I think the worst thing about this is that it tricks you into thinking that dipping into emails at the park or piddling around in a spreadsheet while you're piddling is actually working.<p>It's not. It's an addiction. It's shovelling snow, it's a quest for feeling accomplishment without effort. It's more fuel for being constantly connected, for constantly thinking you're progressing and accomplishing by hitting that email archive button, or scrolling through reams of meaningless text, or fiddling with your spreadsheet layout. It's no better than scrolling through reddit, then closing it to scroll through twitter, then opening up reddit again.<p>It's really hard honestly, but these days I open up email and slack, clear them, then close them. Both my phone and my computer are permanently on DND, so no notifications bother me. When I'm done with the work day I make sure that nothing work related stays open and that no one can contact me unless it's an emergency. I'm considering splitting my one login on my laptop into two, a work and a personal, and hard-blocking HN etc on the work one, and hard blocking work on the personal. Or using Bootcamp and moving all my personal computer use to Windows.<p>My Dad always told me that you should have an hour a day and a day a week to yourself. When I was younger I laughed that off. These days I struggle to make it my minimum ideal.
Way back nearly two decades ago, I set up an early version of ActiveSync on my Palm Treo device. I noticed there was an option in the Treo email settings to disable real time syncing between certain times (after office hours), but I was SO excited about getting and responding to real time emails on my little phone device that I thought "Who the HECK would want to stop this wonderful flow of emails".<p>Later when I upgraded to the first gen iPhones, I noticed that they didn't have the option to turn off ActiveSync at all. I thought it was odd, but I still didn't mind.<p>Nowadays, I often leave my phone on DND or Airplane mode for large chunks of the day. I am totally sick of the deluge of mail from what is now 6 separate email addresses. I note that iOS 10 still hasn't got the ability to turn off syncing between certain hours that I know of. On top of that, I have alerts constantly popping up from Twitter, Slack, HelpScout, Intercom et al.<p>I think the whole "Work can wait" movement is a good one that needs to be front and center at a lot of workplaces (and a lot of apps).<p>EDIT: Thanks to the responses below, I now realise that iOS 10 DOES indeed have the capability to turn on DND during certain hours only! Winning.
That's what Microsoft should learn: People <i>say</i> they worked in the bathroom, or had meetings on lunchtime, when in fact they shouldn't. Keep your work at bay, keep your work at work. Otherwise it puts you in the grave. Now, Microsoft thinks that's what workers <i>want</i> by totally misinterpreting their usage studies. Hello?<p>Is anybody there, Microsoft? Are you endorsing burnout?! In case that you've missed, people want to have their work done <i>before</i> they go home. With your crappy office software it was never possible, now it should invade our spare time? Fuck you Microsoft, and get it done!
A little hyperbolic, based on a single line from an exec at a different company in a single ad.<p>I get this is a great way to promote their brand, but it seems pretty close to your standard in-group clickbait marketing:<p>1) pick a big target everyone can hate on<p>2) blow something minor out of proportion so you can claim outrage / assert your values<p>3) profit
I have conflicting feelings about this article.<p>Firstly, I don't by choice use any Microsoft products, so this is not a defence of that company.<p>Secondly, I also fully agree that work can wait and my employer should not be intruding on my personal time, outside of office hours.<p>However, I have a passion for something and I have a young family. Between my paid work commitments and the fabulous time I spend with my family, I have only a limited amount of time to dedicate to my passion. I would like to hope that one day, my passion can generate enough income that I can give up "work." (I know that's a whole other conversation about whether that is a good thing).<p>What I really want are tools which assist in enabling me to make as much progress with my passion, in the limited time available to me. If that means doing something while on holiday, from work, so be it. Does it make me one of the 47%?<p>There are of course lines which should be in place and a correct balance found, especially when it comes to family activities. However, I do want tools to keep me informed about the latest events regarding my passion and effective ways to react to that news while away from a desktop/laptop computer.
Nintendo is kind of following the same product positioning for their new Switch console: it's not "work anywhere, all the time", it's "play anywhere, all the time": game while you are going for a walk with your dog. Game when you are in public transports. Game when you meet your friends. Game at night. Game during the day. Game all the time. This kind of fight for attention is getting really tiring.
I'm surprised by the amount of comments denying even the sense of such critique as DHH presented in the article.<p>The problem comes from a very narrow understanding of how 'capitalism/free market economy/society' should work. In the original theoretical framework that laid the ground for the modern economical system, David Hume (and Adam Smith) talked about 'spontaneous order' that comprised <i>multiple</i> social signals, not just prices!
