121–130 of 151 posts
And do those desks have memory, so you can move it from one position (seating) to another (standing) consistently?
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Sitting for a very long time is bad for you. It causes increased chance of death, causes your back to hurt, makes you fatter, and lets your energy level go down after hours of doing it. It's not so much the "coding" part as the "sitting at a desk for 10+ hours a day" part that makes standing desks so attractive to programmers. http://pressroom.cancer.org/index.php?s=43&item=257 http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/article…
I know that sitting is bad for you, I just couldn't imagine people standing all day instead. TBH after running around at home after my toddler I enjoy going to work to sit on my butt, heh :)
One question to the writer, if you happen to be reading this: Why "AirTouch Adjustable sit/stand desk and non-moving side desk – $1738 from Steelcase" instead of Series 7 desks, which I think get mentioned elsewhere on your blog or Joel on Software? And do those desks have memory, so you can move it from one position (seating) to another (standing) consistently?
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Sometimes I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't like private offices. It just seems like a separation between myself and the rest of the team. I actually like open seating arrangements. When I need some serious concentration and can tolerate no distractions, a solid pair of noise-canceling headphones does the trick.
Personally I love them - we're a small company, only six of us in the office (a few others dotted around elsewhere), and private rooms are great. Most of the time we leave our doors open and can chat from the hall, or shout to each other - but even then, it's nice having a bit more personal space than if they were in the same room. We work in publishing and marketing though, so essentially we work on different things…
I have no idea how you'd build this cost effectively except illegally inside a huge open warehouse (2-3 story clear-span space).
How many dev shops still give everyone workstations? Our company is entirely on laptops and I don't know a single person here that wants a workstation.
That aside, there is another advantage of not using a laptop and that is that you cannot be asked to take work home with you ;).
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Joel doesn't believe in telecommuting. One way to ensure it stays that way is workstations. (And if you can't work from home, you do get more power for less money in a workstation)
Some corrections: (1) it doesn't matter what I believe in. We now have telecommuters at both Stack Exchange and Fog Creek and for the right individual, it's fine. (2) this doesn't follow. Do you really think we give people desktop computers simply to make it impossible for them to work from home? That's silly. Anyway, the telecommuters we do have almost exclusively use desktop computers. You know why? Because once yo…
Actually, I do. In my country, bosses are more than happy to pay more for laptops so that the workers can work anytime. I have respect for companies that implement out-at-five [1], and using desktop is a key element of that.
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I disagree. I've had jobs where I can't think because the building is too hot, even though the work was interesting, etc. Neither of these lines are binary either. I've been on projects which were kinda, but not really interesting, etc. Lastly, your health makes that a much bigger deal. Your back starts hurting, you want a solution, which may entail a job change.
too hot? I wouldv'e committed a small crime for heat. I came in to my office in July 2007 and it was 62f. It warmed up to about 66 after I ran some space heaters. (this was in the US, not the southern hemisphere!) :)
We haven't used the heating at home since May or so and probably won't until September/October.
Flight to Thailand: $2000
Rent a beach house: $3500
Rent a motorcycle: $674
eat, swim, snorkel ≈ $0
and work from a tropical paradise for 4 months. Keep your toys for the kids. I'll go get an oil massage.
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too hot? I wouldv'e committed a small crime for heat. I came in to my office in July 2007 and it was 62f. It warmed up to about 66 after I ran some space heaters. (this was in the US, not the southern hemisphere!) :)
Depends on what you are used to - 62F is 16.6C which seems like a nice warm summers day here (it is currently 13C and not very nice at at all). We haven't used the heating at home since May or so and probably won't until September/October.