This guy came to his senses about multiple monitors
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
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I think it's just in how you use the monitors. For the shiny-object types having different apps open on different monitors may well be distracting. I get distracted pretty easy myself, but I use multiple monitors properly for my personality type. When I'm in Visual Studio, that's all that's open on both monitors. Code on one, undocked palettes on the other. When I'm in Outlook, that's all that's open on both monitors. Inbox on one, new message on the other. Repeat ad nauseum.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
John C wrote:
you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet.
You got it. Hereby I publicly admit I use two monitors only because it is cool in spite of the obvious loss of productivity that hits my employer.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
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John C wrote:
you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet.
You got it. Hereby I publicly admit I use two monitors only because it is cool in spite of the obvious loss of productivity that hits my employer.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
If multiple monitors cause a loss of productivity, just replace them with one really big monitor ... 4 x 20" gets replaced with an 80" job ... yea, that should do it :laugh:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
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My previous employer/boss insisted that everybody use 4 monitors. It was sweet. At the current job I have a measly 2. At home 3. Take that productivity.
thrakazog wrote:
My previous employer/boss insisted that everybody use 4 monitors
That's how I got introduced to multiple monitors. My former boss requested that everybody uses dual monitors and that was it. In my opinion, multiple monitors really have very little impact on productivity, one way or another.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
I find it hilarious that he wasted so much time setting up his distraction free environment. For example, moving the caravan into position:
The last 100 meters took about 500 times as much time as that first mile
He could have probably kept all the distractions and still finished the job earlier.
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If multiple monitors cause a loss of productivity, just replace them with one really big monitor ... 4 x 20" gets replaced with an 80" job ... yea, that should do it :laugh:
Steve _________________ I C(++) therefore I am
You'd only need a 40 to do that (an 80 would have the area of 16 20's), unfortunately the only consumerish screens in that size are low resolution TVs. A 30" 2560x1600 display can do 90% of what 2 20's are capable of though. the main limitation is that you're only able to open 2 apps at once in portrait mode and not all apps work well in that layout (eg too narrow for VS unless you autohide everything X| ). Also you loose the 2 apps at once benefit on apps that do benefit from the big screen. eg outlook with message and preview panes side by side.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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I run my apps on one monitor and debug on the other. This way, screen updates don't affect my debug session (or vice versa). I also frequently find something I need on google, and leave the browser up on the secondary monitor while I work on the first one.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997I use dual monitors exactly as John does, but if I were to add a third I definitely agree that what I would inevitably put there would be a distraction.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
If you have ADD and *can't* control yourself more distractions are a problem; can't control yourself is the problem though. You can distract your way to uselessness tabbing back and forth on a single screen (BTDT GTTS). The trick is knowing how to ignore distractions so you are able to use the extra screens for the cases where they're helpful and completely ignore then when you don't need them. Having parents who're unwilling to let the quacks drug their kid into a stupor with a vague resemblance to normal is really helpful in learning to do the latter; OTOH there's no reason why those of you who're normal shouldn't be able to do the same (assuming you don't have the ability to do it naturally).
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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I use dual monitors exactly as John does, but if I were to add a third I definitely agree that what I would inevitably put there would be a distraction.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
If I decide I need a 3rd monitor, I'll get one, but that's between me and NewEgg. :) I would like to have a 3rd monitor at work because I have to remote in to other boxes and start jobs running, and it's handy to be able to keep an eye on them...
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997 -
I use dual monitors exactly as John does, but if I were to add a third I definitely agree that what I would inevitably put there would be a distraction.
I wasn't, now I am, then I won't be anymore.
I have 3 at home and find myself barely using the 3rd. 1 20 is a dedicated IRC display. The 30 is outlook, main browser, other major apps. The 2nd 20 is secondary browser, musci player and 10 billion applets. 90% of the time I find myself ignoring one of the 20's completely. At work the only major case where I could see 3 full size monitors in need at once involves merging peer review markup into a master document while updating the review form (a 1920x1200 that would let me open 2 docs in portrait side by side might work too). I've thought about an 8/10" USB monitor to park the VS form designer panel on instead of toggling between autohide (code) and pinned (form design), but since that would require spending my money is probably not going to happen any time soon.
3x12=36 2x12=24 1x12=12 0x12=18
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
Multiple monitors really do come handy while debugging. But apart from that, I can't think of a lot of benefits.
"Real men drive manual transmission" - Rajesh.
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
There are a loooot more distractions that hurt productivity than additional monitors. Frankly, if a developer is working on front end or GUI's and only has a single 19" screen, I would question his productivity. I love having dual 24"'s at home. A third would be overkill for what I do at this point. However 2 19"s and a single 24" set up is good for me, one for gui, large one for debugger, and one for browser.
Craigslist Troll: litaly@comcast.net "I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours. " — Hunter S. Thompson
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
I have one monitor with a VS2010 open to a blank file and the other monitor with my browser opened waiting for people to reply to all my urgentz code requests. I also have two keyboards. One will be used to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V once the replies come in (which I know they will). The other one I have one of those birds things whose head goes up and down pressing the F5 key.
Brad Deja Moo - When you feel like you've heard the same bull before.
modified on Wednesday, June 1, 2011 2:25 PM
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
I disagree... I've worked with one, two, three, and briefly four (Currently three), and I've found three to be the most comfortable. The left monitor is for communication-type things (E-mail, company chat) and a few other misc things (Yes, they can blink in the taskbar, but if they're visible, it takes half a second to glance over and see whether it's something I need to respond to)... The middle monitor is where I do most of my coding, and the right monitor for reference material that I have to constantly look at while coding (Spreadsheets, usually). And sometimes, when I'm working on my client and server at the same time, each one gets its own monitor. The only caveat here is that my screens are only 20" or so (Not sure exactly), and 4:3... I think two large widescreen monitors would be almost as good, though it can be annoying to have a vertical bezel in the middle. At home, I'm usually happy with my one 23" widescreen, but I don't do much programming outside of work these days.
