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Computer programmers have a fixation on treadmills other sedentary hobbyists don't have. I have a treadmill behind the main TV couch in my house, and I sometim
by VLM 12y ago
Computer programmers have a fixation on treadmills other sedentary hobbyists don't have.
I have a treadmill behind the main TV couch in my house, and I sometimes use it while the TV is on. I don't watch much TV with the result that I don't walk on the treadmill very much, but it does sometimes happen.
The main treadmill problem I can see is they're not really compatible with little kids or small animals WRT obvious hazard, so for a variety of reasons its only recently that I can safely use mine without any worry. This focus does fit in with the stereotype that startups are really good at solving 25 year old kid problems, not so good at the other 90% of the population. What doesn't fit in is a stereotypical startup kid would live in a tiny apartment and the "whiiiiiir" would drive the other inmates crazy pretty quickly, to say nothing of the horrible open office fad, if my treadmill takes up 3ft x 6ft or so area and a fad style open office only allocates a 2ft x 2ft space per person this is a problem.
I have no complaint with this implementation and anytime I see someone do carpentry I like it. I'm just commenting on the general fascination with treadmills and desks seen on HN, its kinda funny.
- tspike 12y agoThere's also something deliciously ironic about literally being on a treadmill while you're working. It's a metaphor we often use to describe the feeling of not getting anything done, or working just for the sake of working.
- VLM 12y agoThere is truth in that. However why are computer programmers utterly fascinated with the concept, but not, for example, accountants? Or stock traders? Or customer service? Those seem like even more stereotypically cyclical jobs. I propose the analogy of the "endless loop" of the treadmill and endless loop software bugs.