One of my fondest memories was beating our old HP printer to death with the baseball bat we keep for potential intruders. I now print at the local library and regret the beating incident less and less every year.

I feel similarly. My job uses all kinds of 2FA and email-chain nonsense that pretty much require me to keep one as well. I’m starting to learn how to retrofit a special half-dumb phone to do those required things, but it’s quite a process compared to what George Clooney got to do

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I do think there is some evidence that companies are just doing that stuff regardless. There’s a “speedup” I think I’ve seen it called, a push to do more with fewer people and make basic benefits feel more like a privilege.

My company fortunately did not issue RTO mandates but has taken to requiring people to work watched in a Zoom room all day and explain any bathroom trips longer than 3 minutes. That’s where I think the real estate angle becomes relevant, probably the only reason my workplace went the other direction and full-remote is that a) we’re stalking people on zoom now and timing their #2s and b) we’re midsize with few close corporate relatives, and leased all our space previously. We have no other skin in the game besides saving a massive overhead cost

I gotta say as an American I really appreciate some of these recent things the EU is doing with privacy. They seem to have a bigger impact here than any actions American politicians come up with, which is depressing, but still deeply appreciated