The desks of 37signals

http://37signals.com/svn/posts/3120-all-hands-battlestations

by wlll • 14 years ago

126 76 14 years ago

37signals.com

cromwellian• 14 years ago

Why does 37signals show up at the top of HN everyday, no matter what they blog about?

ceejayoz• 14 years ago

Why does someone always whine about it, even when it's just an algorithm doing what it's supposed to do?

chrislo• 14 years ago

Because people up-vote the submissions.

RyanMcGreal3• 14 years ago

I suspect cromwellian's underlying question is: why do so many people on HN upvote a post with nothing more than pictures of some people's desks?

Omnipresent2• 14 years ago

Because they are not merely a product company anymore but a brand name.

clebio• 14 years ago

Came here to ask the same parent comment myself. Yes, they're an iconic brand within this sphere and they do great work, but these articles are part of their blog. Every page of their blog has a link to the RSS feed. I don't need help keeping up to date on a syndicated blog that I care about. I need HN to show me things I -don't- know about yet. Maybe HN needs a 'best off' page, so brands like 37 Signals can be found even when they don't have any breaking news.

seanmccann• 14 years ago

They are preparing for a major product launch (Basecamp Next) and are doing a great job at staying top of mind leading up.

odiroot• 14 years ago

I wonder how many people scrolled impatiently just to see dhh's desk.

qrush• 14 years ago

I actually randomized the order, to get rid of any bias I may have had in choosing :)

dcope• 14 years ago

Guilty.

Interesting to see so many people working remotely.

hugs• 14 years ago

"... so many people working remotely."

I think that's the subtle point of the post. A huge part of their world view is "work where you want, when you want". And of course, they just happen to sell tools that help people work remotely from wherever and whenever. I applaud how much the Signals practice what they preach.

shingen5• 14 years ago

I like the stand-up desks. The first time I remember reading about such a thing was Michael Dell having a custom built stand-up desk in the early 1990s. I up vote the expansion of life expectancy.

mike-cardwell• 14 years ago

Is there any evidence that using a standing desk increases life expectancy?

I would expect people who use them take health more seriously in other aspects of their life as well thus increasing their life expectancy anyway...

shingen5• 14 years ago

The evidence is that sitting down for hours per day is extraordinarily destructive to various aspects of your body, including your metabolism, circulation, oxygen distribution, and that it increases the risk of diabetes (and cancer due to consequence of fat gain from a slower metabolism). I believe (per what I've read on the subject) that it also significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke due to a collapse in normal / healthy function of the cardiovascular system.

The data on it is rather common these days, a quick google will turn up several high profile write-ups from sources such as the NY Times.

And if we're just talking logical extrapolation - it makes sense that humans wouldn't benefit from sitting down all day, as it wasn't common to our evolution / how our bodies are designed to work. Caveman Joe didn't sit on his rock for 12 hours typing.

tzs• 14 years ago

Standing greatly increases your risk of carotid atherosclerosis and varicose veins.

Best is to sit, but NOT for long uninterrupted periods. There was a good article about this a while ago from Cornell University ergonomics researchers: http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/CUESitStand.html

Here was their bottom line recommendation:

   Sit to do computer work. Sit using a height-adjustable,
   downward titling keyboard tray for the best work posture,
   then every 20 minutes stand for 2 minutes AND MOVE. The
   absolute time isn’t critical but about every 20-30 minutes
   take a posture break and move for a couple of minutes.
   Simply standing is insufficient. Movement is important to
   get blood circulation through the muscles. Research shows
   that you don’t need to do vigorous exercise (e.g. jumping
   jacks) to get the benefits, just walking around is sufficient.
   So build in a pattern of creating greater movement variety in
   the workplace (e.g. walk to a printer, water fountain, stand
   for a meeting, take the stairs, walk around the floor, park
   a bit further away from the building each day).

citricsquid• 14 years ago

I've always found working from a laptop to feel very cramped, I find it so much easier to work with more space, is there an unknown advantage to using a smaller display or is it just personal preference? (My setup: http://i.imgur.com/uKpyV.jpg)

evoltix2• 14 years ago

Nice setup. I think it depends on your line of work and personal preference.

oinksoft• 14 years ago

Well, seeing that you're a Starcraft player, it's not as though a laptop really would be an option ^^

More seriously, I think that your setup would hurt my eyes. Having a dedicated monitor is far nicer than using a laptop, but you have screens dominating your peripheral vision. One decent-sized screen is much nicer in my opinion.

mark_l_watson• 14 years ago

I would bet that most developers who use laptops as their primary development box sometimes tether to a large screen - that is what I do in my home office. I often work in other places around the house, rather than my office, but then I tend to do tasks that don't require a large monitor.

Having your whole working life on a single laptop (with multiple types of backups) is a real convenience and time saver.

rglover• 14 years ago

I hope everyone is catching on to what 37signals is doing: building significant brand awareness before the launch of a new product. Notice that they've been posting more frequently, with varying content (and of course a bit of Basecamp Next peppered in). Really subtle, but it puts them in the minds of a lot of people.

victork23• 14 years ago

Yep... Having never been a fan of their work myself, I do not check anymore their posts on HN. Still I enjoy reading some of the comments associated with the post, it can be enlightening.

