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>You're stuck with a small keyboard and screen, and your posture probably isn't ergonomic

So, just like at home for most people.

>The horrible wifi

That's a bonus. Less of a chance to turn your work-day into a youtube-cats-marathon.

>fighting over power outlets

That just does not happen, not in the kind of environment the article describes, which is built for this sort of thing.



> So, just like at home for most people.

That's easily fixed at home by buying an external monitor and keyboard/mouse (not a big expense, especially when you're no longer paying for transportation and coffee).

> That's a bonus. Less of a chance to turn your work-day into a youtube-cats-marathon.

There are much better technical solutions for this than using horrible wifi. There are lots of software options out there for blocking distracting sites.

> That just does not happen, not in the kind of environment the article describes, which is built for this sort of thing.

I'm not talking about the environment this article describes. I'm talking about the standard coffee shops all across America that people are currently working out of.


>That's easily fixed at home by buying an external monitor and keyboard/mouse (not a big expense, especially when you're no longer paying for transportation and coffee).

Sure, but the take away is, a lot of people just don't care, so the cafe is not that different for them.

>There are much better technical solutions for this than using horrible wifi. There are lots of software options out there for blocking distracting sites.

But then you can disable the software itself. I've tried those stuff, from pomodoro to internet site killers. Nothing works like absolutely having crap or no internet. See also various posts about how plane trips are so productive for coding and such.

>I'm talking about the standard coffee shops all across America that people are currently working out of.

Well, doesn't happen that much in those either. You can either go to one that's less populated, or you can always bring a tine 2-socket plug-expander with you (don't know how they're called in english).


> Sure, but the take away is, a lot of people just don't care, so the cafe is not that different for them.

The same way people don't care about their diets, but it ends up causing them a lot of (actual) pain down the road. If you don't pay attention to ergonomics, you're going to suffer, that's for sure.

> But then you can disable the software itself.

You can also get up and leave the coffee shop.

> Well, doesn't happen that much in those either. You can either go to one that's less populated

...or you could just go home and save yourself the trouble.


>You can also get up and leave the coffee shop.

Has more friction. And why would you leave the coffee shop? These people LIKE to work in those.

>...or you could just go home and save yourself the trouble.

If you're the kind of person who is productive and/or enjoys being at home all day, yes.


While the plural of anecdote is not data most of the programmers I know have at least 1 large screen at home to connect their laptop to (and at least half have a set up like mine which is a fast desktop connected to three screens).

The "average" hardware profile does seems to vary across the type of programming done/age of the programmer and industry they are in (it would be an interesting survey).




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