Mirrored display face-to-face pair programming setup

I like it.<p>For a while, we had a couple people who really liked pair programming at work. Our desks really, really weren't fit for that. They went through a lot of things and finally settled on 1 person having the work computer, and the second remoting into it. They would sit at their own desks, which were close enough to talk, if loudly.<p>Other than a few latency issues, it seemed to work pretty well for them.<p>This setup, though, would have been MUCH preferred.<p>As for the cost of the second monitor... Most non-pair places buy 2 computers AND 2 monitors... Our stations at work even have 2 monitors per computer, with only 1 developer at it.<p>I think the cost of the second monitor is a very small price to pay for efficiency.

I'm not sure I understand the concept of pair programming. It seems to me that the keyboard clashes, while able to be avoided, would be rather annoying and be less efficient. I could see collaborative editors working out much better.What does the second programmer do while the first one is writing code

Am I the only one here who hates the very idea of pair programming?

I've never tried pair programming, and I'm not convinced it would be a good idea for most programmers out there. I like to be able to think alone, and sit and reflect upon things, then go back into discussion with my colleagues either via "real life conversation" or via GTalk or e-mail.<p>I'd be willing to check it out for the sake of not rejecting it without cause. However, finding a co-programmer that is a correct match seems to be the biggest challenge.<p>PS It's good to see that your workers also have decent chairs, and not just gymballs. :-)

Seems like the tables don't need to be so deep, which would help use less space. Maybe not, though,<p>I do something similar when I'm pairing, but we just sit on opposite sides of a conference room table. The offset is key so you're not constantly leaning over to see the other person.

Hey Josh, what if I want to turn my head to the right to look at my pair? One of the things I need ergonomically is to even out the twists in my spine. Seems at a place like Pivotal you might want to encourage people to do the same.

Has anyone ever tried pair programming with a collaborative editor? EG: gobby.