Comment by washadjeffmad | Hacker News Reader

Comment by washadjeffmad | Hacker News Reader

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The startup dude with the Embody and topped out M1 Max with four roommates mates is such a meme today, though.

That's because it's incomplete.

A $5k screen is not so much a tool of the trade as an accessory for someone signalling themself to be valuable or valued. More commonly, coming to own these things is the result of little professional envy.

Our software engineers spend all day developing. They sit in $2-300 chairs and work on their preferred displays (last gen dual Apple TB displays for the Mac guys, dual anythings for the Windows, 1440p ultrawides for the java team).

You know who the only person in our org with an XDR is? The CIO with a MacBook Air, for writing emails and teleconferencing. They got theirs because another C-level made a big deal about how they couldn't work without their dual 5K UltraFines, also for sending emails and teleconferencing.

None of our enployees who could make use of an XDR display owns one because they either own a more industry-capable professional display (Flanders Scientific, Dolby, Sony pro series) or got an iMac Pro when they existed for under $5k.

I don't fault anyone who admires the XDR any more than I fault myself for liking any of the niche luxury items I do, but I wouldn't delude myself for even a moment into believing that an $8k watch is an essential investment because time management is an important skill to have.

I hope you understand you’re very alone In a crowd of sane people if you want to say that your engineers are happy in a $300 chair. A steel case or Herman miller is tablestakes for a decent software shop and if you’re too ignorant or miserly to see it then it’s probably not a great place to work at. A good chair makes a huge difference for ones quality of life. Please don’t skimp on it.

I'm not saying Herman Millers are a scam, I'm saying that we purchase chairs for close to 20k employees, and great chairs do exist for $2-300.

And I get it, I buy for quality, too. But no one is passing up offers over the faux pas of being presented with an inferior chair.

I tend to find that the essentials in a chair are the mesh back, the rest is just extra features.

And yeah good mesh back chairs come in at about $300 wholesale.

I find often that the ones available retail are not as good as the ones my big-ass corporation buys though, because furniture has a huge retail markup.

I have an Aeron, Embody, and Gesture. Yet, some of the $300-$400 mesh chairs at Staples feel better. Downside is I’ve never had one of those chairs last longer than 2-3 years before the mesh loosened up more than I’d like, but while they are good they are the best I’ve tried.

I use a Pro Display XDR with my MacBook Air because of people like you who write long posts about how dumb it is.

I do the same because I wanted the best productivity experience out there and have tried just about any monitor anyone could name before landing on this...

but I might start claiming this too.

Thanks, Apple pays me a commission every time someone uses that arrangement.

I never get a check, though, because they bet me back that they could slap a logo on a towelette and sell it for $20. Uncanny how evenly it cancels out.

You showed him!

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