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The Quiet Ones

nytimes.com

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Re: The Quiet Ones

#21

Post by rolleiflex »

pud wrote: post #14

Off topic, but I think that's the most beautiful illustration I've ever seen accompanying an article. And the animation - just wonderful. (I've visiting from my laptop. Assuming mobile version probably doesn't look the same.)

I concur. It's both beautiful and understated—I appreciate the visual acuity, but I am more impressed with the fact that NYT, of all, is finally growing past the era of crying "we're interactive!!!" out loud and starting to make good, subtle and tasteful use of unique properties of the Web. This is elegant.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#22

Post by wam »

I used to love the quiet car. I appreciated the serenity and the opportunity to listen to just the noise of the train. But the hostile shushing (2-3 times near me per trip, usually) started to bother me more than the transgressions. I began to worry constantly, checking and re-checking to make sure I had my phone on silent mode. Now I sit one car back and relax. The quiet car is good for people who can deal with it, and that's fine with me.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#23

Post by redwood »

cletus wrote: post #13

I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. Seriously, it's distracting/disruptive. I learnt to type on (manual) typewriter too but laptops and keys don't need to be stabbed with the force of a thousand suns to register the press. It can be just as loud as people talking and (IMHO) can be harder to tune out. After all, we're used to hearing people talk all the time. Oh and while I'm in the mood for…

As a loud typer, I appreciate the reminder that my typing can be annoying to people. I don't know what it is exactly, but I can't seem to get quiet. I've never even used a typewriter! I think it's because I don't type with the traditional method since I self-learned before I could be taught... My method uses fewer fingers which may force them to move faster and thus hit harder, on average.

I'm sorry, from those of us who type loud, to all of you.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#24

Post by cyanbane »

ghshephard wrote: post #2

I suspect the author will be unhappy to hear that the key message I took away from his nice little story (with David Foster Wallace quotes, no less) - was that he was identifying himself as the jerk who loudly whacks away at his keyboard, annoying the crap out of people around him. When I'm near those people in a public space, I always wonder if they are having some kind of mental-breakdown, or whether they are passi…

> Ironic, in that what he was trying to communicate was some concepts regarding recognizing the moral reality of those around him, when, in fact, he was one of those clueless types who likely hadn't considered the possibility that his whacking-away at his keyboard was really annoying others.

I think that was his point.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#25

Post by eshvk »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #18
eshvk wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let me try to answer the question seriously: I have worked in coffee shops with ambient noise which I have been able to tune out. I believe that the experiment is subtly different that what I had proposed because it is looking at a different dimension of noise. The problem with noise at work is that it gets harder to tune it out especially when some of that noise might be relevant. This means that you get more distra…

I can filter out 99% of the noise at a coffee shop, because I can be certain it doesn't apply to me. I can filter out 50% of the noise at work, because it probably doesn't apply to me. I can filter out 10% of the noise at home, because if my wife is talking or our cats are meowing, it's almost certainly directed at me.

> I can filter out 10% of the noise at home, because if my wife is talking or our cats are meowing, it's almost certainly directed at me.

IMO the only advantage of working from home is that you can control all those free variables that make you distracted: E.g. Get a quiet study where you tell your wife, cat(s) etc that you cannot/will not be distracted during work hours. Doing that at work can be tried but depending on the work place, may not be kosher.

I personally prefer working in the library. I have been most productive doing that back in school and sorely miss it.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#26

Post by city41 »

cglace wrote: post #17
cletus wrote: post #13

I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. Seriously, it's distracting/disruptive. I learnt to type on (manual) typewriter too but laptops and keys don't need to be stabbed with the force of a thousand suns to register the press. It can be just as loud as people talking and (IMHO) can be harder to tune out. After all, we're used to hearing people talk all the time. Oh and while I'm in the mood for…

I sit by 3-4 loud typers at work and it regularly makes me lose focus for 10-20 minutes at a time and that is with my headphones on.

It's one reason I'm a big fan of the current gen Apple keyboard, it's very quiet. Keyboards from PC manufacturers tend to be loud.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#27

Post by jhandl »

cletus wrote: post #13

I sympathize with whoever criticized the guy for loud typing. Seriously, it's distracting/disruptive. I learnt to type on (manual) typewriter too but laptops and keys don't need to be stabbed with the force of a thousand suns to register the press. It can be just as loud as people talking and (IMHO) can be harder to tune out. After all, we're used to hearing people talk all the time. Oh and while I'm in the mood for…

I'm with you. But my Bose headphones cancel best the kind of sound that is easily ignored. Typing and talking go right through and even become more prominent against the quieter background. I found that full isolation can only be achieved by playing some music, which is better but still not ideal.

Anyone starting a Kickstart project for a better system can have my money.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#28

Post by [deleted] »

bigtones wrote: post #20
pud wrote: post #14

Off topic, but I think that's the most beautiful illustration I've ever seen accompanying an article. And the animation - just wonderful. (I've visiting from my laptop. Assuming mobile version probably doesn't look the same.)

I agree, I've been reading NYT online for years and never seen an animated gif illustration before. I quite like it.

[deleted]

Re: The Quiet Ones

#29

Post by peteforde »

majormajor wrote: post #8

I guess I'm one of the people who ruin it for everyone else. I'm ADD as all get out when it comes to something I'm not really into, but when I'm lasered in on something interesting, it would pretty much take a fire drill to break me out of that. I even prefer a background din in that situation over dead silence—so I've never been bothered by, or spoken out against, any of the trends away from silence. I love open-pla…

I would happily re-mortgage my house to afford surgery which would leave me with a brain that works as you describe.

Re: The Quiet Ones

#30

Post by Fargren »

I think this being loud is particularly ingrained on the US culture. I have to say, tourists from the US are notably loud on Argentina. We have a large amount of tourists on Buenos Aires, but it's always the US accent you can hear all the way across a crowded train wagon or room. I can't imagine why that is.
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