I understand the analogy, but anyone outside tech that reads an argument like that, especially if they've ever BEEN to an actual prison (even as a visitor), will have an extremely hard time hearing anything else about your argument.
Here's another one. A prison is a state of mind. I find the cute circus campuses offensive and distasteful. Stuck in one day in and day out, I would crave freedom.
And here's one for you. People who work for Google are there by choice. They couldn't be happier to be working with a bunch of like-minded, innovative people. Surprise!
Yeah, right, prisoners. SF is the sole oasis of civilization on the SF Peninsula, surrounded by 35 miles of desert plains that happen to be covered with offices and restaurants, a couple airports, and public transportation.
Contrasting your typical office-park space, in which if you plan on eating off-campus you'll almost certainly have to drive someplace (typically several miles, often in choking noontime traffic), a city office space often offers a highly diverse environment within easy walking distance -- a few blocks.
To say nothing of the vastly greater transit service (though this is often overwhelmed and/or unreliable), and option to commute by other means (often bicycles).
No I haven't. I meant more in that it seems very isolated, so it's made into a sort of self-sufficient bubble. Plus if you're going by bus you're pretty much stuck there. Having gone to a school in a similar situation ( way off city center, so in a bubble), I saw how the social environment ends up becoming very "lord of the flies"-y.
So in this way a very remote campus IS a prison - you have no practical choice but to exist in that ecosystem.