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Comment by df07 | Hacker News Reader

Stack Exchange's office is very similar. Starting to feel like Joel is the only one who still believes in private offices.

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.708933,-74.006578,3a,75y,203...

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http://i.imgur.com/Kk0jP5o.jpg

Pretty interesting people working there, I see.

See, that's the kind of thing you need a shared space for. Who's going to notice your horse head in a private office??

Indeed: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.708501,-74.006614,3a,75y,190...

Are those... cells?

I think that's just what they call "business casual"?

See also http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-06/lets-all-ju... (though it looks like the chap there forgot the unicorn head)

Windows to open spaces in my back? No thanks...

I'd assume that if that made you paranoid like it would me, you could mostly cover them up, or the parts that let other people view you.

Added: Max_Horstmann's put them at your left or right approach also works for me.

You can move the desk around. My "window" is on my left.

Don't you feel like in a terrarium?

Yes.

JK. It's by far the best office I've ever had.

The transparency of the window is a weakness. Some folks have started putting up posters and curtains.

But the real issue is that they transmit basically all the sound. Fortunately there usually aren't conversations going on just outside people's offices, but if two people are talking while walking down the hall or the person in the next office is yelling at folks on hangout, it's not much quieter than a cubicle.

Oh crap! "Private" offices with glass doors, yeah. So that you never immediately see who enters your office because the door is behind you and you have to turn around. Also with monitors visible to everyone who passes by. This is way worse than any open plan office.

THAT is a gorgeous workspace. I'm envious..

The 37signals offices have lots of private (and semi-private) spaces https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYMokpfL86Q

Can they not afford carpet.

Why would you want a carpet that is hard to clean and looks ugly in most cases?

Carpet both absorbs ambient noise and muffles the sound of people walking. It's also more comfortable to walk and stand on: http://www.livestrong.com/article/351733-tips-on-standing-wa....

Polished concrete is beautiful and striking, of course, and at some point software development became a creative profession rather than an engineering one, and we stopped mocking people who put form over function.

I was thinking it looked half finished with concrete floors :)

Raw industrial loft space is fashionable in NYC creative fields, and tech in imitation thereof.

Those look like great offices!

I must be in the wrong job haha

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