Living One Mile from Apple
Being so close to probably the world’s most famous tech company had a profound impact on my life
Yes, it is true.
I grew up one mile from Apple Campus in Cupertino in a small apartment with four other people and an ever-increasing rent price.
It was so close that in middle school, the teachers told us that if we were outside when something bad happened, our best option was to run across the street to Apple’s Infinity Loop buildings where their security guards would take care of us. Yes, it was like that.
It was so close that on the weekends, I could casually walk to the ring-shaped spaceship building and play on the newest iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. Jogging on specialized trails could not come close to comparing with walking to the showrooms of Tim Cook and Apple.
In a sense, I felt superior to all those tourists from other countries who would come from so far and use so much energy just to experience something I could do every week.
Being so close to probably the world’s most famous tech company had a profound impact on my life.
I got to experience the impact of top-level tech innovation that existed very very close by. It was strangely soothing to know that every year, Tim Cook was excitedly presenting the newest Apple products just one mile away at the Steve Jobs theater. Then immediately after, those new devices would instantly pop up at the flagship Apple Store nearby, prompting me to run over there to look. Apple’s myriad of workshops and programs hosted daily at the Apple Store was always something to cherish; especially because these activities were being held at the MAIN Apple Store, not somewhere else.
The folks working at the Store were all very polite and helpful. Even when I was doing a comparison between my Android phone (OnePlus 7 Pro) and the newest iPhone, a tall guy would walk over and excitedly show me the cool new features.
But at the same time, the financial aspects of being so close to Apple were something on the opposite end of the spectrum.
I would walk into the Apple Store with my brother just to “helplessly” watch as busloads full of tourists (mostly from Asia) came in and bought multiple computers and phones at the same time nonchalantly. I saw one woman wearing high heels and designer bags casually point to the shelves of AirPods headphones until her boyfriend grabbed it. I could spend hours just watching these casually dressed people walk in, spend thousands upon thousands, then hop in their waiting Teslas and speed away. In this sense, it sickened me to see people take Apple’s products for granted and think it makes them look rich.
Looking back, those observations definitely influenced my behavior at the Apple Store especially as time went on.
There were times when I was the one controlling the demo Apple TV screen and put on videos of tech people drop testing and bend testing iPads (a lot of destruction). Or I even put on videos of Android phone reviews, once prompting a reaction of an Apple support guy who said: “Androids are cheap”…..
My brother and I once found the house searching app Zillow buried within the downloaded applications on that Apple TV. We immediately opened it and started scrolling through the pages of Beverly Hills mansions and Silicon Valley houses. That attracted a noticeable amount of attention from onlookers who wondered why these two Asian boys were not watching videos or playing games. It was me saying subtly, “I may not be as rich as you but that ain’t slowing me down!!”
I’m now living hundreds of miles from that Apple’s campus and store. I hardly see such customer behaviors now but being half grateful and half jealous is something I will probably never get over. I could come back one day, or maybe not.
CZ
