Steve Jobs' newly completed megayacht Venus emerges from the Feadship shipyard (Click Image To Enlarge)
Venus, the incredible luxury yacht Steve Jobs had been designing up until his death a little over a year ago, made its first apperance as a finished product in the city of Aalsmeer in the Netherlands. Unsurprisingly, its design is breathtaking.
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Reportedly designed in a joint effort between Jobs himself and Philippe Starck, the stunning ship first showed up on the blog One More Thing, which posted some stills as well as a few other details. The ship is about 230 to 260 feet long, for instance, and made entirely of aluminum, which makes it particularly light. And if you had any doubt this is Steve Jobs' yacht, there are seven 27-inch iMacs in the wheelhouse.
According to One More Thing's sources, the Jobs family wa present for the yacht's christening ceremony proper, thought it's unknown whether or not they intend to use it, or what its ultimate fate may be. Regardless of what may happen to her, she sure is a beauty. It's certainly a shame Steve Jobs never got the chance to see her finished. [One More Thing via The Verge]
Steve Jobs had been working on this ship for a long time and said it was a very important thing for him to do. Even though he knew he did not have much time left to live, and that he possibly wouldn’t see his brainchild completed, he’d still work on applying some of Apple's design and technology characteristics to the construction of the ship.
He told his biographer Walter Isaacson.
“I know that it’s possible I will die and leave Laurene with a half-built boat, but I have to keep going on it. If I don’t, it’s an admission that I’m about to die.”
Jobs was involved in the project together with famed French designer Philippe Starck and Dutch shipbuilder Feadship. Venus consists of an aluminum-hull and is some 70-80 meters in length. Her cabin is equipped with seven 27-inch iMacs lined up in the wheelhouse to aid in the controls of the ship – a record number. Constructors also used the same glass featured in Apple gadgets for the boat’s glass detailing.
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Speaking to the BBC about the vessel, Starck said.
“Steve and I shared the same idea about the elegance of the minimal, the elegance of work well done.”
At the same time he said.
"It does look strange for a boat.”
The yacht was described by Walter Isaacson, who wrote about the boat in his 2011 Steve Jobs’ biography.
"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."
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The completion of the yacht prompted dispute regarding its future fate. It is yet to be seen whether the Jobs family will keep the vessel for themselves, rent it or sell it off.
COMMENTARY: I hate to say this, but the Venus yacht is a one butt ugly and unappealing yacht. Steve Jobs probably drove those Feadship designers crazy with his ideas, and his personal involvement in the design of the Venus was more of a negative than a positive. He should've stayed with what he does best: create innovative ideas for exciting new Apple products, and stayed away from yachts.
Courtesy of an article dated October 28, 2012 appearing in Gizmodo and an article dated October 29, 2012 appearing in RT.com
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