Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by James Thomson, the indie iOS and Mac developer behind apps like PCalc and DragThing. He has a long history with Apple, and was recently sharing some old photos on Twitter. I badgered him into sharing some more with me here.
I visited Infinite Loop for the first time around twenty years ago, and decided to properly document my visit. All these photos were all taken on my trusty film camera, and the negatives scanned some years later. They were promptly forgotten about until now.
The view from outside of Infinite Loop building 1. It looks pretty much the same today, with the exception of the six colour Apple logo. Steve’s office was at the top right. At this point Infinite Loop had only been open for four years.
The Icon Garden, featuring Clarus the Dogcow who was the mascot of the Developer Technical Support group, and appeared in the print dialog. One day, Steve got rid of the icon garden in the middle of the night and everybody was very sad.
Another view of the Icon Garden facing towards the car park.
Clarus looks out wistfully towards the De Anza buildings. I briefly worked for the “At Ease” team who were based there.
Clarus is ready for her close up.
A much younger model of this author, posing with Clarus. Despite rumours of her destruction, she lives to this day in a garage, much like the one Apple was created in. She hopes that one day, she will be allowed to come to the new campus.
Infinite Loop 2, where my group the Finder team lived along with most of the OS folk. I had an office in here, even though I was secretly working and living in Cork. Don’t tell Steve!
Infinite Loop 3. The DTS group were in here.
Infinite Loop 4. The briefing centre was near here – used for internal company-wide meetings, and also where the press would be brought to see the latest hardware and software
Infinite Loop 5. Literally no idea.
Infinite Loop 6. I think there was a basketball court near here. Who knows? I never left Infinite Loop 2.
A view across the courtyard. I think this must have been taken very early in the day because there’s nobody about.
Looking back towards Infinite Loop 1 from the courtyard.
Looking towards Caffè Macs, the company cafeteria. It was here I first discovered the burrito. And why it was a bad idea to sit at the table next to Steve.
Closing in on Caffè Macs.
Inside Caffè Macs. It’s so empty! But nobody stopped this intrepid reporter who was running around Apple with a camera. Madness!
The inside of Infinite Loop 1 – Apple has liked indoor trees for over twenty years.
An old six color sign on the way into the campus. Sorry for the blur!
The exterior of Infinite Loop, taken from the “Cupertino Inn” across the road, where I spent many months living.
The courtyard of the Cupertino Inn. I hope you like concrete!
A “Think Different” billboard in the wild.
A picture of Infinite Loop I took only last year – not on film, this time. Look how much the trees have grown!
Thanks to Stephen for letting me share these with 512 Pixels readers. I hope you enjoyed this little trip back to the old new campus! — James
Pictures ©1997-2017 James Thomson, All Rights Reserved.