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Just Wear Headphones

mattblodgett.com

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Re: Just Wear Headphones

#151

Post by lukev »

Symbiote wrote: post #134
MetaCosm wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Focus on noise isolation. Using ER-4P ( https://www.etymotic.com/consumer/earphones/er4.html ) with triple-flange tips is about the best you can get. Better even than $1000+ customs (exception made for Noble silicon customs).

Is it healthy to wear these every day? I have some Etymotic earplugs, which I use at nightclubs, gigs and concerts, but from the way they feel I don't think it would be good for my ears to use them daily.

Assuming you aren't actually pushing them in far enough to press against your eardrums, you're fine.

The physical feeling you get is just pressure on your outer ear canal - it might be uncomfortable (though it shouldn't be, try a different size plug) but it won't lead to hearing loss.

The kind of hearing loss that article is talking about is only caused by exposure to loud noise, and you're only going to be better off wearing earplugs for that.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#152

Post by frostmatthew »

acconrad wrote: post #7

Now to be fair I am in favor of giving employees isolated rooms to work in, however the reality is that at small startups they simply cannot afford that kind of office space. If you're concerned about noise and also the loudness of music playing in headphones, you can always get what construction workers use to block out noise: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Howard-Leight-Thunder-T3-Noise-Bl... They look pretty intense b…

> the reality is that at small startups they simply cannot afford that kind of office space

It's funny startups would feel that way yet also believe they must be located in/around San Francisco. If cost was really that big of a concern maybe they should choose to setup shop in a more affordable city (they'd also save money on salaries).

But even in San Francisco the additional costs wouldn't be that much. There was a blog post[1] last year that did the math and companies save about 10% with an open office - the hit to productivity caused by an open office environment is most likely costing them more.

[1] http://nathanmarz.com/blog/the-inexplicable-rise-of-open-flo...

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#153

Post by metafunctor »

wcunning wrote: post #148

As several commentors have mentioned, in ear monitor (IEM) type headphones have pretty good sound isolation properties. It's important to note that active noise cancelling (ANC) headphones increase the total sound pressure on your ear drums, while IEMs decrease it, overall. With ANC headphones, you have the environmental sound pressure added to the cancellation signal (which cancels according to perception, not accor…

Do you have a reference for ANC headphones being more likely to cause hearing loss compared to regular headphones? I find it hard to believe (but would love to stand corrected).

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#154

Post by rdl »

How would you even get "offices for everyone" as a 10 to 200 person growing startup these days (in SF or Seattle)? An open-plan space and then TI to build out offices? Find some 1940s non-tech building and rent there in multiple floors?

"Office with a door" would be worth $20-30k/yr in salary and $50-100k/yr in productivity to me as an employee/user, but on the supply side, it would be challenging to provide.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#155

Post by xorcist »

freditup wrote: post #74
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uh, seriously? Right now we have a huge public health issue with young people and hearing loss. It isn't some scam. Turns out the ipod/iphone revolution came with some external costs. http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/one-billion-young... "If a person takes a subway to go from one place to the other for half an hour in the morning and a half an hour in the evening, and every day has to turn up the volume on…

Would noise-cancelling headphones help address this? I imagine you can listen to music at a safer level if background noise is eliminated.

There is a sound to active noise cancellation systems. Not really white noise, but a sort of faint, high-pitched noise.

It's not audible in airplane or other loud environemnts, but I never understood how you can work with that in your ears. Apparently some people doesn't find it irritating. But make sure to try someone else's before you spend hundreds on dollars on one for the office.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#156

Post by mcguire »

mikeryan wrote: post #130
jdavis703 wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wouldn't micro offices block out natural light? I know many developers thrive in the dark, but I can not work without sunlight for long. Even with vitamin D supplements I start feeling lethargic and mentally down, which has major performance implications for both how I interact with coworkers, my creativity and how much I can get done. Surely I'm not the only person who experiences this?

So the co-working Space Wework uses glass dividers for their offices to allow for interior offices with natural light Didn't find great pics but here's a GIS https://www.google.com/search?q=We+Work+Offices&espv=2&biw=1...

Mmm, fishbowls.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#157

Post by odonnellryan »

rdl wrote: post #154

How would you even get "offices for everyone" as a 10 to 200 person growing startup these days (in SF or Seattle)? An open-plan space and then TI to build out offices? Find some 1940s non-tech building and rent there in multiple floors? "Office with a door" would be worth $20-30k/yr in salary and $50-100k/yr in productivity to me as an employee/user, but on the supply side, it would be challenging to provide.

There are a lot of options:

1) Put your office in a lower income area (maybe not completely desirable, but not everyone has to be in the heart of NYC or SF)

2) Let some or all employees work from home. Especially the loud ones! I don't mean specific people, of course, but some jobs are just loud: customer support, sales, operators, etc.. usually the loud jobs are awesome at-home jobs, as well! Customer support is almost always remote support anyway.

3) Restructure. Many of these companies that can't put everyone in an office have huge or multiple offices for their executive staff. I knew a company where one of the co-owner's offices was as big as the tech room which had 12 desks! The conference room was twice as big as this, and barely used!

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#158

Post by tacone »

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #54
kazinator wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Get a second opinion. Maybe they are trying to sell you on expensive hearing aids. It's also possible you didn't ever have great hearing. (Do you have any "before" audiogram to compare against, from when you were a child?)

Uh, seriously? Right now we have a huge public health issue with young people and hearing loss. It isn't some scam. Turns out the ipod/iphone revolution came with some external costs. http://learningenglish.voanews.com/content/one-billion-young... "If a person takes a subway to go from one place to the other for half an hour in the morning and a half an hour in the evening, and every day has to turn up the volume on…

Yes, seriously. It could be many things, for instance he may be allergic to something. The possible causes are many.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#159

Post by thisone »

rdl wrote: post #154

How would you even get "offices for everyone" as a 10 to 200 person growing startup these days (in SF or Seattle)? An open-plan space and then TI to build out offices? Find some 1940s non-tech building and rent there in multiple floors? "Office with a door" would be worth $20-30k/yr in salary and $50-100k/yr in productivity to me as an employee/user, but on the supply side, it would be challenging to provide.

cubicles, or desk farms with partitions that are just taller than your monitor.

Re: Just Wear Headphones

#160

Post by chrisbennet »

s73v3r wrote: post #150
chrisbennet wrote: post #60

I'm not sure that employers that have open plan offices are actually "clueless". It apparently works well enough that they don't mind the productively hit. I think it is easier for developers to believe that their employers are clueless than to believe the truth - that they've weighed that costs and decided that disrespecting developers is worth the cost savings. The open plan office sends the message: "To us, you're…

So you're saying it's even worse than them being clueless?

Yes.
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