Jason, there's an HN Chicago e-mail list. Care to give us a tour of the new space? Would love to see it.

Perhaps it's a contrarian thing?

Most developers use whiteboards, so the exceedingly tasteful folks at 37signals will surely use something more refined.

I love chalkboards. It's a tactile thing. They're more work to keep clean and slower to clean, but I keep a blackboard at home instead of a whiteboard.

I don't like the look or sound of whiteboards. They don't age well either. I love the feel, sound, look, texture, and patina of chalk on a nice dark chalkboard.

True. The space is full of really rich textures. From the different woods we choose, to the felt walls, to the cork and carpet. Plus it's a corner office on the second floor with huge windows - the trees and big sky outside bring a lot of color and texture, too.

Most of the offices I've been in feel cramped to me. Most tech companies are especially cramped with people sitting right next to one another all day long. I'm not a fan of that arrangement.

One of the ideas behind our space was plenty of space for everyone to move around. No one should ever feel cramped while they're working. Feeling cramped is a form of stress - this is meant to be as stress-free a space as possible.