Sunnyvale, California

By Jenna Marvet

Amazon Prime Now

This unassuming building is a fulfillment center for Amazon Prime Now, a service which delivers select items in one or two hours directly to your door. Prime members can order from the Amazon Prime Now app, placing an order with the fulfillment center. At the center, employees stock items using a system of “organized chaos,” and then an algorithm tells employees packing the order how to most efficiently pick up the items. These services can benefit folks with disabilities, however, the pandemic has clogged up the system, limiting the availability of such services for those who need it most.

Chargepoint Charging Station

Chargepoint has a network of public electric vehicle charging stations with many located in Sunnyvale and the surrounding area. Users can sign up for Chargepoint and download the app to find available spots, prices and charging speeds as well as pay for their charge. Chargepoint uses cloud-based software to run its charging stations. I find electric vehicle charging interesting, because it makes me wonder how environmentally burdensome it really is. I also wonder if users are required to utilize the app, and if Chargepoint accesses and sells user location data.

Joshua Hendy Iron Works

Hendy Iron Works is located right in Sunnyvale and represents a storied past of technological developments. It is most known for contributing to shipbuilding technologies in World War II, but prior, Ironworks was known for its mining innovations. Iron Works was sold after the war, and then again in 1996 to Northrop Grumman Marine Systems, which is also located in Sunnyvale today. This spot is particularly interesting because it shows a technological history of Silicon Valley beyond microchips and telecommunications. It also happens to be the namesake of my apartment building!

Moffett Federal Airfield

This land was originally sold to the U.S. Navy by Sunnyvale in 1930. Through the years, control of the airfield changed, and after the Cold War, it became the NASA Ames Research Center. In 2014, NASA announced it would lease 1,000 acres of the air field to Google for 60 years. It is also frequently utilized by the California Air National Guard, whose planes I often hear flying by. This site is incredibly interesting because, while it represents past technological achievements of the military, it also represents the future of a big technology company.