3 ms·

When I worked for Intel, the coffee was absolutely not free. The only freebies were filtered water and toilet paper. It never bothered me that much, but when I

When I worked for Intel, the coffee was absolutely not free. The only freebies were filtered water and toilet paper. It never bothered me that much, but when I joined a company with freebies, it was like a breath of fresh air.

ajross 4y ago
Coffee is free at Intel. Or was, back when people worked in offices.
- selimthegrim 4y ago
  Not if you're a green badge it isn't.
  - ajross 4y ago
    Contractors don't get perks like that anywhere, thanks to Vizcaino v. Microsoft. Withholding resources afforded to permanent employees is weird and counterintuitive, but it's how employers demonstrate compliance.
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  I think a lot of that changed after I left. (In 2005-2007) It just felt petty to have to use a coffee vending machine.
NtGuy25 4y ago
Recently joined a company with legit soda machines(the fancy ones with exotic stuff like cream sodas), slim jims, ice cream, cookies, cakes and which buys lunch for the engineers every weekend. It's amazing. I came from a place where you had to pay 2 $ for a soda! It's definitely one of the things that you don't realize when you don't have it, but when you do it's like heaven. It's really helped me get more work done since I can snack away and it encourages me to get up for walks around the office.
rootusrootus 4y ago
Years ago (like, 1993 or so), our college CS class visited Jones Farm. One of the stops on the tour was a break room. All of the drinks were free at the time, whether it was coffee or coca cola. One of the engineers there remarked that at Microsoft only the caffeinated drinks were free. LOL. I just about believe it.
saalweachter 4y ago
Eh, there's a downside to freebies, which is curation. No matter how luxurious and all-encompassing, your free corporate fridges are not the supermarket, your free corporate cafeterias are not an east coast diner. They don't have everything you might want, just a decent selection. We're deep in first world problems here, but there's a certain frustration to always drinking the drink that doesn't quite hit the spot, to searching the cafeteria menu for the least bad menu option. At least when you are paying the money yourself in the wider world, you can actually pick what you want.
- jbay808 4y ago
  Did you ever consider contacting the people responsible for the selection and making a request? They were probably just going by their best guess.
- gwbas1c 4y ago
  > At least when you are paying the money yourself in the wider world, you can actually pick what you want Office vending machines have the same problem. If I want a specific item with me, I bring it.

ajross 4y ago

Coffee is free at Intel. Or was, back when people worked in offices.

selimthegrim 4y ago
Not if you're a green badge it isn't.
- ajross 4y ago
  Contractors don't get perks like that anywhere, thanks to Vizcaino v. Microsoft. Withholding resources afforded to permanent employees is weird and counterintuitive, but it's how employers demonstrate compliance.
gwbas1c 4y ago
I think a lot of that changed after I left. (In 2005-2007) It just felt petty to have to use a coffee vending machine.

NtGuy25 4y ago

Recently joined a company with legit soda machines(the fancy ones with exotic stuff like cream sodas), slim jims, ice cream, cookies, cakes and which buys lunch for the engineers every weekend. It's amazing. I came from a place where you had to pay 2 $ for a soda! It's definitely one of the things that you don't realize when you don't have it, but when you do it's like heaven. It's really helped me get more work done since I can snack away and it encourages me to get up for walks around the office.

rootusrootus 4y ago

Years ago (like, 1993 or so), our college CS class visited Jones Farm. One of the stops on the tour was a break room. All of the drinks were free at the time, whether it was coffee or coca cola. One of the engineers there remarked that at Microsoft only the caffeinated drinks were free. LOL. I just about believe it.

saalweachter 4y ago

Eh, there's a downside to freebies, which is curation. No matter how luxurious and all-encompassing, your free corporate fridges are not the supermarket, your free corporate cafeterias are not an east coast diner. They don't have everything you might want, just a decent selection. We're deep in first world problems here, but there's a certain frustration to always drinking the drink that doesn't quite hit the spot, to searching the cafeteria menu for the least bad menu option. At least when you are paying the money yourself in the wider world, you can actually pick what you want.

jbay808 4y ago
Did you ever consider contacting the people responsible for the selection and making a request? They were probably just going by their best guess.
gwbas1c 4y ago
> At least when you are paying the money yourself in the wider world, you can actually pick what you want Office vending machines have the same problem. If I want a specific item with me, I bring it.