It’s always interesting to see how the view of the office cubicle changes based on the experience workers have with alternatives. We dug up an old Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article from 2005 titled “Confessions of a Pod Man: A voice cries out from a place even lowlier than the cubicle”. In this humorous editorial piece, Mark Patinkin describes how he and his coworkers gaze with envy at cubicle dwellers with their high walls that provide privacy (and give them a vertical surface to hang stuff on). In his pod, he shares space with three other people – separated only by 6” tall dividers to keep their stuff separate. Mark describes getting to know his pod-mates charming quirks and the Herculean effort it requires to ignore tooth tapping and other noisy habits. His pod of coworkers has a little celebration when one of their number actually graduates to a cubicle. What’s funny about this news clip is that Patinkin is describing the modern open office with its emphasis on collaboration and “getting rid of the walls”. Perhaps office space designers should ask the opinion of a veteran “pod person” who has been longing for a cube of his own for the past 25 years…