5 ms·

My business partner and I have been working remotely with each other for the last 5 years, after a previous 7 years in a shared office. To make it work, we bou

by jrd79 7y ago

My business partner and I have been working remotely with each other for the last 5 years, after a previous 7 years in a shared office. To make it work, we bought dedicated iPads and put them on stands next to our computer monitors on our desks. We start a FaceTime call at the beginning of each day and literally leave it running all day. We mute when not actively talking, so we can listen to music (and not listen to the other's keyboard noises). It is amazing. We always can see if the other one is present and/or busy on a phone call. If I want to talk, I just unmute myself and start talking. It is surprisingly similar to being in the same room as someone, without having to agree on the playlist. Obviously, this particular setup doesn't scale to larger teams, and it does rely heavily on the very high quality and reliability of the audio and video of FaceTime. But I'd recommend it highly for those in the same situation. Made the cross-country move possible without destroying the business. The dedicated device is key, so that it is always visible and doesn't take CPU or screen real estate on your actual computer. And I can't emphasize enough the importance of the high quality audio in FaceTime. We tried Squiggle back in the day and the audio/video were just not good enough (and the freeze frames were unflattering and distracting in a way that silent video is not, strangely). It would be nice to unmute both sides at once, but FaceTime is obviously not going to add that feature. We thought about trying to make a product out of our insights/experiences but concluded that it would be a bit like re-implementing MS Word to fix the find dialog (if anyone remembers that issue back in the day).

_jal 7y ago
Aside from scaling problems, there are comfort/trust issues. I can only imagine doing this with certain people. Which is really odd, considering I work in an office. Somehow the artificiality, the fact that it isn't a human puttering around near me, but a plane of glass doing magic makes a difference for me. But then I don't litter my home with surveillance speakers, either.
- jrd79 7y ago
  I felt "watched" for the first week, then it is just normal, like working in an office. The difference disappears.
squarefoot 7y ago
If every broadband connection had its own public IP, that would be trivial to implement in a point to point way using any IP phone software out there (linphone for example) without any need for a central server. IPv6 once widely implemented might solve the problem, since new fixed IPv4 addresses are unobtanium for non corporate networks; I'm not holding my breath though.
- cr0sh 7y ago
  > IPv6 once widely implemented might solve the problem, since new fixed IPv4 addresses are unobtanium for non corporate networks; I'm not holding my breath though. I have this strange feeling that we (the general public) are, in some manner, being segregated away from full implementation if IPv6 for precisely this reason. That the limitations of IPv4 have benefitted the centralization of our internet access; IPv6, due to its sheer size of address space, turns that space into a commodity that is easily shared. ISPs would (or should) cease to be "gateways" and instead become mere infrastructure. Assuming efficient network bandwidth allocation, it would allow for easy p2p or "peering"-like arrangements, which isn't easy or as scalable with IPv4 today. But of course, that isn't in their business interest. I can't think of any reason why IPv6 isn't "fully deployed" today; I'm sure there's a lot of legacy hardware out there that doesn't support it, but I would think it would be a minority amount in the whole "grand scheme" of the internet. Certainly the "end points" - our workstations and phones and such - are all IPv6 capable today. There's no real good reason for the rest of it not to be - except for control over access. Just my opinion, of course...
overcast 7y ago
That would require a very special, intimate relationship with someone to work. There is no way I could have a random coworker/boss' mug staring at me all day to my left. I wouldn't even want that with my wife/girlfriend.
- jrd79 7y ago
  Do you have a private office at work? It is like sitting in the same pod as a teammate. But I agree you wouldn't want it with a wife and girlfriend. Could get awkward with them both there.
  - overcast 7y ago
    It's really not like that at all. People aren't sitting right on top of you a foot away. If they are, I'm sorry.
  - poulsbohemian 7y ago
    >Do you have a private office at work? It is like sitting in the same pod as a teammate. And therein lies the problem: we should all have a private office wherever we work, preferably without crappy lighting and with suitable heat / cold temps and a comfortable chair and so forth. Instead we get open offices with the guy three feet away feasting away on his boogers all day and the guy next to us whose headphones leak noise everywhere. This is such an issue for me that it is one of the top five reasons why I went freelance - so that I can work in enjoyable professional settings with good hardware.
- poulsbohemian 7y ago
  > I wouldn't even want that with my wife/girlfriend. My partner moved in full time last year, such that we now share an office in addition to the rest of the house. We're coping, but it is honestly more problematic than I expected as we both are on the phone part of the day and need focused work time at other points. A 1984-style telescreen of some remote colleague staring at me all day work drive me nuts, but more power to the parent poster if it works for them.

