You can work off the extra pounds from the free food in places like the gym, which is filled with jogging machines, or the two infinity pools, where you can swim against a current of water without going anywhere. The main café with the free food is Charlie’s Cafe, named after Google’s first chef, Charlie Ayers, who is no longer there. There are still programming problems posted above the urinals in the bathrooms. The main build is still named “42,” after the answer to the question, “What is the meaning to life, the universe, and everything?” That’s a joke from dearly departed Douglas Adams’ novel, The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
And it’s not done expanding, as it is building a new addition to the headquarters at the nearby Moffitt Field air base. But I was struck at how many more buildings Google’s Silicon Valley population of around 25,000 now occupies in the city of Mountain View, Calif. I still recognized the old buildings that the company inherited from Silicon Graphics.
This time, a friend took me through on an unofficial visit. And they won’t take off for a startup down the street so easily. Google has made its workplace so enticing and relaxing that people will naturally want to stay at work longer and get more done. They’re jealous, for sure, but they may have a point about something. People who don’t work there scoff at its excesses, like allowing dogs to come to work, or the free food. It seemed like a combination of a college campus, frat house, socialist commune, and home away from home. I visited the Googleplex back in 2007 when I was a tech columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. While it may seem familiar in tech circles, the wider world still does It was made famous in the comedy film The Internship starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Google has a unique campus in Silicon Valley and the world. Join gaming leaders, alongside GamesBeat and Facebook Gaming, for their 2nd Annual GamesBeat & Facebook Gaming Summit | GamesBeat: Into the Metaverse 2 this upcoming January 25-27, 2022.