[OT] Extra time spent

[Andrei Alexandrescu via Digitalmars-d]

On 6/9/14, 9:37 AM, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> On 6/8/2014 9:51 AM, Andrei Alexandrescu wrote:
>> On 6/8/14, 10:46 AM, SomeDude wrote:
>>>
>>> You want in ear isolating earphones. Basically earplugs that play music.
>>> Since the ambiant noise is greatly reduced, you don't need to play loud
>>> at all. Some brands isolate more or less well. Etymotics isolate very
>>> well.
>
> I'll never understand how people can use earbuds. They're so
> uncomfortable, walking around with stuff *inside* your ears. Awkward.
>
> I like the clip-style, they don't fall off, they let me still hear
> what's going on around me, and they don't feel like ear tampons.
>
> Only problem is it's impossible to find good clip-ons. *All* the Sony
> clip-ons have horrible sound quality and they're ugly to boot. The Koss
> ones are the *only* ones I've ever found that actually sound decent, but
> they invariably stop working within a few months, and warranty
> replacements take several weeks and cost $6-$9 each time.

I noticed that headphones are highly sensitive to personal preferences. 
Essentially it's worth shelling big bucks on some really fitting ones 
because the ill-fitting ones have negative value no matter how cheap. I 
shelled $350 on some TV wireless headphones (a pain to buy, too, they 
are Japanese and not to be found on regular US markets) because quite 
literally there was either that price or no TV headphones for me.

>> Yah. One well-known fact about Facebook is it has an open layout
>
> Ouch, and here I'd been starting to think facebook was a good programmer
> workplace ;(
>
> I've programmed in everything from open "warroom" to coffee shop to
> cubicle farm to private office, and I'm confident in stating there is
> *NO* environment more poorly suited to programming than open
> environments. I don't understand how anyone can *ever* get any code
> written or problems solved in such an environment, sound-blocking
> headphones or not. I'd take a cubicle-hell before doing the "open
> environment" thing again. Sounds like they're valuing architectural
> trendiness over practical, appropriate decision-making.
>
>> One less-known fact is it makes high quality
>> headphones (both in-ear (Klipsch) and over-the-ear (Sennheiser))
>> available to all employees for free. -- Andrei
>>
>
> Well, even high quality headphones are cheaper than proper offices.
> Offering them free seems like the least they could do.

This has been often discussed in various circles. My take on it is that 
in abstract I'd agree that open layout has killer disadvantages, but for 
some reason that's hard to put the finger on it really works for 
Facebook, whose engineers undeniably have huge sustained productivity. 
To deny that fact would be making the classical mistake of sticking with 
a nice theory instead of adjusting it to reality. So I could say 
Facebook did exercise "appropriate decision-making" if "appropriate" is 
defined as "what we tried and found works great".

It may be the way Facebook structures projects - small teams that 
communicate closely. The low barrier for asking questions really keeps 
anyone from staying blocked for a long time.


Andrei