Rumors were floating around two years ago until Apple confirmed in 2009 it was building a data center in Maiden, North Carolina. The only images and videos of the 500,000 square-foot behemoth were from news agencies and helicopter footage. Late last year Google Earth still showed a farm while video footage on YouTube was showing a giant white building. It wasn’t until yesterday’s iCloud pre-announcement that satellite imagery includes the new building with the employee parking lot.

Fortune’s Philip Elmer-Dewitt wants to know, “How was Apple able to keep Google (GOOG) from displaying this particular swath of satellite imagery — imagery provided by the USDA Farm Services Agency? That’s still a mystery.”


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[via: Mashable!]