Proud to have finally moved to the A-Ark. Which one are you in?
Author of the Guardians Saga (Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels) -
And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
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And the damage they do to productivity which you are all now free to mock me about once again and tell me how wrong I am when secretly you all know I'm right but won't admit it because you think it's just cool to have multiple monitors and the loss of productivity doesn't come out of your own wallet. * ;) http://jacquesmattheij.com/productivity+tips+for+the+easily+distracted[^] * Of course the usual disclaimer that there are at least 3 of you that I know of who actually legitimately need multiple monitors.
There is no failure only feedback
So now your hero is someone who parks a crappy caravan in his back yard? Absurd. I kept quiet when you previously posted this nonsense, concerning this study, which had nothing to do with multiple monitors at all - which you conveniently ignored, and went on to claim in that thread how this study "proved your point". In fact, the only thing it proved was that you didn't read the study very carefully. Since several of the posters in that thread pointed this out to you, I thought we had heard the end of it. But no, here you are touting some guy who parks a caravan in his back yard. OK, John, let's discuss this. First, when you are working, do you sit in a chair that rocks back and forth, or swivels from side to side? Yes? That's very bad, John. A continual source of distractions. What about your desk? Do you have pictures on it? Maybe a Butterfinger in a drawer? Very bad. All this stuff is way too distracting. Do you have a notepad on your desk? Maybe a pen? Or (gasp) a phone? Very, very bad. All distractions, and all must go. Alrighty, now you're left with a monitor (1), a keyboard, a mouse, and a PC. Distractions are minimized, now you can be incredibly productive. If you think this is ridiculous, it is, and so is your take on what is distracting. With one monitor, your screen is covered by windows; Explorer, Firefox, Visual Studio, the app you're trying to debug. When you're in the flow, you don't want to have to constantly flip to the window you need; you want it right there, just move your eyes, it's there. How on earth can you think that anything that helps you write and debug code is a distraction? It's not like the second monitor is showing racy coder babes; it enhances your focus because it eliminates the distraction of uncovering windows, or flipping back and forth between the app you're debugging and the VS editor. Don't you get that, John? Take another look at that report you cited, and tell me exactly where it says that multiple monitors are bad. (I know you can't do this, because it doesn't.) While you're at it, check out these articles: The Programmer's Bill of Rights Multiple-Monitor Productivity: Fact or Fiction?
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So now your hero is someone who parks a crappy caravan in his back yard? Absurd. I kept quiet when you previously posted this nonsense, concerning this study, which had nothing to do with multiple monitors at all - which you conveniently ignored, and went on to claim in that thread how this study "proved your point". In fact, the only thing it proved was that you didn't read the study very carefully. Since several of the posters in that thread pointed this out to you, I thought we had heard the end of it. But no, here you are touting some guy who parks a caravan in his back yard. OK, John, let's discuss this. First, when you are working, do you sit in a chair that rocks back and forth, or swivels from side to side? Yes? That's very bad, John. A continual source of distractions. What about your desk? Do you have pictures on it? Maybe a Butterfinger in a drawer? Very bad. All this stuff is way too distracting. Do you have a notepad on your desk? Maybe a pen? Or (gasp) a phone? Very, very bad. All distractions, and all must go. Alrighty, now you're left with a monitor (1), a keyboard, a mouse, and a PC. Distractions are minimized, now you can be incredibly productive. If you think this is ridiculous, it is, and so is your take on what is distracting. With one monitor, your screen is covered by windows; Explorer, Firefox, Visual Studio, the app you're trying to debug. When you're in the flow, you don't want to have to constantly flip to the window you need; you want it right there, just move your eyes, it's there. How on earth can you think that anything that helps you write and debug code is a distraction? It's not like the second monitor is showing racy coder babes; it enhances your focus because it eliminates the distraction of uncovering windows, or flipping back and forth between the app you're debugging and the VS editor. Don't you get that, John? Take another look at that report you cited, and tell me exactly where it says that multiple monitors are bad. (I know you can't do this, because it doesn't.) While you're at it, check out these articles: The Programmer's Bill of Rights Multiple-Monitor Productivity: Fact or Fiction?
:laugh: Hans, you spent who knows how much time writing this to tell me I don't read and my link in that original post was irrelevant (which it most certainly was not but you sound to me like the sort of person that would criticize Jesus for walking on water: "Pffft! Doesn't know how to swim!") then you go on to link to an article which mirrors my exact argument and casts doubt on multiple monitors (hint, it's your second one and thank you for that, I'll add it to the growing evidence for my argument.).
Hans Dietrich wrote:
But please try to keep this multiple-monitor drivel out of the Lounge.
To call this discussion "drivel" after all the mindless crap that is posted here daily is ludicrous. I'm sorry if you're day is not going well, that I struck a nerve that upset you so greatly and prompted this ill considered diatribe, I'm having a great day and I wish you could as well, but let me be absolutely clear: there is no way in hell that I'm self censoring a well considered and heart felt opinion for you or anyone else. Hans, it's what I believe but I full well know I won't convince anyone who isn't responsible for their own income to even consider the negative side of multiple monitors used irresponsibly and I know people get great fun ribbing me about it so I posted that only out of a sense of humour. The humourless need not reply.
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