The tech visionary has bought approximately 500,000 square feet of space in the middle of rural North Carolina in a city called Maiden, where he plans to erect a data center.
But the sheer size of the purchase has sparked speculation that Apple may be preparing to enter the arenas of “cloud” computing and content delivery.
Anyone who’s ever used a webmail application or something like Google Docs has encountered cloud computing, which lets uers take advantage of powerful applications over the Internet.
“Cloud computing is a hot trend, and I'd be surprised if Apple isn't thinking hard — and thinking differently — about cloud computing,” said tech analyst Eric Slivka of MacRumors.com. “Many cloud enthusiasts say that cloud computing will eliminate the need for data centers. In reality, the only thing will change is the owner of the building.”
Apple might also want to start delivering its own content. To date, the tech giant has farmed out such services to companies like Akamai and Limelight Networks, but in light of companies like Facebook and MySpace adding data centers to help with their own content delivery, perhaps Apple is looking to get into the same game.
But as of now, Apple has only confirmed that it will use the huge new data center for iTunes and MobileMe, a service that helps users synchronize all the information on their iPhones, iPod and desktop computer.