Society and economy are complex adaptive system with multiple inputs and any public indignation like this one are perfect examples of signals that should act like 'invisible hand'.<p>The more such signals we'll allow, the better the optimisation will be, not just in terms of economical efficiency, but also environmental friendliness, quality of life impact etc.<p>Unfortunately neoclassical economy (including some Nobel price winners) seem to be blissfully unaware of where they are coming from and they tend to ditch social 'messiness' so characteristic for any complex system in favour of simplified mathematical models.<p>For anyone interested, I really recommend the below:<p>1) This talk about the missing forgotten part of Adam Smith thought ("The Theory of Moral Sentiment"), that significantly changes the understanding of his perspective: <a href="http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/04/vernon_smith_an.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2015/04/vernon_smith_an.htm...</a><p>2) This article by Yannis Varoufakis on the idea of Spotaneous Order and how it got oversimplified over the last 3 centuries: <a href="https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/02/25/on-spontaneous-order-valve-the-future-of-corporations-hume-smith-marx-and-hayek-a-one-hour-chat-with-russ-roberts-on-econtalk/" rel="nofollow">https://yanisvaroufakis.eu/2013/02/25/on-spontaneous-order-v...</a>
This. Work work work.<p>Work is the process of mapping nature into products and (then) waste.<p>If nobody needs the 'fruits' of your work, there's always marketing and advertising which can make people want them.<p>This my friends is the reason our planet is fast becoming uninhabitable.<p>People doing too much work.<p>I think we've achieved a lot, now it's time to take a look around and take a look inside.<p>Is it possible to build a society which is not built around the concept of 'work'?<p>Are there any other human values which could replace it ?
That Surface Pro commercial struck me similarly. Working 14-hour days is a sign of something terribly wrong, far from being an accomplishment to boast about or to promote.<p>Several months ago I started leaving my laptop charger at work, so that the time I spend on the computer at home is limited to the battery life. As a result, I stopped staying up late (2am-), which has been a life-long habit until then.<p>Two weeks ago, I stopped bringing <i>my laptop</i> home. As a result, I've been reading a lot more, going to sleep early, waking up early, and being more productive at work despite spending less time working.
I really don't like this post.<p>The article is shoehorning an agenda and viewpoint in to an ad that is essentially a profile of an unusual person.<p>I don't like the tone, I don't like the language, and I don't like the judgemental assumptions.<p>It is obviously written by someone who doesn't know many working creatives, and why some people approach work that way.<p>And it is assuming that the author knows what is best, and what makes everyone happy, as if there are no variations in people in this world.
I
I find it a shame a person could think they know better what someone else needs than they do. Condescending. Insulting.
There are two aspects to this imho:<p>1) The glorification of a lifestyle completely dominated by work.<p>2) Microsoft offering products that you can use from anywhere, at any time.<p>The article is mostly about 1). But I do think that 2) is to be applauded.
What really scares me is the fact that MS would present itself as a company that now focus on enabling people, and then decides that by enabling they only move towards getting work done, thus depriving people of the very life they should be allowed to enjoy.<p>With all the current privacy discussion going on, it's kinda lame to work somewhere you're supposed to take corporate phones and so on back home - EDIT: considering the future might look like 1984 when it comes to surveillance.
To those who complain: are you the person who is responsible for a potential purchase of Office 365 license pack for your entire company? If not, then the message in this advertising campaign is not targeted to you. It is targeted to this person. Now, who they might be, and what _they_ will think of the message?<p>(As a software engineer, I, of course, agree that this is terrible).
First one I'd seen that campaign, absolutely atrocious.<p>I've been working like that for the last couple of months the and it's really not healthy. It has been at the expense of every other part of my life, I had my own reasons but will be returning to a more balanced approach.
Article mashes up a valid grievance with an irrelevant attack on the quality of Marvel films. Anger is a powerful tool, but it can really weaken your argument if not used with precision.<p>I also think the message of this particular advert doesn't justify the strength of this attack.
It's not about working 24/7. It's about the ease and convenience of getting something done during off hours in the occasional times you want to or need to.<p>I don't work during off-hours because I have to or feel pressured to. I also don't do it excessively. I do it because I like my work and care about the uptime of my systems and sometimes I want to get ahead. This has paid off for me in tangible ways, and I still enjoy a stress-free home life.<p>If you want to work 9-5 and then be done, that's fine. But don't act like the alternative is morally wrong or that others can't exercise their own choice.
Pretending like the need for sleep can be ignored, given our current physiology, is absolutely absurd. But I would be very much interested in any work towards fundamentally reconfiguring our biology. I was hoping this was the topic of the article, and was disappointed.
I don't get the point of this article. The ads show an activity that a large part of the population is already doing, and that Microsoft has a product targeted to those people. What does the author have a problem with? Is someone forcing him to work at home?
I think that the culture of working all the time is stupid, but so is blaming it on a single company.<p>Why not blame Android for making this possible with all the useful mobile devices. Or how about blaming the web for making access to information at all hours of the day possible.
DHH is coming from the "10 hour work week" perspective, which I'm sure many people would be envious of, but it's not a reality most people live in.<p>That said, I do think mobile device usage outside of the office is more likely to supplement rather than replace time in the office.