by jrd79 7y ago

_jal 7y ago

Aside from scaling problems, there are comfort/trust issues. I can only imagine doing this with certain people. Which is really odd, considering I work in an office. Somehow the artificiality, the fact that it isn't a human puttering around near me, but a plane of glass doing magic makes a difference for me. But then I don't litter my home with surveillance speakers, either.

jrd79 7y ago
I felt "watched" for the first week, then it is just normal, like working in an office. The difference disappears.

squarefoot 7y ago

If every broadband connection had its own public IP, that would be trivial to implement in a point to point way using any IP phone software out there (linphone for example) without any need for a central server. IPv6 once widely implemented might solve the problem, since new fixed IPv4 addresses are unobtanium for non corporate networks; I'm not holding my breath though.

cr0sh 7y ago
> IPv6 once widely implemented might solve the problem, since new fixed IPv4 addresses are unobtanium for non corporate networks; I'm not holding my breath though. I have this strange feeling that we (the general public) are, in some manner, being segregated away from full implementation if IPv6 for precisely this reason. That the limitations of IPv4 have benefitted the centralization of our internet access; IPv6, due to its sheer size of address space, turns that space into a commodity that is easily shared. ISPs would (or should) cease to be "gateways" and instead become mere infrastructure. Assuming efficient network bandwidth allocation, it would allow for easy p2p or "peering"-like arrangements, which isn't easy or as scalable with IPv4 today. But of course, that isn't in their business interest. I can't think of any reason why IPv6 isn't "fully deployed" today; I'm sure there's a lot of legacy hardware out there that doesn't support it, but I would think it would be a minority amount in the whole "grand scheme" of the internet. Certainly the "end points" - our workstations and phones and such - are all IPv6 capable today. There's no real good reason for the rest of it not to be - except for control over access. Just my opinion, of course...

overcast 7y ago

That would require a very special, intimate relationship with someone to work. There is no way I could have a random coworker/boss' mug staring at me all day to my left. I wouldn't even want that with my wife/girlfriend.

jrd79 7y ago
Do you have a private office at work? It is like sitting in the same pod as a teammate. But I agree you wouldn't want it with a wife and girlfriend. Could get awkward with them both there.
- overcast 7y ago
  It's really not like that at all. People aren't sitting right on top of you a foot away. If they are, I'm sorry.
- poulsbohemian 7y ago
  >Do you have a private office at work? It is like sitting in the same pod as a teammate. And therein lies the problem: we should all have a private office wherever we work, preferably without crappy lighting and with suitable heat / cold temps and a comfortable chair and so forth. Instead we get open offices with the guy three feet away feasting away on his boogers all day and the guy next to us whose headphones leak noise everywhere. This is such an issue for me that it is one of the top five reasons why I went freelance - so that I can work in enjoyable professional settings with good hardware.
poulsbohemian 7y ago
> I wouldn't even want that with my wife/girlfriend. My partner moved in full time last year, such that we now share an office in addition to the rest of the house. We're coping, but it is honestly more problematic than I expected as we both are on the phone part of the day and need focused work time at other points. A 1984-style telescreen of some remote colleague staring at me all day work drive me nuts, but more power to the parent poster if it works for them.