« User Centric Identity Tutorial | Main | O'Reilly Calls for Participation »
Some Thoughts on Co-Working
Sean O’Steen, one of the hard-working audio editors on IT Conversations, had an article at Web Worker Daily on co-working in Berkeley. Sean’s article discusses the concept of co-working in general and the Berkeley Coworking site in particular.
If you’re not familiar with it, co-working is the trend for developers, writers, independents, and other professionals to spend at least part of their day in a shared, public space. Starbucks, Borders, libraries, and other places that have Wi-Fi have been popular hang outs for some time and now people have started to create specific co-working spaces like the Berkeley one.
Of course, this trend has been enabled though a number of technologies: laptops, wi-fi, email, IM, cell phones, VoIP, and even things like Twitter.
The draw to co-working is being able to work without the isolation that just working from home can bring or the structure that a standard office entails. I’m surprised at the number of people I know who spend at least a few hours a week working from a Starbucks or the library. Personally, I like to spend some time working at Borders when I can. I see the same group of people there all the time.
Posted by windley on September 10, 2007 9:42 AM
Comment from Bryan at September 11, 2007 2:29 PM
"I’m surprised at the number of people I know who spend at least a few hours a week working from a Starbucks or the library." -- Actually, I'll bet you have a ton of students who do just that all the time. This really reminds me of my college days, plunking down with my laptop to work on a lab in various places all over campus. It was kind of fun, but I still like my dual 19" LCD's in my cubicle a little better than my laptop screen.
Comment from charles at September 15, 2007 6:42 PM
I'm surprised you invoke the names of chains here, rather than simply saying "coffeeshop" or "bookstore". The dozen or two local coffeehouses, tea rooms, and bookstores in my town are vastly more comfortable, welcoming for long stays, populated with professionals and artists, and they all have *free*, fast, and reliable wifi. (And much better coffee.)
Leave a comment
I encourage you to leave a comment below. Your email address will not be displayed on Technometria, but allows me to communicate with you directly. Your email address won't be displayed, but will be used to compute a MicroID for your comment.