Steve Jobs' Yacht, 'Venus,' Sets Sail
The 250-foot-long vessel is allegedly controlled by seven iMacs within the ship's wheelhouse. Here's hoping they don't use Apple Maps.
It's no secret that late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, had been working on applying some of Apple's design characteristics to the construction of a big, luxury yacht prior to his death — one year ago this month.
After years of work, the yacht has finally been completed, and Dutch blog One More Thing – appropriately named – has pictures and videos of the big ol' boat. Those working on the yacht, dubbed "Venus," have all received special iPod Shuffles with the boat's name engraved on the back, as well as a card from the Jobs family that thanks them, "for your hard work and craftsmanship."
The most interesting part of the boat so far – for Apple fans and tech-watchers alike – is that it appears to be controlled by a series of seven, 27-inch iMacs set up in the yacht's control room, or wheelhouse. The ship itself is approximately 230 to 260 feet long long and, like the design of Jobs' electronics, feature a hull that's built entirely out of aluminum. A large pane of (reinforced) glass runs around the ship's side, starting at right around the midpoint of the vessel and wrapping around the boat's bow.
As first described by Walter Isaacson, writing about the boat in his October, 2011 biography entitled, "Steve Jobs:"
"As at an Apple store, the cabin windows were large panes, almost floor to ceiling, and the main living area was designed to have walls of glass that were forty feet long and ten feet high. He had gotten the chief engineer of the Apple stores to design a special glass that was able to provide structural support. By then the boat was under construction by the Dutch custom yacht builders Feadship, but Jobs was still fiddling with the design."
"'I know that it's possible I will die and leave Laurene with a half-built boat,' he said. 'But I have to keep going on it. If I don't, it's an admission that I'm about to die.'"
It remains to be seen what the Jobs family — who were allegedly on-hand to celebrate the boat's unveiling — will ultimately do with the vessel. We suppose that, "floating Apple Store" might be a bit too much to ask, but it would be a shame to just let this pretty ship bide its time at a dock somewhere.
For more tech tidbits from David Murphy, follow him on Facebook or Twitter (@thedavidmurphy).