Comments on: Move over traveling salesman… http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/ Where the urethane hits the pavement Mon, 10 Oct 2011 13:34:18 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: seth vidal http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/comment-page-1/#comment-19141 seth vidal Tue, 06 May 2008 02:10:50 +0000 http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/#comment-19141 The flavia coffee/flavor/etc dispensers are unbelievably wasteful. Each one is individually wrapped and contained and I don't believe they make those items in a recyclable plastic. At least they didn't the last time I saw one. The flavia coffee/flavor/etc dispensers are unbelievably wasteful. Each one is individually wrapped and contained and I don’t believe they make those items in a recyclable plastic. At least they didn’t the last time I saw one.

]]> By: Federico Mena-Quintero http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/comment-page-1/#comment-19138 Federico Mena-Quintero Mon, 05 May 2008 17:20:40 +0000 http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/#comment-19138 Coffee-in-the-office is a Hard Problem(tm). Things that make it hard: - Number of people who want coffee --- the load problem you describe. - (Lack of) knowledgeability in operating the machines. Who refills the thing? What if they do it improperly? Who cleans the machines? I'm appalled at all the "pod"-type machines and their incredible amounts of discarded, non-compostable packaging that the pods generate. This sucks because they *are* the easiest to operate. - Pickiness among the coffee lovers. You have the "coffee is coffee" crowd, all the way up to the people who refuse to drink anything below latte art. "Federico, you know how to work the espresso machine, so please make me a capuccino" just doesn't scale. Predictably, Federico will probably refuse to drink some shitty drip coffee prepared by a random person :) When I used to visit the Novell Boston office, I was this close -)(- to buying one of those small, electric moka pots. I could have had good coffee for myself, and it would have enough capacity so that sharing an ocassional cup with a coworker wouldn’t be a problem. Maybe the solution is for small teams to share a medium-sized coffee machine, and have $experienced_teammate operate it, but just so that that wouldn’t be a job by itself Coffee-in-the-office is a Hard Problem(tm). Things that make it hard:

- Number of people who want coffee — the load problem you describe.

- (Lack of) knowledgeability in operating the machines. Who refills the thing? What if they do it improperly? Who cleans the machines? I’m appalled at all the “pod”-type machines and their incredible amounts of discarded, non-compostable packaging that the pods generate. This sucks because they *are* the easiest to operate.

- Pickiness among the coffee lovers. You have the “coffee is coffee” crowd, all the way up to the people who refuse to drink anything below latte art. “Federico, you know how to work the espresso machine, so please make me a capuccino” just doesn’t scale. Predictably, Federico will probably refuse to drink some shitty drip coffee prepared by a random person :)

When I used to visit the Novell Boston office, I was this close -)(- to buying one of those small, electric moka pots. I could have had good coffee for myself, and it would have enough capacity so that sharing an ocassional cup with a coworker wouldn’t be a problem.

Maybe the solution is for small teams to share a medium-sized coffee machine, and have $experienced_teammate operate it, but just so that that wouldn’t be a job by itself

]]> By: Joseph http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/comment-page-1/#comment-19137 Joseph Mon, 05 May 2008 17:12:32 +0000 http://www.j5live.com/2008/05/05/move-over-traveling-salesman/#comment-19137 Assuming the higher-end coffee maker indeed takes significantly more cost in the long-run when there's less use, the solution is to buy several of the lower-end coffee makers. Spread the load across them and they'll keep working with reduced individual load. Once the surge has ended, sell the redundant makers and reclaim some of the cost. Assuming the higher-end coffee maker indeed takes significantly more cost in the long-run when there’s less use, the solution is to buy several of the lower-end coffee makers. Spread the load across them and they’ll keep working with reduced individual load. Once the surge has ended, sell the redundant makers and reclaim some of the cost.

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