

Why We Don't Need Offices - henrik_w
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2013/10/01/8-indisputable-reasons-for-why-we-dont-need-offices/

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waterlion
Good for you. I'd rather be in my office. I like delineating working space
from fun space. I've worked a day a week from home for a few years. Every time
I think it'll be a Good Thing and every time I regret it. And that doesn't
lead to particularly good productivity.

I have a desk job. I spend a lot of time sitting. Who's going to shell out for
a nice desk + chair? Who's going to pay for my internet connection? Heating
costs?

Lots of problems can be solved by walking over to a colleague. More problems
than I can think of are caused by remote working, including code quality.

You probably have the opposite point of view. Everyone's different. For lots
of people an office is more suitable. For lots of people home is suitable. For
lots of people a mixture. We do need offices.

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henrik_w
I submitted the link, but I don't agree with the article (but the great thing
about HN is the discussions). I think face-to-face time in software
development is essential. Virtually every day I discus different aspects of a
problem or a design with colleagues (often using a whiteboard), and it is
quite striking how often I come away with a better solution and a better
understanding of the problem. I've used video conferencing in the past, and I
doesn't come close to being in the same room. I touched on this subject in one
of my blog posts "Programmer Productivity – Interruptions, Meetings and
Working Remotely" [http://henrikwarne.com/2013/04/02/programmer-productivity-
in...](http://henrikwarne.com/2013/04/02/programmer-productivity-
interruptions-meetings-and-working-remotely/)

~~~
waterlion
I didn't mean you personally! I meant the author of the article. And 'you' at
the end referred to anyone reading. Not particularly clear, sorry.

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AndrewDucker
I can work from home.

It is vastly less effective than being able to rotate my monitor towards a
team member and say "What do you think of this?" and get an instant answer.

Shared spaces lower friction, and this is incredibly useful when working
closely.

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lotsofcows
forbes.com == full page advert == close the page

I really need to get into the habit of checking the URL before clicking on
articles.

~~~
icecreampain
May I recommend the same link but via unvis.it?

[http://unvis.it/www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2013/10/01/...](http://unvis.it/www.forbes.com/sites/jacobmorgan/2013/10/01/8-indisputable-
reasons-for-why-we-dont-need-offices/)

~~~
lotsofcows
Nice, now I just need a scriptlet to do that automatically...

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od2m
Bullshit. The "We don't need offices" cheerleaders are always upper management
--WHO HAVE OFFICES.

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mvkel
As a person who has worked in an open office environment for the past five
years, our next office will not be open.

There's nothing more frustrating to a developer than hearing four sales calls
happening simultaneously.

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vampirechicken
If I had an office, with floor to ceiling walls, and a door that closed and
even locked, I would like it very much.