To add to your point, being a (self proclaimed) nerd and not a geek: I don't care about new technologies, I do not own a smartphone, hell, I don't have anymore Facebook or Twitter, I found what's posted on 37signals very boring and devoid of interesting information. I am, however, surprised by the huge number of people that upvote these kind of posts.

To answer the article without really reading it, and again it's because of my nerdy side I don't care on what I am working as long as I have a desk, an OK mouse, an OK screen, and OK keyboard, that's it, I am happy.

rimantas2• 14 years ago

  > I don't care on what I am working as long as I have a desk,
  > an OK mouse, an OK screen, and OK keyboard, that's it, I am
  > happy.

I think with attitude like this it is very difficult to build a GOOD product. "Meh" most likely. But other nerds may consider it to be OK though. OTOH, I don't think that being nerdy should necesarry mean "not caring how good something is".

handzhiev• 14 years ago

Phew, I'm not alone! I'm sure posting so much here is part of their content/marketing strategy, and that bores me to death. Very aggressive and totally boring marketing strategy. But seeing how many upvote their articles, I guess it works.

balloot3• 14 years ago

I don't think it's subtle at all. My primary knowledge of 37signals is as the company that spends an inordinate amount of time on Hacker News telling everyone how great it and its methods are.

evoltix2• 14 years ago

I think the one major thing that sticks out in these photos is that all these people work from home or some other remote location. Everyone's work space has a relaxed and zen-like feeling to it.

jasonfried5• 14 years ago

13 people work in the Chicago office. ~20 people work out of their homes in other locations. Although, some Chicago people work from home a few days a week, too.

bradleyland• 14 years ago

Our Chicago JV partner says your office is "right around the corner" from their office at 1000 W Monroe St. So, having used Rails since 0.7, and being a fan of 37Singals work, I naturally got kind of excited at the prospect of stopping by. Is the 37Signals open to visitors (even with no specific purpose)? Just curious :)

tdavis• 14 years ago

Having spent many hours of my youth on technology forums, I feel I am qualified to say: this is the most banal "show your setup" post, ever.

Save Noah, it's just an Apple Store. Sam's apartment/house looks great, though.

yawn• 14 years ago

My take was this: here's a company that is showcasing the fact that they are building products that people love, and most of them are not even in the same room. Look beyond the hardware religion bait and you will see different landscapes through the windows, different desk setups, and the personalities of individuals as opposed to gray cube walls.

pilgrim689• 14 years ago

Noah and Sam's setups are the only ones that stuck with me too. Noah's setup is nice because it allows you to code without worrying about switching windows and moving stuff around. It's optimized for speed. Sam's setup is awesome because I feel like I could focus in that room. It's zen, free of clutter, probably free of distractions, perfect to get in the zone. Ideally I'd combine both... but just a small Macbook on a kitchen table as a setup is pretty uninspiring.

ForrestN3• 14 years ago

I think that's part of the statement. It's riffing on the "show your setup" post, but instead of focusing on the gear (something 37S have eschewed for a long time) they're focusing on the environment, and, by extension, the people. All the signaling is about peacefulness and happiness: look at my dog, look at my kids, look at my lovely pitcher of water.

It's effective in my opinion for a few reasons. One, it's personal/voyeuristic, which will make at least some people interested and also, if you have a positive response, connected to the fact that there are real people working on the big product they're about to launch. Making a company feel human and intimate is an important branding goal these days, and something they talk about a lot.

Second, as someone else mentioned, it emphasizes their "work-from-home" message. When I look at those desks, I see comfort. Every day is like staying home from work. Gee, it sure must be nice to work like that!

There's even a subtle power/wealth signal, I would argue, in DHH's setup and the fresh flowers on all the office desks.

jasonfried5• 14 years ago

I got the idea for having a small bunch of fresh flowers on everyones office desk from the restaurant world.

I always like sitting down to a table at a restaurant that has a small simple arrangement of fresh flowers. It's a great detail and it brings color and life to your immediate surroundings. Plus, nature is the greatest designer so there's no better influence.

We have the flowers switched out weekly. They're different each week and each desk has a different arrangement. We also have weekly arrangements in the kitchen, the lounge area, and in the front entrance.

