
Bunk bed is $1,200 a month, privacy not included - theriddlr
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/07/05/success/podshare-co-living/index.html
======
keiferski
This reminds me of the coffin hotels in Neuromancer / one of the Gibson
cyberpunk novels, although the real-life version is decidedly less cool (and
probably more comfortable.)

In any case: if the cost was lower, I personally would find this somewhat
appealing. A private bed and storage space in lower Manhattan for say, $400 a
month, would actually be a decent deal. You'd have to be extremely minimalist,
but that would be a feature and not a bug for the right audience. Add a VR
system to each pod and you won't even notice the lack of space.

~~~
wgerard
> A private bed and storage space in lower Manhattan for say, $400 a month

It would likely be similarly priced to the article, i.e. closer to
$1200/month.

I think that's the real downside of things like this: They're offering a
pretty steep discount compared to what it would cost to, say, rent a studio in
lower manhattan, but not a steep enough discount that it would be affordable
for someone making minimum wage.

It seems like a poor alternative to just having roommates and living in Crown
Heights, is what I mean.

~~~
keiferski
Judging from the image in the article, the space isn't very well-designed.
Something like Japanese pod hotels are far more space efficient and would
probably let you fit 10 pods in the space of two bunkbeds.

~~~
wgerard
That would likely be illegal, for example in NYC an apartment must offer 80
feet of space for every tenant (so those 10 people would need to have a 800 sq
ft apartment).

Sure, easy to skirt around if you're just an individual landlord, much less so
if you're a company openly advertising it.

------
Humdeee
If this had a bit more satire to it, it could absolutely pass for a beaverton
article.

Privacy means a lot to me. Assuming it's not winter time, I'd honestly prefer
going home to my own tent in the forest over this.

~~~
smnrchrds
For the uninitiated, The Beaverton is a Canadian satire news site, similar to
The Onion in the US.

~~~
cik
Nah, it's totally different. It has beavers.

------
izzydata
The midwest looks better every day.

------
pnako
The concept is not exactly new; it's basically a hostel. Maybe it was less
common in North America until now?

~~~
pjc50
Not at this price, though. A symptom of housing and job market dysfunction; do
all the high-paying jobs _really_ need to be co-located in the same few
cities?

------
whywhywhywhy
There are literally prison cells in some parts of the world that are more
appealing than this...

~~~
asdfasgasdgasdg
There are? Where.

Also, it doesn't matter. You can't leave prison. That's the main problem with
it, not how poor or nice the finishes are.

~~~
Miner49er
Prisons at least allow visitors.

~~~
astura
Have you ever actually visited someone in prison? I have and I'd say meeting
up in a coffee shop is infinitely preferable. You can only go there during a
specific time. You have to go through a long screening process that might
involve taking off undergarments for inspection so you have to get there
early. You awkwardly sit in a room with the inmate at a table being constantly
watched. You only get a small amount of time with them. It's not really very
"social."

------
el_cujo
I could maybe see doing something like this if it was $300/month cheaper and
each pod had a retractable door, almost like those Japanese capsule hotels. I
get that in a space this small you aren't going to have much privacy, but to
not have any sort of divider to block in the bed space seems over the top.
Maybe the idea is that if people can close themselves off, they're more likely
to do something like play their music too loud or watch stuff on their
computer with the volume too high versus if there is no divider they'll be
more conscientious?

~~~
saalweachter
Fire code, I assume.

You put a door on it, now it's a room, a bedroom at that which requires two
exits in case of a fire.

Hang a curtain, it's just an overbuilt loft bed, furniture, invisible to the
fire inspector.

------
jermaustin1
I actually built a couple of "micro-cabin" prototypes that I was going to
place on some land I have in Colorado near a couple of trail heads.

They were basically solar powered bunk-beds. Each "room" was 48"h x 54"w x
96"l, had a 36" "porch" and would have a locking door that used 4G to reset
the code on check-in, a window, a mini heater, a foam mattress and a shelf. I
never made it past building the prototype in my garage, but I've always loved
the idea.

------
black6
I turned down an internship in Palo Alto because the least expensive temporary
(< 12 mo) housing I could find in the Bay area was a bunk in a "hacker shack"
for ~$1k/month. The mortgage on my 4/2 house in Mississippi was <$500/mo. The
person who offered me the job laughed when I told her about the wild
discrepancy in costs of living and said several potential interns and
employees over the years backed out for the same reasons.

~~~
keiferski
The salary should have made up for the difference in cost of living.

~~~
el_cujo
I guess they don't feel like they need to pay more if they have a big pool of
potential interns all willing to live in a hostel for $15k/year

------
Stubb
How much extra for access to the maggot-burger dispensers?

------
giorgioz
I lived 3 months in Hong Kong in a cubicle bedroom of www.appledorm.com 4
years ago it costed something like 450 USD per month.

------
duxup
I remember (I want to say it was Google) who had a hand in some apartments
where you at least got a bedroom.

I couldn't help but think that it's a system that encourages "young
workaholics without any outside life (especially no families) need apply"
kinda setup.

------
mjlee
I do wonder if you're allowed to at least install a curtain...

------
mosselman
Why is there no door on this? Wtf?

------
reaperducer
What once was old is new again.

The fad we call "co-living" today has been common for most of the nation's
history. You can even see examples of it in old movies, books, and TV shows.

But now that it's got SVVC money behind it, it's somehow shiny and new.

Although the "pod" angle seems new, it's not. Though, it was almost
exclusively for the very very poor in the past.

~~~
capdeck
> What once was old is new again.

Does this also mean it is a "step down"? Because it looks like it is. Aren't
we supposed to be better off than we used to - with all the efficiencies of
market economy and technological progress that is...

~~~
ScottFree
> Does this also mean it is a "step down"? Because it looks like it is.

Why is living with other human beings considered a "step down"? Most people in
this so called "modern" age are horribly lonely.

~~~
me_me_me
Its a step down because you are forced into it. 50 yrs ago you could decide to
do it, now its pretty much decided for you.

~~~
t0mbstone
But you aren't forced into it. Nobody is _forcing_ people to live in expensive
places like San Francisco. There are plenty of places in the USA where you can
rent a nice house or apartment for very cheap. It might not be the most
exciting or opportunity-filled area to live, though.

------
prpl
$1200/mo - bed, breakfast, and farts from the guy who loves garlic noodles and
craft beer.

------
overcast
cnn is an assault on your browser. The header bar bouncing up and down as it
chases your location, the video auto playing top right, the marketing overlay
asking for your email to send market insights, the cookie acceptance bs at the
bottom. All wrapped up nicely in 443 requests, and 19.1MB of data.

I CAN NOT STAND the web anymore.

~~~
Miner49er
Yeah, the web is unusable at this point without an ad blocker IMO.

With uBlock Origin on Firefox I don't have any of that and it's down to 5.29
MB.

~~~
a_wild_dandan
I can't test it at work, but I wonder what adding a Pi-hole winnows the bits
down to.

