Well... To respond to Ted's rant, the obvious difference between Google and those late-90's companies is that the latter burned through an enormous pile of VC cash without producing much profit. I agree with Ted that the fish-tank-pod-thingies seem a bit much, but...
Look at it this way - in 2007, Google generated a 4.2 billion $US profit with roughly 16,000 employees. In that same period, Wells Fargo generated just north of 8 billion $US profit with roughly 159,000 employees. And Wells Fargo is a pretty healthy company. So I'd say that those 16,000 employees at Google are some pretty valuable people, and if massage pods in front of fish tanks is what it takes to keep those people, then more power to 'em. Doing the math, I'm guessing that what they spent on that office space is less than the payroll for 65,000 Wells Fargo employees.
I feel the same way. It's no-headphones, no-soundcards for me as well. That's just the way I roll. A (video) tag would help me avoid topics I can't really contribute to.
The article makes a good point. While everybody enjoys being treated well, perhaps it's possible to overdo it?
I mean really, are slides and firemen poles a necessity? The answer is NO, unless ... you want your engineers to never leave.
No matter how you sugar coat it, work is still work. Having neat perks at work is nice but in my opinion it shouldn't turn into a kindergarten playground.
Look at it this way - in 2007, Google generated a 4.2 billion $US profit with roughly 16,000 employees. In that same period, Wells Fargo generated just north of 8 billion $US profit with roughly 159,000 employees. And Wells Fargo is a pretty healthy company. So I'd say that those 16,000 employees at Google are some pretty valuable people, and if massage pods in front of fish tanks is what it takes to keep those people, then more power to 'em. Doing the math, I'm guessing that what they spent on that office space is less than the payroll for 65,000 Wells Fargo employees.