that Hogan's legal fees were far more than a $5000 that Gizmodo paid him for the device.

"Finders, keepers" is not a valid legal defense in California and Apple would be hypocrites as well as thieves if they do not return the drone.

tallest skil said:

Why do they need the “Way”? Do they know the way? Why not just 1 Apple Park?

Since both Way and Park are USPS recognized street suffixes, I'm guessing that someone(s) at Apple deliberately wanted to use the Way street suffix.

I'm not surprised based on Steve Jobs's interest in Eastern philosophy. "The Way" is most commonly identified with Taoism, but is also associated with various Japanese religious philosophies, including Buddhist and Shinto beliefs.

I doubt that we will ever know the true motivations behind the street naming decision though so this is all silly, relatively meaningless speculation.