The article links to a previous article on the local impact of the campus that is also interesting: https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/13/apple-park-new-campus-fost...
Edit: clarification
Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
71–80 of 177 posts
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#72Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in cubicles but the noise is also driving me crazy. There is always some conversation going on somewhere. In the office I am having more and more trouble holding on to a complex thought and in the evening I am totally exhausted. On the other hand working from home feels like paradise. It's quiet and I can look out the window when I need a break. Because of the office environment I am now looking for a new job,…
I know this may sound like a poor substitute to private corporate space, but I can't praise enough the combination of noise reducing earplugs and active noise cancelling over earphones. This combo plus somafm and a pomodoro timer app can instantly boost my productivity
> active noise cancelling over earphones
Some folks cannot wear those without discomfort or dizziness. I tried them out an fell into that category (I have some ear issues) which is damn annoying because my brother loves them for airplane rides.
Right now, I am in an office with my back to a window that looks out to insulation[1]. I'm pretty comfortable programming away.
1) they added a building expansion where my outside view was and we haven't gotten around to replacing the window with a shelf. I think I might add a moonscape, grain field, or some historical reservation appropriate image.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#73I have a really bad feeling about Apple and this building. Companies tend to have bad things happen when they build or move HQ anyway, and the fetishization of Apple Park is a level beyond. Even their product marketing is distracted by talking about how awesome the building is. How much time has been wasted in the company on the topic?
My thought exactly, nature of many organizations changed when they moved to new fancy offices. Being in crammed offices, sharing and collaborating with your colleagues makes things special.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#74Earlier quoted context omitted.
I work in cubicles but the noise is also driving me crazy. There is always some conversation going on somewhere. In the office I am having more and more trouble holding on to a complex thought and in the evening I am totally exhausted. On the other hand working from home feels like paradise. It's quiet and I can look out the window when I need a break. Because of the office environment I am now looking for a new job,…
I know this may sound like a poor substitute to private corporate space, but I can't praise enough the combination of noise reducing earplugs and active noise cancelling over earphones. This combo plus somafm and a pomodoro timer app can instantly boost my productivity
It's not just the noise. You as a human are wired to process movement around you. This takes mental energy.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#75Good. Apple is one of my favorite companies. I just absolutely love what they're doing and have done in terms of personal privacy. I'm really disheartened that they've moved to an open office layout. It's a surefire way to lose huge amounts of productivity from their engineers. Open office layouts are a travesty. They make literally no fucking sense. As engineers we're expected to maintain abstractions in our minds w…
first you're silly for loving a company.
second, S. Jobs always optimised the work force for throughout put and lower cost. see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Tech_Employee_Antitrust...
if expensive and entitled employees leave and cheap one remains, it's a win in their books. Just like the salary collusion crime helped them keep salaries down in place of not being able to hire the best way from their competitors.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#76Chicken farm
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#77If as an engineer your only Job is to write code based on perfectly written functional specs, then open offices may not be the best. However, In larger project communication and transparency is an as important part of the job. While many people are more comfortable alone, you are part of a team and not just a coder. I find it selfish for people to feel their alone time is more important than learning how to work as a…
Hm. Maybe I'm nuts but I have literally no idea what desiring a private and quiet space for concentration does to ruin a persons ability to work as a teammate. My coworkers love their noise canceling ear phones. That's great. What I'd love is to not hear their ratatat as they drum to their music. And I do not fault them for that, because I love to ratatat to my own music when I'm listening to it as well. A place to b…
Some examples: Wanting a private and quiet space means you won't be there to provide help for the new person who has spent all day fighting with their dev environment or trying to understand an area of code that you wrote. And if two people who sit near you are trying to solve a difficult problem that you've already solved, then you won't be able to overhear and chime in with your solution.
Focus is certainly important, and can help you be super-productive if you have a well-defined task and are already comfortable with the code you're working and your tools. But I think newer people at a company are in an opposite situation; they're overwhelmed with complexity and need collaboration and guidance to be productive, and they can level-up much faster by hearing the problems people are working on around them.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wearing earplugs for long periods of time is seriously uncomfortable, plus it doesn't do good things for your ears (it can cause wax plugs to build up). I'm only willing to wear them when I'm really desperate for sleep and I'm in a loud place, or to prevent hearing damage. Neither is an everyday occurrence.
On the other hand, you can get amazingly well fit ear buds for a hundred or so, and the stuff the doctor uses to irritate your ears costs like $8 over the counter.... My biggest gripe is I can't combine it with over the ear stuff for too long cus it presses my glasses against my head too hard.
Lasik is totally worth it btw.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#79Earlier quoted context omitted.
I know this may sound like a poor substitute to private corporate space, but I can't praise enough the combination of noise reducing earplugs and active noise cancelling over earphones. This combo plus somafm and a pomodoro timer app can instantly boost my productivity
Wearing earplugs for long periods of time is seriously uncomfortable, plus it doesn't do good things for your ears (it can cause wax plugs to build up). I'm only willing to wear them when I'm really desperate for sleep and I'm in a loud place, or to prevent hearing damage. Neither is an everyday occurrence.
Have you looked into custom fitted earplugs? They're expensive^, but they're so much more comfortable than the foam guys.
I got a pair of Etymotic musician's earplugs to wear to concerts last year--they have a flat 15dB reducing filter, so music still sounds good without damaging my hearing. I can swap out those filters for simple plugs, and it's done wonders for my focus at work.
^)$150 is a lot for earplugs, but if you wear them to work, it wouldn't take long to justify. If you wear them to concerts too, it's not bad at all.
Re: Apple Park employees revolt over having to work in open-plan offices
#80Steve Jobs is said to have poured in a lot of thought on how the architecture of the building is supporting work. Steve also had some architectural experience from Pixar. On the macro level the alignment of the architecture with the organization as it was explained always made sense to me. On the micro level changing from offices to open floor is a huge change. How was that supposed to preserve and foster the enginee…
For all the loving of open offices, I've never seen an exec that works in an open area themselves. I heard about one, but never saw it with my own eyes. This is in 30+ years of working.
Of course. What execs love about open spaces is the money it saves on office layout and walls.