I'd pox the man for cubicles - but he's dead and he went out of his way to apologize.
I got a good laugh out of this:
But inventions seldom obey the creator's intent. "The Action Office wasn't conceived to cram a lot of people into little space . . It was driven that way by economics."
. . Around the time the Action Office was born, a growing breed of white-collar workers, whose job titles fell between secretary and boss, was swelling the workforce. Also, real estate prices were rising, as was the cost of reconfiguring office buildings, making the physical office a drag on the corporate budget. Cubicles, or "systems furniture," as they are euphemistically called, offered a cheaper alternative for redoing the floorplan.
Another critical factor in the cubicle's rapid ascent was Uncle Sam. During the 1960s, to stimulate business spending, the Treasury created new rules for depreciating assets. The changes specified clearer ranges for depreciation and established a shorter life for furniture and equipment, vs. longer ranges assigned to buildings or leasehold improvements. (Today companies can depreciate office furniture in seven years, whereas permanent structures--that is, offices with walls--are assigned a 39.5-year rate.)
The upshot: A company could recover its costs quicker if it purchased cubes. When clients told Herman Miller of that unexpected benefit, it became a new selling point for the Action Office. After only two years on the market, sales soared. Competitors took notice.
That's when Propst's original vision began to fade. "They kept shrinking the Action Office until it became a cubicle," says Schwartz, now 80. As Steelcase, Knoll, and Haworth brought their versions to market, they figured out that what businesses wanted wasn't to give employees a holistic experience. The customers wanted a cheap way to pack workers in.
The parallels between cubicles and the New York tenements are striking. Remove the poverty, filth, and physical disease and you have similar market forces causing people to ignore human needs for the bottom line.
Posted by idiosynchronic at April 6, 2006 06:45 AMWell spring is once again in the air here in NYC.
And a true hallmark of spring has also arrived this fine Thursday.
No, not the start of baseball season (can't say I get to excited about the American passtime.)
Today is the opening round of The Masters. The first of the seasons majors.
Posted by snark at April 6, 2006 06:47 AMKatie Couric's low lights.
I love beating a "perky" dead horse!
If cubicles were an insane invention, they would not be in such wide use. In the world of business nothing is done without good reason. Capitalism dictates that efficiency, productivity and profitability will always win out over insanity.
Posted by shoelimpy at April 6, 2006 10:00 AMGood Lord but we have a scary new troll - limp shoe. I followed his link and I hope it's a parody site and that the posts are satire. Be sure to check out this one: How To Be A Good Christian Wife.
Posted by ann at April 6, 2006 10:36 AMAnn, I have a book, published in the late 1800's/early 1900's by Dr Kellogg about "being a proper girl and a woman" and what is "acceptable" - it is disgusting. I could not bare to follow limp shoe's link. You have much more courage than I do.
It is the Puke's goal to turn back the clock; slavery is on the march (see: undocumented workers.) Fuedal reign is on the march (see: growing gap between the wealthy and the poor.) Women are being returned to the status of property (see: lack of sex ed, lack of reproductive healthcare, John Roberts, Alito, cuts in assistance programs....this list is endless.)
Posted by Anjha at April 6, 2006 10:57 AMIt is the so called "progressives" who want to turn back the clock. Turn the poor into a perpetual welfare state, sucking on the government teat unable to care for themselves. A nation of uneducated unemployed slobs who cannot care for themselves and must depend on the liberal Big Brother to care for them.
The "conservative" is the man who believes in progress, who wants to see his brethren overcome obstacles and succeed in the world. All progress in this country has been the result of work done by those you would consider "conservative."
Except for the internets, which we know was invented by Al Gore.
Posted by shoelimpy at April 6, 2006 11:04 AMThe "conservative" is the man...
Yup, Anjha, you were right. Women need not apply.
Except for the internets, which we know was invented by Al Gore.
Oh, for the love of God, quit repeating this total, utter bullshit LIE. Go read snopes. And "internets" was a Bushism.
Posted by ann at April 6, 2006 11:11 AMI wonder if we would get much if we traded in the old shoe for an intelligent troll...
Posted by pessimist at April 6, 2006 11:14 AMI wanted to post the floor speech given by Rep Ron Paul (R. TX) last night.
This is a Repuke who I respect and have told him so.
He warns that we are on the way to war with Iran.
This is a must read. I wish that more Repukes would break with their party and speak some truth.
Posted by Anjha at April 6, 2006 11:19 AMCurrent House floor debate on the budget is so disgusting. I cannot stand Rep Nussle. His arrogance and sarcasm is the most ugly of the Repukes. I wish that all of the people of Iowa could see his behavior while he is running for Governor. They need only run tapes of this crap and they would see his true colors. Truly, this guy is so out of touch with regular people that his governorship - if he wins - will be the end of Iowa.
Posted by Anjha at April 6, 2006 11:30 AMCurrent House floor debate on the budget is so disgusting. I cannot stand Rep Nussle. His arrogance and sarcasm is the most ugly of the Repukes. I wish that all of the people of Iowa could see his behavior while he is running for Governor.
I have a tremendous amount of faith that the IDP recorded that speech for media buys in the fall campaign. They've cranked up the anti-Nussle campaign already now that the GOP has boxed themselves in with only one nominee and have been aggressively going after him in political issues and email campaigns.
And if you think Nussle is disgusting, he's not the worst of the bunch. That would be Steve "Abu Gharib is My Frat" King.
They need only run tapes of this crap and they would see his true colors. Truly, this guy is so out of touch with regular people that his governorship - if he wins - will be the end of Iowa.
The problem is that he may not be out of touch with Iowa. He may be in perfect synch with the rural state that I call the Little Mississippi of the North. None of our congresspeople what I consider sterling examples of humanity . . Jim Leach is okay on occasion, King is a fuckin' Christofacist european supremesist, Nussle is a hypocritical jerk who enjoys servicing the right-wing, Tom Latham is the GOP equivalent to silent and suffocating, and firckin' Boswell is a Blue Dog Democrat.
Posted by idiosynchronic at April 6, 2006 12:41 PMNo word on the Massachusetts government takeover of health care? They now mandate that employers either provide health care or pay into a state fund to provide health care. Companies have the following options:
1) Bite the bullet and just raise the prices of goods and services. But this would make them less competitive with other companies outside of Massachusetts.
2) Take the same approach companies in France have done to deal with the high costs of employees, and refuse to add new hires to the payroll.
3) Outsource and offshore more jobs, to places that don't have such a mandate.
4) Shutter their doors and call it quits. (An option for small businesses).
5) Relocate their business to other states.
It's going to be interesting to see how this mandate affects business in Massachusetts. And say, if you know folks who aren't covered by health insurance, tell them to go to Massachusetts! It's FREE there!
Posted by muckdog at April 6, 2006 03:32 PMMassachusetts was also first or second for some other precedents that were, no doubt, regarded with fear and loathing by the "time(and life)is money" muckdogs of the day; the abolition of slavery, womens sufferage, and the right of collective bargining. But, to the muckdogs, history, ethics, and the real triumphs of the human spirit in this country begin and end apparently, with that long, glittering,(strangely exciting), stream trickling down on all of us.
Posted by jondee at April 6, 2006 04:09 PMjondee, check out what's happening in France. that's what happens when employers decide that it isn't worth hiring folks anymore.
or heck, GM.
Posted by muckdog at April 6, 2006 04:22 PMIm more concerned with staunching the flow of all those Frenchman that have been flooding into the U.S in search of a better life.
Posted by jondee at April 6, 2006 06:26 PM