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My favorite line: "But, I don’t think this is the only reason Frugality is a core value. Amazon’s focus on customer experience means that they are always tryin
by daveambrose 18y ago
My favorite line:
"But, I don’t think this is the only reason Frugality is a core value. Amazon’s focus on customer experience means that they are always trying to lower prices. If the company can do something more cheaply and pass those savings on to the customer, they will."
- erlanger 18y agoI still don't think that "doors for desks" is the right way to treat your employees, no matter how bargain-crazy your vision.
- blasdel 18y agoI don't think you understand -- doors make terrific desks!
- arupchak 18y agoThe point of the door desk is more than just saving money on a desk. It serves as a constant reminder that you should not spend money on something that does not help your customers. You can argue that this is a bad way to treat your developers, but most people would agree that a desk is a lousy way to spend money instead of, say, having better technical equipment.
- erlanger 18y agoDevelopers are still people, and people do care about aesthetics.
- unalone 18y agoCan you link me to this "doors for desks" thing? This argument's interesting, but I can't say I've ever heard of this before.
- blasdel 18y agoDoors are large, sturdy, finished pieces of flat tree-product. They are very cheap compared to material intended for counters, and are available used for free. They already have a hole (doorknob) for you to put your cables through. For legs you can use some combination of: shelving, filing cabinets, sawhorses, brackets+lumber, and a-la-carte legs. At my parent's software startup they used doors for desks for their whole 20-year run. Be careful though -- with great surface area comes great responsibility! Once my mom's desk clutter reached critical mass, it stayed that way for 15 years (18" deep in the back, 2" in the front).
- dmv 18y agoBasically all desks and tables at Amazon are still door desks, based on the company's origins: * http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/01/early-amazon-door-desks.html http://glinden.blogspot.com/2006/01/early-amazon-door-desks.... * http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/85/bezos_2.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/85/bezos_2.html It is questionable whether in the age of IKEA, the door desk is still truly frugal, but it is a very tangible reminder of the principle. Very tangible, very sturdy.