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Fresh hardware? Are you kidding? If you make a decent salary you can buy your own hardware whenever you feel like it. A $2K MacBook Pro is a drop in the buck

Fresh hardware? Are you kidding? If you make a decent salary you can buy your own hardware whenever you feel like it. A $2K MacBook Pro is a drop in the bucket compared to paying a 6 digit salary.

rch 16y ago
Nah - I buy other stuff too, and go places. For me, starting off with a brand new MBP with all the trimmings (incidentally, ~4-5K) translates directly into productivity. Besides, if I was paying it'd probably be running Plan 9 and have an FPGA duct taped to the back...
orc 16y ago
If they pay you and let you buy the MacBook, it's after tax.
- usaar333 16y ago
  $3k is still a drop in the bucket
  - rch 16y ago
    Great! e-mail me for my address..
- Evgeny 16y ago
  In Australia at least, if you pay for hardware, software or education which you use directly for work purposes or for self-education directly related to your current occupation, it is tax-deductible.
noonespecial 16y ago
Fresh hardware is a test. It should be a drop in the bucket and a no-brainer but its very often not. When it goes bad, its a huge red flag. If you get even the slightest bit of "well we can't really approve something like that without this or that managers sign-off and then the 30 day procurement process from an approved vendor..." head for the door. I've seen companies burn 100 hours of $150/hour employee labor in order to save $50 on a mouse. You don't want to work there.
- Periodic 16y ago
  I worked for a very large enterprise software company for a while. They gave everyone their stock computers with stock keyboards and mice (the basic ones that came with the HP systems). I spent about a month trying to get them to buy me a new keyboard which I felt was necessary for ergonomics and because I had (informally) demonstrated a higher typing speed on it. Eventually I just bought one for myself. It was $50. Managers made all sorts of excuses, then IT said they wouldn't buy non-standard hardware, and there were particularly a lot of excuses in the vein of, "but then we'd have to buy keyboards for everyone." That they wouldn't consider buying their $100k/yr employees a $50 keyboard every few years was just another symptom of their dysfunctional environment.
  - noonespecial 16y ago
    You were allowed to bring in your own hardware and use it. Lucky.
  - jacobr 16y ago
    Hardware, and other expenses such as conference trips, is indeed a very small expense compared to salaries. It's a cheap way of showing employees that you care. Just as a recent example, it took an email to my manager and 10 minutes later a keyboard for $150 was approved. Say it lasts for 5 years - the feeling of appreciation by easily getting what I need approved and bought is worth so much more, compared to what $150 spread out over 5 years of salary would buy them (disregarding that the raise would also cost a more considering taxes and such).
    - rch 16y ago
      Good points all around. I'd be interested to know going in what a startup's policy on conferences would be. While I expect most trips to be ultimately grounded in business development (and with good reason), is the company purely focused on talking up a product, or will they accommodate my technical/social interests as well? Giving a pitch can be fun, as long as I have Plenty of time to chat with other programmers, attend panels, learn something, etc.

Fresh hardware? Are you kidding? If you make a decent salary you can buy your own hardware whenever you feel like it. A $2K MacBook Pro is a drop in the bucket compared to paying a 6 digit salary.

rch 16y ago

Nah - I buy other stuff too, and go places. For me, starting off with a brand new MBP with all the trimmings (incidentally, ~4-5K) translates directly into productivity. Besides, if I was paying it'd probably be running Plan 9 and have an FPGA duct taped to the back...

orc 16y ago

If they pay you and let you buy the MacBook, it's after tax.

usaar333 16y ago
$3k is still a drop in the bucket
- rch 16y ago
  Great! e-mail me for my address..
Evgeny 16y ago
In Australia at least, if you pay for hardware, software or education which you use directly for work purposes or for self-education directly related to your current occupation, it is tax-deductible.

noonespecial 16y ago

Fresh hardware is a test. It should be a drop in the bucket and a no-brainer but its very often not. When it goes bad, its a huge red flag. If you get even the slightest bit of "well we can't really approve something like that without this or that managers sign-off and then the 30 day procurement process from an approved vendor..." head for the door. I've seen companies burn 100 hours of $150/hour employee labor in order to save $50 on a mouse. You don't want to work there.

Periodic 16y ago
I worked for a very large enterprise software company for a while. They gave everyone their stock computers with stock keyboards and mice (the basic ones that came with the HP systems). I spent about a month trying to get them to buy me a new keyboard which I felt was necessary for ergonomics and because I had (informally) demonstrated a higher typing speed on it. Eventually I just bought one for myself. It was $50. Managers made all sorts of excuses, then IT said they wouldn't buy non-standard hardware, and there were particularly a lot of excuses in the vein of, "but then we'd have to buy keyboards for everyone." That they wouldn't consider buying their $100k/yr employees a $50 keyboard every few years was just another symptom of their dysfunctional environment.
- noonespecial 16y ago
  You were allowed to bring in your own hardware and use it. Lucky.
- jacobr 16y ago
  Hardware, and other expenses such as conference trips, is indeed a very small expense compared to salaries. It's a cheap way of showing employees that you care. Just as a recent example, it took an email to my manager and 10 minutes later a keyboard for $150 was approved. Say it lasts for 5 years - the feeling of appreciation by easily getting what I need approved and bought is worth so much more, compared to what $150 spread out over 5 years of salary would buy them (disregarding that the raise would also cost a more considering taxes and such).
  - rch 16y ago
    Good points all around. I'd be interested to know going in what a startup's policy on conferences would be. While I expect most trips to be ultimately grounded in business development (and with good reason), is the company purely focused on talking up a product, or will they accommodate my technical/social interests as well? Giving a pitch can be fun, as long as I have Plenty of time to chat with other programmers, attend panels, learn something, etc.