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If the snacks are provided by the company: -I don't have to carry change/cash. -I don't have to deal with a vending machine that will fail to give me what I w

If the snacks are provided by the company: -I don't have to carry change/cash. -I don't have to deal with a vending machine that will fail to give me what I want 2% of the time. -If something that I want is not there, I can ask the boss to get it next time rather than hoping for a machine to be restocked (probably by a vendor that may or may not carry what I want). -The price of soda/snacks never changes. -If I ask my neighbor to grab a soda for me, there's no need for her or me to keep a mental account of gifts. EDIT: Typing too fast; missed a word

benjamincburns 13y ago
- I'm more likely to skip lunch when I'm enthralled with solving a problem, since I can just grab a snack when I finally snap out of it.
jrs99 13y ago
exactly. It's all about producing a frictionless environment for your workers so they can actually be massively productive. Especially when a machine break down, takes your dollar, and makes you go to your car to look for some change. Then when you get back with quarters instead of bills, and the machine STILL doesn't work, that is just more friction and a waste of your brain thinking about these issues. At home, you have to remind yourself to bring a drink in case the machine isn't working, and bring enough change to get as many drinks as you need. The best coders, in my experience, are very sensitive. They understand what great quality is. One little thing is off, and it will bug them. That's what makes them great.
- ameister14 13y ago
  That or you spend an hour figuring out what's broken about the machine.
namdnay 13y ago
I've never worked somewhere with "free non-lunchtime calories" (i.e. not tea and coffee). Wouldn't this encourage unhealthy consumption? Rather like the "fixed monthly cost eat as much as you want 24/7" cafeterias in many US universities. I know, it's your own responsibility etc etc, but surely an abundance of free stuff will encourage over-consumption. Especially if you factor the psychological "if I don't eat it I'm getting stiffed" factor.
- MartinCron 13y ago
  Wouldn't this encourage unhealthy consumption? Speaking from experience: yes, yes it does.
- usefulcat 13y ago
  Probably, or at least it is an enabler of unhealthy consumption. But I think that's also somewhat beside the point, which is that free stuff has a positive psychological effect even on those who aren't making use of it.
- praptak 13y ago
  "'We warn Nooglers, which are new employees, that they should expect to gain weight during their first six months,' Welle said today during the inaugural Wired.com Health Conference here." Yeah, Noogler weight gain is a known phenomenon: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/17/google-employees-eat-better http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/17/google-employ...
  - jsolson 13y ago
    For what it's worth, this can go both ways. Since starting at Google I've managed to lose a good amount of weight due to increased availability of healthy(ish) snacks (free bananas and mandarins in the MK!) and the buffet style lunches. <rambling> How do the buffet style lunches help? Glad you asked. When I have a plate of food in front of me, I eat everything that's on the plate. I may set out to do otherwise, and I'll even manage to avoid it in my first pass, but in the ensuing conversation over lunch I'll gradually nibble at the remains until everything is gone. However, if I simply take less food, there's nothing to nibble. Now, I was also making an active effort to lose weight before this, and it requires a conscious choice to eat the healthier options made available to us (as there are plenty of unhealthy options). Compared to my previous gig, though, I've found it much easier to make good choices, diet wise, at Google. </rambling>

benjamincburns 13y ago

- I'm more likely to skip lunch when I'm enthralled with solving a problem, since I can just grab a snack when I finally snap out of it.

jrs99 13y ago

exactly. It's all about producing a frictionless environment for your workers so they can actually be massively productive. Especially when a machine break down, takes your dollar, and makes you go to your car to look for some change. Then when you get back with quarters instead of bills, and the machine STILL doesn't work, that is just more friction and a waste of your brain thinking about these issues. At home, you have to remind yourself to bring a drink in case the machine isn't working, and bring enough change to get as many drinks as you need. The best coders, in my experience, are very sensitive. They understand what great quality is. One little thing is off, and it will bug them. That's what makes them great.

ameister14 13y ago
That or you spend an hour figuring out what's broken about the machine.

namdnay 13y ago

I've never worked somewhere with "free non-lunchtime calories" (i.e. not tea and coffee). Wouldn't this encourage unhealthy consumption? Rather like the "fixed monthly cost eat as much as you want 24/7" cafeterias in many US universities. I know, it's your own responsibility etc etc, but surely an abundance of free stuff will encourage over-consumption. Especially if you factor the psychological "if I don't eat it I'm getting stiffed" factor.

MartinCron 13y ago
Wouldn't this encourage unhealthy consumption? Speaking from experience: yes, yes it does.
usefulcat 13y ago
Probably, or at least it is an enabler of unhealthy consumption. But I think that's also somewhat beside the point, which is that free stuff has a positive psychological effect even on those who aren't making use of it.
praptak 13y ago
"'We warn Nooglers, which are new employees, that they should expect to gain weight during their first six months,' Welle said today during the inaugural Wired.com Health Conference here." Yeah, Noogler weight gain is a known phenomenon: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/17/google-employees-eat-better http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2012-10/17/google-employ...
- jsolson 13y ago
  For what it's worth, this can go both ways. Since starting at Google I've managed to lose a good amount of weight due to increased availability of healthy(ish) snacks (free bananas and mandarins in the MK!) and the buffet style lunches. <rambling> How do the buffet style lunches help? Glad you asked. When I have a plate of food in front of me, I eat everything that's on the plate. I may set out to do otherwise, and I'll even manage to avoid it in my first pass, but in the ensuing conversation over lunch I'll gradually nibble at the remains until everything is gone. However, if I simply take less food, there's nothing to nibble. Now, I was also making an active effort to lose weight before this, and it requires a conscious choice to eat the healthier options made available to us (as there are plenty of unhealthy options). Compared to my previous gig, though, I've found it much easier to make good choices, diet wise, at Google. </rambling>