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From: johnm@uts.amdahl.com (John Murray)
Newsgroups: comp.software-eng
Subject: Re: Office Survey Results
Message-ID: <613g02AH48U501@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>
Date: 8 Aug 89 19:18:01 GMT
References: <10440004@hp-lsd.HP.COM> <6474@pdn.paradyne.com> <17357@bellcore.bellcore.com>
Organization: Amdahl Corporation, Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 30

In article <17357@bellcore.bellcore.com>, duncan@dduck.ctt.bellcore.com (Scott Duncan) writes:
> Has anyone ever worked where the offices are glass from about midway up all
> around -- you see this in TV shows sometimes in police offices, etc.

I've worked in a building where most of the interior walls were
completely made of glass. Some people put shelves, etc. against
the glass, which had the same effect as those in TV police offices.
Sometimes, blinds or curtains on a office might be closed, but in
general you could see the outside from almost everywhere. It was
very pleasant, and offered both openness and privacy. I see little
need for "visual privacy" in an office, since most people I know
work in the nude fairly infrequently!

If you think of software engineering (and indeed much of hardware
engineering too) as a creative type of job, then it falls into the
same sort of category as design studios, graphics shops, etc. Look
at the type of buildings advertising agencies or recording studios
occupy. A common mistake many US companies seem to make is to
assume that computing industry technical people can be creative in
the same sort of environment as office clerks.

Of course, lack of awareness of the style of one's environment may be
more a of a general, nationwide attribute anyway. A visit to most
major furniture outlets will indicate a distinct lack of innovative
styles, and a general blandness in the products on show. I'd like
to install some track lighting in my office, like we had in London,
but I can't find anything even vaguely similar here in Silly Con
Valley, supposedly the innovative center of the universe.

- John Murray (My own opinions, etc.)