To quote Jeremy Clarkson:
... and all that comes out of this exhaust pipe is little baby foxes...
yeah, right.
Apple has broken ground on a massive new data-center complex on a bluff overlooking the town of Prineville, Oregon, home to just over 9,000 souls, as well as to another data center owned and operated by social-networking megagiant Facebook. Portland's The Oregonian reports that the first phase of the project will cost $68m, …
I heard they were going to surround a huge iron core with magnets and then connect said core via a shaft to Steve Jobs coffin. Upon announcement of the iPad mini they are expecting the coffin + core assembly to spin at such a rate they will be able to sell the surplus power back to the grid.
How many people should it employ? Modern data centers are "lights out", with no one on the floor at all unless something goes wrong and needs to be attended to. Facebook, Google, and Amazon's datacenters are similarly staffed.
As for the servers, Apple doesn't make servers, so unless they custom build them ala Google and Facebook, they will have to buy them from someone.
This post has been deleted by its author
But you could take it a step further and quote Apple:
"Apple have invented a new, magical place, where our 'computers' work their wonderous things. This new concept is called 'data center' and is the first of its kind. And also the largest. We will now sue everyone else who had already created a data center for patent infringement. You see, ours specifies that the badge reader is on the LEFT side of the door..."