Island Life by David Slack

Totally.

Cubes go with this uncommunicative culture where people are locked away from access. It used to be that you rang an office and somebody would pick up and tell you where the person you wanted had gone. Now it's voicemail in many cases, especially in the US.

jeeessus i wish i had stuck with my original line of study and become a geographer.

bureaucracy is... [not ideally suited to] my way of thinking.

I dunno about this open plan thing, David.

Cubicles would mean that my colleagues' endless discussions on whether coffee makes one's thighs fat wouldn't be quite so prominent.

but without cubes how would one get that first stealthy nerf volley off without anyone knowing its source?

you'd just be the guy in the middle of the office with the unloaded gun - a sitting duck

I've worked in both open plan and in cubicles and there isn't much difference with the noise levels. In fact right now I can hear the phone conversion of someone several cubicles across. (Boring work stuff).
At least in a cubicle, one doesn't always have to feel like one has to pretend to be working and the boss can't sneak up on you when you are surfing the net.

I work in an open plan office. It's cool, you don't have to get out of your seat to talk to someone. This is especially useful now that the Testing team have moved over here with us developers.

The boss is currently talking about adding partitions to the mix. He's got the message that we don't think they are productive, and reckons they will be the low kind that you can still see over.

Then again, he's just shelled out on a 70" LCD, PS3 and some leather sofas, so maybe the budget has gone on something way more useful. I haven't tried GT IV yet, it just doesn't seem right in an office environment.

As for noise levels, I simply crank up the Sennheisers...

I was always impressed that both before and after the sale of Trade Me, Sam Morgan was out in the open on the office floor, alongside the call centre. He did admit to me it made some of the sale negotiations a bit tricky ...

Wired's Worst. Cubicles. Ever: True shockers.

Hmm... seem to have misplaced my link to the best ever cubicles...

And for that shared sense of struggle across Cubicland: http://www.nationalcubicleday.com/.

Sam Morgan was out in the open on the office floor, alongside the call centre. He did admit to me it made some of the sale negotiations a bit tricky

Two words: Cellphone, Carpark

That's how I roll..

Ok on sunny days but wet winters are a bitch.

you'd just be the guy in the middle of the office with the unloaded gun - a sitting duck

You mean you don't use a New York reload?

A very entertaining piece of writing, Mr Slack. Thank you!

Two words: Cellphone, Carpark

That was how we could tell if someone was going for a job somewhere else.

I find ones home the finest place to work. No workmates, no boss, lots of chocolate and a couch.

I vote open plan. But with a 'quiet phone' somewhere, in case you need to talk to someone about something sensitive (work related or not) and maybe don't need someone shouting with laughter behind you.

Cubicles uncool. Offices with lockable doors better. Means you don't have to see your fellow salary slaves if you don't want to.