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i-Food
We met Alice and Gavin in the Apple canteen for lunch. Or rather we met Gavin in the entrance hall so he could sign us in using extreme cutting edge technology in the form of a sticky paper label. (Don't they have an app for that?) The canteen is located in a courtyard at the heart if the Infinite Loop complex, and on a clear summer's day, it's absolutely beautiful: all blue skies, green grass, white paths and walls, and clean mirrored windows, like someone planted an iPhone and grew a building. It felt like some university campus for geniuses from an utopian near-future; I kept expecting to see people scoot past on hoverboards.
Even so I couldn't understand why Mum and Dad were raving so much about what was basically a work canteen (they'd been the previous year) or why they were so keen to come back. In my mind 'canteen' is greasy and comes with chips and beans and something suspicious lurking under congealed custard. But no, this place was like a food palace, huge, light and gleaming, with service stations receding into the distance. Or at least round the corner. And not the stodge I'd pictured either, but all healthy and tasty and freshly prepared: soup bars, salad bars, fresh fruit bars, sushi bars; fresh cooked wok, pizza and veggie counters; all sorts of hot meals and cold meals, including a huge outdoor barbecue and stations specialising in cuisine from all over the world. I gambled on South American, and came away with a salmon, strawberry and pineapple concoction that was surprisingly delicious - need to experiment further with this. Also turned out to be amazingly cheap, but it can get even cheaper: Gavin said it's all free in the evenings when they're near deadlines.
The thing is, I'm well aware this is all a big corporate ploy. A nice place to eat means people are inclined to stay on the campus; well fed, happy, healthy workers are more productive; and free food is a good incentive to keep people working late. But when the alternatives consist of thinly veiled threats and passive aggressive guilt trips, then give me the fish-and-fruit every time. Wonder if they need a graphic designer with a talent for drawing wry but loveable characters covered in post-it notes?
Plants vs zombies
iPads are fun. (And how the hell are you supposed to start a sentence when Apple thinks that names begin with lower case letters?) But when combined with plants and zombies, they're extremely addictive. My brother lent me his IPad to play in with a warning that the game was highly addictive; a few hours later people were having to physically pry it from my clutching spasming fingers. (It would have been sooner, but they were busy being addicted to Rock Band Beatles or something silly like that.) A few days later I persuaded he needed to buy a copy for his iPad, and finished the entire thing on the flight back. And then still went on to get the PC version... but it's not quite the same when you play it with a mouse. Which is why I'm no longer allowed in PC World. Their display iPads often have PvZ on, and the staff start to look at you funny if you're there 'testing' it for more than an hour.
I'm very selective in my addictions, but very very dedicated.
(Yes, this one is slightly Apple-centric. Blame my brother. Who, before you ask, can't even get me free stuff!)
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We met Alice and Gavin in the Apple canteen for lunch. Or rather we met Gavin in the entrance hall so he could sign us in using extreme cutting edge technology in the form of a sticky paper label. (Don't they have an app for that?) The canteen is located in a courtyard at the heart if the Infinite Loop complex, and on a clear summer's day, it's absolutely beautiful: all blue skies, green grass, white paths and walls, and clean mirrored windows, like someone planted an iPhone and grew a building. It felt like some university campus for geniuses from an utopian near-future; I kept expecting to see people scoot past on hoverboards.
Even so I couldn't understand why Mum and Dad were raving so much about what was basically a work canteen (they'd been the previous year) or why they were so keen to come back. In my mind 'canteen' is greasy and comes with chips and beans and something suspicious lurking under congealed custard. But no, this place was like a food palace, huge, light and gleaming, with service stations receding into the distance. Or at least round the corner. And not the stodge I'd pictured either, but all healthy and tasty and freshly prepared: soup bars, salad bars, fresh fruit bars, sushi bars; fresh cooked wok, pizza and veggie counters; all sorts of hot meals and cold meals, including a huge outdoor barbecue and stations specialising in cuisine from all over the world. I gambled on South American, and came away with a salmon, strawberry and pineapple concoction that was surprisingly delicious - need to experiment further with this. Also turned out to be amazingly cheap, but it can get even cheaper: Gavin said it's all free in the evenings when they're near deadlines.
The thing is, I'm well aware this is all a big corporate ploy. A nice place to eat means people are inclined to stay on the campus; well fed, happy, healthy workers are more productive; and free food is a good incentive to keep people working late. But when the alternatives consist of thinly veiled threats and passive aggressive guilt trips, then give me the fish-and-fruit every time. Wonder if they need a graphic designer with a talent for drawing wry but loveable characters covered in post-it notes?
Plants vs zombies
iPads are fun. (And how the hell are you supposed to start a sentence when Apple thinks that names begin with lower case letters?) But when combined with plants and zombies, they're extremely addictive. My brother lent me his IPad to play in with a warning that the game was highly addictive; a few hours later people were having to physically pry it from my clutching spasming fingers. (It would have been sooner, but they were busy being addicted to Rock Band Beatles or something silly like that.) A few days later I persuaded he needed to buy a copy for his iPad, and finished the entire thing on the flight back. And then still went on to get the PC version... but it's not quite the same when you play it with a mouse. Which is why I'm no longer allowed in PC World. Their display iPads often have PvZ on, and the staff start to look at you funny if you're there 'testing' it for more than an hour.
I'm very selective in my addictions, but very very dedicated.
(Yes, this one is slightly Apple-centric. Blame my brother. Who, before you ask, can't even get me free stuff!)
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