For those in Chicago, I highly recommend the good people at http://asraigarden.com for this service. They take great care of us.

z0r• 14 years ago

I dig the vertical monitor. Using one of those as a second screen plus switching to xmonad has been the most positive change I've made to my own working environment in the last year. Code, websites, anything text oriented - shorter lines are easier to read and comprehend

paddy_m• 14 years ago

How does a vertical monitor work with sub pixel rendering? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subpixel_rendering . Does linux do sub-pixel rendering? Does OS X turn it off when a monitor is rotated to vertical?

sjs• 14 years ago

I have no idea what happens on OS X but it works just fine.

wr1472• 14 years ago

Also I would recommend going for an IPS monitor if you want to use it vertically, as it has a much wider viewing angle compared to TN monitors.

nazar• 14 years ago

Is it just me, but despite all nice things 37signals are doing I find them arrogant and feel like they exaggerating more than they actually doing.

drats• 14 years ago

I always get the feeling that they are really trying to prove to themselves, through proving it to others, that they didn't need to get acquired and that ruby webapps are way more interesting than working on self-driving cars or new crazy startups to change the world. Let's face it, their products look like they are very high quality (although I haven't used them) but none of them are going to change the world in a meaningful or lasting sense.

fidotron• 14 years ago

That seems slightly unfair. Their direct products, maybe, but the introduction of Ruby on Rails and the philosophy of it did cause a radical advancement in expectations regarding web frameworks and applications for everyone, in the same way that non-iPhone users have benefited from Apple coming into mobile and mixing things up.

j_col2• 14 years ago

I completely agree, for me they are the ultimate embodiment of the hipster/brogrammer/ninja/guru culture that has become something of a running joke in the industry (at least in my little corner of it).

jasonfried5• 14 years ago

Totally agree.

victork23• 14 years ago

Could not agree more. But this mentality is pretty popular here. It's fun to compare them to a Richard Stallman, which I feel much closer too.

mpp• 14 years ago

37signals is the most smug and obnoxious company ever. I'm so sick of them. On their desks, where's the empty wine glass that they use to smell their own farts? Thaaaanks!

ForrestN3• 14 years ago

Yeah, I couldn't believe it when I read the part where they say "Check out our sweet desks. Jealous??"

I re-read the post and can't find anything qualifying as arrogant or exaggerating. I'm not a 37Signals expert, and I'm sure there are examples elsewhere, but certainly with regards to this post you're off base.

balloot3• 14 years ago

It's not this one post - if you read HN regularly you get a weekly dose of "We're 37 Signals! Check out how awesome we are!". It's obnoxious.

littledude• 14 years ago

judging by your comment, they're doing it right. better to polarize opinions instead of trying to 'make everyone like them' and be irrelevant.

balloot3• 14 years ago

Find them totally arrogant as well. Everything corporate strategy they employ is the "right" way of doing things and necessitates a self-fellating post on Hacker News.

kabuks• 14 years ago

Clearly it's not just you. But I still find their way of doing things to be inspiring and thought-provoking. They're making their own rules, and I respect them from that. I found the post refreshing.

Omnipresent2• 14 years ago

Not sure where David works from but the view outside that window is grand.

olozano• 14 years ago

According to his twitter feed, that's Spain.

edw519• 14 years ago

dhh, do you really work that way or did you clean your desk off before that picture was taken?

If so, I salute you. I'm still 14 purges away from that level of minimalism.

anujkk• 14 years ago

While coding I need only two things to be perfect - a)My laptop b)A comfortable desk/chair. Everything else - surroundings, noise etc doesn't matter. I don't even notice these things.

bengl3rt2• 14 years ago

What I noticed was that only two or three of them use desktop computers - the rest are on laptops with external displays.

No laptop on the market today has enough storage capacity or RAM (save for the MBPs that can take 16GB I suppose) to be my only computer. I do a mix of iOS and web and systems development - not too different of a workload from these guys, I'm sure. I've also noticed laptops slow down a fair bit when you plug in an external display and make the GPU work overtime pushing all those pixels. So, what gives? Have these guys just never tried working on a maxed-out desktop machine so they don't know how good it is, and they just assume that waiting around for your computer to do stuff is normal and acceptable?

Another nail in the coffin, I suppose...

swah• 14 years ago

The experience I've been reading is the opposite: that folks can do web development in a Macbook Air and love it. What do you use 16 GB of RAM for?

bengl3rt2• 14 years ago

I'm always running Redis and Mongo and Memcache and Postgres and Xcode and the iOS simulator and Mail and Skype and etc...

Local server stack + dev tools + collaboration tools, essentially.

SSD helps, as swapping fast is better than swapping slow, but best is not swapping at all.

FireBeyond• 14 years ago

Granted, you did mention iOS work, which limits your choices, but there are several laptops there that absolutely can compete as desktop replacements, including one I've used:

Dell Precision M6600, Core i7-2820QM 2.3GHz,16GB (can take 32GB), graphics cards up to Nvidia Quadro 5010M 4GB, 1080p resolution display, SATA 3 SSDs

psb• 14 years ago

For me there is way too much light/sunshine there to make a comfortable work environment. I like to be in a reasonably dim (not pitch black) spot so the contrast from my screen is comfortable to look at. At least pull the blinds down.

fallenhitokiri• 14 years ago

I don't really see the problem with "show your setup" posts. I like looking at great designed workspaces. Inspirational, at least for me.

What I just do not get is how they all can only work with a laptop, sometimes an Air. I think the screen space would be to limiting for me to stay productive.

Favorite: Sam's desk. Clean, minimalistic, lots of light,...

The desks of 37signals

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