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Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

hipstersound.com

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Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#21

Post by archon »

hbosch wrote: post #12

This looks cool. Also, because I'm interested: I wonder why your average HN comment section seems to generally enjoy or recommend ambient café noise, and yet "open offices" tend to be thought of so poorly. Is it that the café ambiance usually does not carry a sense of work-related stress? Does working outside of your office make ambient noise more tolerable?

> Does working outside of your office make ambient noise more tolerable?

Ambient noise in a cafe is different than ambient noise in an office, in my experience. Obviously this is going to be different in each office and cafe, but I'll try to compare/contrast them.

In a cafe:

* (Con) The conversations of my closest neighbors, clearly-audible.

* (Pro) Muted conversations of everyone in the building

* (Pro, sometimes con) The espresso machine(s)

* (Pro) Weather sounds (rain, wind)

* (Con) Road noise

In an open office:

* (Con) Office air conditioner noise

* (Con) Typing and mouse clicks

* (Con) Every conversation in the space is clearly-audible.

* (Con) Doors opening and closing

* (Con) The annoying beep our badge entry/exit system makes

* (Con) Phone conversations

Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#24

Post by rayiner »

hbosch wrote: post #12

This looks cool. Also, because I'm interested: I wonder why your average HN comment section seems to generally enjoy or recommend ambient café noise, and yet "open offices" tend to be thought of so poorly. Is it that the café ambiance usually does not carry a sense of work-related stress? Does working outside of your office make ambient noise more tolerable?

Same reason you can tune out the murmurings of a crowd but perk up when you hear your name. At work, keywords that might be meaningful to you constantly pull at your foreground attention instead of receding into the background.

Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#25

Post by revscat »

axx wrote: post #8

I think there is a deeper Problem with our attention span and concentration ability when people need this type of "noise". If people feel the need to hear "café noise", maybe it's just a sign of loneliness? And if you need white/pink/whatever-noise, maybe your office should integrate some noise policies or try to reduce noise by giving offices to small teams of people. I get that people use those audio streams and so…

> If people feel the need to hear "café noise", maybe it's just a sign of loneliness?

Yes. It is somehow at times comforting to hear humans speaking, even if they are not choosing to speak to me.

Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#27

Post by johnchristopher »

thomasruns wrote: post #15
axx wrote: post #8

I think there is a deeper Problem with our attention span and concentration ability when people need this type of "noise". If people feel the need to hear "café noise", maybe it's just a sign of loneliness? And if you need white/pink/whatever-noise, maybe your office should integrate some noise policies or try to reduce noise by giving offices to small teams of people. I get that people use those audio streams and so…

I think people are all different and what helps one person focus may not work for someone else. I focus better at a coffee shop and/or with music playing. It has nothing to do with loneliness, it's just what makes me more productive. If sitting quietly at home works better for you, do that.

I am pretty sure the conclusion of the study posted on HN some weeks ago which concludes that music as a boost method for working is subjective and wrong could apply to café ambiance.

Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#28

Post by Udo »

Untit1ed wrote: post #4

Love the idea of having unintelligible ambience in different languages. I'm a little amused by the fact that no one seems to be talking in in the Berlin one. Makes me imagine stereotypical Germans staring straight ahead drinking their coffee as efficiently as possible.

They are talking, just not very loudly. It depends a bit on the venue, but generally in Germany it's considered polite to keep your voice down in public places so as not to disturb the other guests. Plus, many German people like to keep their discussions private (maybe it's a hold-over from the dictatorship).

Re: Hipster Sound – Coffee shop booster

#29

Post by dman »

stevoski wrote: post #7

For programming (or other work that involves intense logical thinking), nothing beats silence for my productivity. Complete silence is, unfortunately, unachievable. But music of any genre, the buzz of people talking, a droning TV - all seem to interfere with my ability to concentrate on a hard problem.

Same here, wish offices were built with attention to varying needs of silence levels by different employees.
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