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points by bagacrap 2 days ago | 0 comments

What is the reason you couldnt use your laptop on the beach to do work in 2019? Probably mainly that you are either working or enjoying nature, not both, and if you're working, then an office with reliable Internet, no wind or sun in your face, etc, is more suitable/efficient.

Put another way: if my twin and I are both working at competing firms doing the same job, but I do it via satellite phone while hiking the PCT and he does it from in front of a keyboard, there is no way he's not getting more done, even with AI. The bandwidth of voice/text to speech is a tiny fraction of visual.

[–] oxavier 1 day ago

Thanks for asking! I have had pain in my back and and shoulders and hands from being deskbound since I was 18 and it is a constant balancing act to get in enough exercise to offset the work in front of the computer. I have also used standing desks, 500$ ergonomic keyboards, and forced remote work during covid was a godsend because I could take regular breaks to pace my living room while I was worried to be perceived as unfocused if I did this in the open space. Speaking of living room, working on my TV from a distance of 2m alleviated eye strain too, compared to using the laptop screen or even a secondary monitor at my desk.

Believe it or not, it was not practical to take my gear into nature haha. But with the advent of agentic coding (and stt solutions like handy), I can be productive with much less typing and equipment.

I have considered leaving the tech sector because of the aforementioned friction, and just like in my message above, I don't think we are considering the same dilemmas. OP said work vs contemplation, I said indoor work vs outdoor work. You mention productivity trade-offs, but for me working in tech used to feel physically unsustainable.

Cheers