
The Curse of the Modern Office - imwally
http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2016/11/the-curse-of-the-modern-office.html
======
rudenoise
It's hard to respond to this piece. It makes some very clear observations that
seem hard to counter.

I've collected two other posts that seem to overlap [http://rudenoise.uk/low-
tech-minimal-computing.html](http://rudenoise.uk/low-tech-minimal-
computing.html)

Covering: Why the Office Needs a Typewriter Revolution
[http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2016/11/why-the-office-
needs-...](http://www.lowtechmagazine.com/2016/11/why-the-office-needs-a-
typewriter-revolution.html)

The Analog Spaces in Digital Companies
[http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-analog-
spaces...](http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-analog-spaces-in-
digital-companies)

For all the work that gets done in offices there's a corresponding lack of
self-awareness related to the impact that it has. As an Information Worker it
seems to me that there isn't nearly enough diversity in approach.

~~~
Tharkun
The Typewriter Revolution article is a real beauty. It covers a nice history
lesson as well as making some good points.

One thing I take offense to is this statement:

> Opening multiple windows on a computer screen doesn't work for back-and-
> forth cross-referencing of other material during authoring work, both
> because of slow visual navigation and because of the limited space on the
> computer screen.

That's a problem that's easily solved with a half decent window manager.

~~~
BugsBunnySan
Focus-Follows-Mouse for the win :)

Which is even available on the crippled window manager that Windows has...

~~~
thescriptkiddie
But not on OSX! Yes, really. No, not even with 3rd party software.

~~~
noelwelsh
Here you go:
[https://github.com/koekeishiya/kwm](https://github.com/koekeishiya/kwm)

~~~
thescriptkiddie
Unfortunately kwm cannot do real focus-follows-mouse, it can only raise
windows to the top. That works okay if you're using tiling mode exclusively,
but with floating windows it's unusable.

[https://github.com/koekeishiya/kwm/issues/476](https://github.com/koekeishiya/kwm/issues/476)

------
pesenti
I live near downtown New York with a beautiful view of the financial district.
Most of the towers stay fully illuminated throughout the night every night.
Some turn off some floor at times but a majority do not (e.g all floors of the
Goldman Sachs building stay constantly brightly illuminated). It always
puzzles me, I can't help thinking that it's an obvious energy waste.

~~~
clydethefrog
They're just one big advertisement nowadays

Money handlers, that's what these enormous buildings were for. And at this
point in time with our use of a fiat currency, money is just a digital
construct. So what is the need for having a physical space to house all of
these people booting up their computers and networking and playing around with
these numbers in a virtual environment? Perhaps at one time when computers
were not a thing it would be necessary to collect those types into a
consolidated area for the purpose of communication and organization, but we
are no longer at the mercy of physical proximity being necessary for that. We
continue to utilize these structures and maintain this method of worker
placement and organization past their relevance, for seemingly no other reason
than perpetuating an archetype of the "business building". Why else would
there be a need to have these monuments to the conquerors of finance?

Goldman Sachs maintains them as monuments so that we continue to look upon
them as monuments, and the institutions they represent as being deserving of
such reverence. They never turn off the lights because they can, not because
they need to.

~~~
unixhero
This reminds me of an idiom I particular liked by Ralph Waldo Emmerson from
Self Reliance

"You see great works — statues, buildings, machines, books, and you feel
belittled by them, put in your place, puny, unworthy. But you're looking at it
all wrong. Their greatness awaits your judgment. Emerson wrote, "The picture
waits for my verdict; it is not to command me, but I am to settled its claims
to praise."

------
decasteve
"There is something patently insane about all the typewriters sleeping with
all the beautiful plumbing in the beautiful office buildings — and all the
people sleeping in the slums." \-- Buckminster Fuller

~~~
nine_k
This is because typewriters are so much less messy. They require nothing but
some space on a desk. People,big only For sleeping, need some privacy.

~~~
rublev
I find this type of reply so pointless. You know what he meant. The beauty is
in the juxtaposition.

------
comicjk
> For one thing, supporters of the sustainable information society ignore the
> fact that we have moved most of our manufacturing industries (and our waste)
> to low wage countries.

This is a common myth about the US economy, probably spread because it's
useful to both the right and the left. In fact, the US manufacturing sector
produces $6.2 trillion/year, exports $1.1 trillion, and imports $1.9 trillion.
So about 11% of our net manufacturing "footprint" is overseas.

------
Animats
Why haven't we hit "peak office workers" yet? The US hit peak factory workers
in 1979. We have all this information technology and yet we still have all
these people in offices.

~~~
draw_down
The article goes into some detail as to why this may not result in an
improvement in sustainability.

------
mrfusion
I always figured large buildings would be way cheaper to heat because of the
square cube law.

I wonder why it says they're more energy instensive?

~~~
analog31
Perhaps more expensive to cool? I wonder if large office buildings have to be
cooled year round.

~~~
abcanthur
Yes, typically large buildings are cooled year round, especially when they are
cubic (not sure how this effects tall, skinny skyscrapers). Usually when you
see "smoke" coming from the top of a building in the dead of winter, that's
from the cooling units. Much heat does come electronics, lighting, humans, but
there are still heating units to have precision control as temperature will
not necessarily distribute evenly.

There are, as one might guess, a lot of factors at play and no universal
solutions. Certainly the pure form office buildings of the International Style
are almost completely naïve to these considerations.

The biggest tragedy is the air controlled paradigm of hvac. Air is so not
dense relative to water! Doesn't hold energy and very hard to push around
(push a column of air up 20, 50, 100 stories? Not happening). This is directly
related to the early success of the Carrier ac company.

