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Your comment reminds me of all the people screeching about their good school district, as if it is somehow capable of covering for them if they choose to be a c

Your comment reminds me of all the people screeching about their good school district, as if it is somehow capable of covering for them if they choose to be a crap parent. In both cases the stuff people are fussing over is basically a rounding error compared to the big factors. Beyond some basic utility, e.g. being able to compile the code in under 5min, the hardware one uses is of negligible impact to their success. A developer will succeed or fail based on their training, mentorship, the nature of the tasks they are given, and all the other more social and interpersonal facets of the business they fine themselves in. A glitchy mouse won't make them or break them.

_dain_ 4y ago
>A glitchy mouse won't make them or break them. It can break my god damn wrist joints if I have to use it all day. Speaking from experience.
The-Bus 4y ago
A glitchy mouse sends the message that a company is not willing to spend $35 on a mid-tier Logitech mouse for the benefit of a resource they are likely spending six figures on (not just in salary but other costs). If they are making this easily fixable mistake, imagine what else they're doing poorly.
- throwaway0a5e 4y ago
  A company isn't going to go all out on everything all the time. That an unending task. At any given time you are going to be putting up with something that's less than ideal in the workplace. Maybe the mouses will suck. Maybe the coffee machine will be broken. Maybe the test server will be a slug. There will be something to complain about all the time if that's what you want to do. All of these can be construed as some "signal" but you're basically just reading noise.
criddell 4y ago
Don Norman has has found that attractive things work better[1]. While it’s not exactly the same, I think giving your employee some freedom to choose the gear they use is probably money well spent. [1]: https://jnd.org/emotion_design_attractive_things_work_better/ https://jnd.org/emotion_design_attractive_things_work_better...
RHSeeger 4y ago
A glitchy mouse or bad keyboard will definitely make or break a developer's productivity. I can only spend so long correctly typos before it starts to negatively impact my mental state. And since so much of my job is building mental models of things, that is a direct impact to my productivity. I experience it every time I'm forced to use the keyboard/trackpad on my mac (because I can't type effectively on membrane keyboards).
josephd79 4y ago
I see your point. I believe that if someone is trying to do a job and their equipment is "glitchy" or some other technical issue it effects their morale. Low morale = lower quality of work.

_dain_ 4y ago

>A glitchy mouse won't make them or break them. It can break my god damn wrist joints if I have to use it all day. Speaking from experience.

The-Bus 4y ago

A glitchy mouse sends the message that a company is not willing to spend $35 on a mid-tier Logitech mouse for the benefit of a resource they are likely spending six figures on (not just in salary but other costs). If they are making this easily fixable mistake, imagine what else they're doing poorly.

throwaway0a5e 4y ago
A company isn't going to go all out on everything all the time. That an unending task. At any given time you are going to be putting up with something that's less than ideal in the workplace. Maybe the mouses will suck. Maybe the coffee machine will be broken. Maybe the test server will be a slug. There will be something to complain about all the time if that's what you want to do. All of these can be construed as some "signal" but you're basically just reading noise.

criddell 4y ago

Don Norman has has found that attractive things work better[1]. While it’s not exactly the same, I think giving your employee some freedom to choose the gear they use is probably money well spent. [1]: https://jnd.org/emotion_design_attractive_things_work_better/ https://jnd.org/emotion_design_attractive_things_work_better...

RHSeeger 4y ago

A glitchy mouse or bad keyboard will definitely make or break a developer's productivity. I can only spend so long correctly typos before it starts to negatively impact my mental state. And since so much of my job is building mental models of things, that is a direct impact to my productivity. I experience it every time I'm forced to use the keyboard/trackpad on my mac (because I can't type effectively on membrane keyboards).

josephd79 4y ago

I see your point. I believe that if someone is trying to do a job and their equipment is "glitchy" or some other technical issue it effects their morale. Low morale = lower quality of work.