Heated toilet seats!
Yep, that is an enduring impression that I will take away from my visit to Google’s offices – heated toilet seats; that and the slide from one floor to another that went down the stairwell :o)
I was very excited to have been offered the opportunity to visit Google while I was in town. It was immediately obvious that Google’s offices have a completely different ambiance to Microsoft – there was lots of open plan floor space, lots of spots of primary color, and fun names for meeting rooms – it was much lighter and brighter than many of the buildings that I have visited at Redmond and the view was amazing (there was even one of those coin operated pedestal binoculars, but it didn’t require coins). Sadly I didn’t dare to ask if I could take any pictures of the offices to share with my readers.
To my hosts – thank you! It was time well spent and enjoyed, and I hope we get the opportunity to meet again some time in the not to distant future.
Edit: Yes, yes, I know... this posting is pure fluff but what can I say - I signed an NDA :-D