4 ms·
Isn't it just like any other office? I work in a small FM radio station and we quite frequently get visits from listeners, both on request and unannounced. I'
by andyking 17y ago
Isn't it just like any other office?
I work in a small FM radio station and we quite frequently get visits from listeners, both on request and unannounced.
I'm not sure what sort of showbiz glitz and glamour they're expecting; apart from one room with a few microphones and a mixing desk in it, it's just a few fairly dull offices in an old house, with computers and desks and papers lying around. People often leave feeling a little disenchanted after we've made them a terrible cup of tea. They come thinking they're going to get a "tour", said tour lasts about 10 minutes if you stretch it out, awkwardness all round. We're happy to meet our listeners, they're why we exist, but there's just not all that much to see.
I can imagine Google being similar; people wanting to visit because it's Google but then being greeted by an office block not dissimilar to where they themselves work. I'm sure there are more interesting places in the area! I wouldn't, for instance, put my bank's head office on the list of places to visit in Edinburgh...
- dschobel 17y agoIf you're a CS buff, visiting google is a trip to the holy land. It is borderline obscene the legendary names they have working there who you'll see just wandering the halls. Seriously, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. Think of the most prestigious CS department imaginable, now multiply the size a hundredfold.
- sown 17y agoI don't see how it would be like visiting the holy land. google headquarters is not a tourist's attraction. I wouldn't want to be accosted by random people at work, if I were the luminaries.
- dschobel 17y agoWhether it is polite to bother them (it's not) is orthogonal to the fact that such a roster of seminal academics and hackers is located in one place.
- buster 17y agohttp://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/inside_google/ http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/2006/inside_google/ If this is your definition of "like any other office" i am seriously working for the wrong company :P
- jyothi 17y agoYou definitely need a visit to Google HQ to understand what the hype is about. Definitely not run of the mill office spaces (ok referring more to the campus than the cubicles)
- rradu 17y agoI visited their HQ and while it's true that they're not run of the mill office spaces, it's not that big of a deal either. It's old news by now that they have gyms on campus, CS problems in the bathroom stalls, and bright colors everywhere so there's really nothing to be surprised or impressed about. In fact I thought the Yahoo! campus was actually much nicer and better maintained. The one thing that was awesome at G was the food (free), so if you do manage to get in make sure you eat all you can!