Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

blog.fogcreek.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

31–40 of 151 posts

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#31

Post by zr52002 »

msluyter wrote: post #12

Personally, I hate Aeron chairs with a passion. Obviously, the overall point here is to keep developers happy, so I'd presume FogCreek allows developers to opt for different/better chairs. I just don't understand why these are considered the pinnacle of comfort. Is it just me? Am I the only person who finds everything about them to hideously uncomfortable, from the jabby knife in the back lumbar support to the circul…

Try the Herman Miller Mirra, it's a lower chair in their line but the back structure makes it far superior to the Aeron.

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#32

Post by wheels »

What I always find a little bit suspect about these posts – especially from FogCreek – is that it's really, "The Price of Dev Happiness As Long As You Define Happiness The Way Your Boss (Me) Does".

I prefer sitting cross-legged with a 13" laptop on a mat on the floor. I've had most of the things mentioned in the article and prefer my mat on the floor, thank you very much. But I'm just a random example.

More of what I'm getting at is that individual work preferences and your own brand of "happiness" goes beyond choosing your own keyboard. There's always something a bit smug and one-size-fits-all about the FogCreek posts about their work environment (which honestly sounds like it'd make me go absolutely bonkers).

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#35

Post by bho »

msluyter wrote: post #12

Personally, I hate Aeron chairs with a passion. Obviously, the overall point here is to keep developers happy, so I'd presume FogCreek allows developers to opt for different/better chairs. I just don't understand why these are considered the pinnacle of comfort. Is it just me? Am I the only person who finds everything about them to hideously uncomfortable, from the jabby knife in the back lumbar support to the circul…

I HATE these chairs too. However, someone recently told me that they come in different sizes, so maybe mine was just the wrong size for me. I've also heard that what seems comfortable might not be best for you too.

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#36

Post by synnik »

One size does not fit all.

I prefer a 99 dollar ergonomic chair, as sitting and standing both exacerbate my bad hips. I prefer 3 22" monitors at half the cost of a 30". I prefer total resolution available, not size of the monitor.

I just saved him $1500 bucks, and I'm happier than I would be if I was forced into their setup.

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#37

Post by pasbesoin »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #26
pasbesoin wrote: post #11

Waiting for the next post: Next: the real cost of private offices. You should include the cost of effective insulation/sound-proofing. (I've seen/heard it done reasonably well with expanding foam during wall construction.) P.S. Hey, folks, the original author, Rich Armstrong (richarmstrong), actually replied in a response this comment, but you killed it off -- it's dead, now. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28687…

> You should include the cost of effective insulation/sound-proofing. My cost was under $100: http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&q=sennheise...

I've tried active cancellation headphones, passive ear muffs (including $100+ extreme models), ear plugs, etc. They don't cut it, neither in terms of effectiveness, nor -- with the muffs -- in terms of comfort.

I also am in the same boat as chollida1, in that surrounding activity -- including visual -- distracts me.

I think the point of the original post, in part, is that the costs are incidental compared to the overall expense of the role. Don't nickle and dime your employees -- your coworkers. Treat them as professionals and give them the tools they need to get the job done. If you're afraid they are going to ask for things that are counter-productive, you're not doing your hiring correctly.

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#39

Post by SkyMarshal »

Jem wrote: post #2

I had no idea that some people like to code standing up; why is this? (Genuine curiosity, someone enlighten me please :))

When I worked at bigcorp, inc., I used to always prefer going down to the datacenter and working on my projects at one of terminals in the racks, standing of course. No cubicle distractions, no noise except the constant hum and the occasional greybeard shuffling by, standing kept the blood flowing better, and all of it helped me get into and stay in flow better.

Re: The Price of (Dev) Happiness: Part One

#40

Post by Goladus »

wheels wrote: post #32

What I always find a little bit suspect about these posts – especially from FogCreek – is that it's really, "The Price of Dev Happiness As Long As You Define Happiness The Way Your Boss (Me) Does". I prefer sitting cross-legged with a 13" laptop on a mat on the floor. I've had most of the things mentioned in the article and prefer my mat on the floor, thank you very much. But I'm just a random example. More of what I…

I generally agree, but it's a lot easier on the dev to have this default, $5,000 workstation package with components that you can decline than it is for the default to be scrounged up from whatever is lying around and you have to negotiate for extras.
Post reply on HN