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The story I heard about this barge not mentioned in this article or in the one in joel's comment: they're going to use it as an office space for employees who c
by nhayden 13y ago
The story I heard about this barge not mentioned in this article or in the one in joel's comment: they're going to use it as an office space for employees who can't legally work in the US, either because of visa issues or something else. It makes sense Google wouldn't want this to be public information.
- skj 13y agoAlso, that suggestion is pretty silly.
- jrockway 13y agoIndeed, there are Google offices in countries with much more ... liberal ... immigration policies. The only convenience a barge would offer is timezone issues, but who wants to live on a barge just to be in the same time zone as Mountain View? I'm guessing nobody.
- raldi 13y agoThere are other advantages. For example, American employees could visit them in person any day necessary, and then go home to SF or Mountain View, or alternate between the offices a couple days a week. There would also likely be staggering tax benefits.
- jrockway 13y agoHmm, that's true. I worry about the logistics. What if there's some condition where the barge needs to be evacuated (storm, etc.). Since nobody has visas for the mainland, where would they go? Also, let's say you have 1000 engineers living and working there; where are you going to get all that network bandwidth? Wireless? Finally, families?
- raldi 13y agoAs usual, just follow the ST:TNG playbook.
- jrockway 13y agoInstall four lights and try to convince people that there are five?
- raldi 13y agoOkay, for reals this time: > What if there's some condition where the barge needs to be evacuated Whatever a cruise ship or airplane does. > Also, let's say you have 1000 engineers living and working there; where are you going to get all that network bandwidth? Undersea cable, attached to a buoy. Or yeah, wireless. Have a local copy of as much as possible to allow development with a minimum of ship-to-shore packet transmission. > Finally, families? They live there too. Just like Star Trek.
- joelrunyon 13y agoI think you're thinking of Blue Seed (https://blueseed.co/ https://blueseed.co/) which is a non-Google venture and off the Pacific Ocean outside US territory waters. If the Barge is in the bay - it's still in US territory & they still need visas.