The Couch: A Retrospective FAQ

What is The Couch: A Retrospective?
The Couch: A Retrospective is a photo essay that documents the life and times of a very comfortable, odd-colored piece of office furniture that was destined for storage. Fortunately, it found a temporary home in my office-- temporary because I had the office for only five months.

The Couch: A Retrospective represents a celebration of the progress of my career at MacUser. It also records the life and times of a modern, office environment in the fast paced world of Silicon Valley. It is a symbol of how people in a business environment need to creatively express themselves. It is art for the new millenium.

OK, OK-- it's really just me goofing off with my friends, coworkers, and a camera.

How did you come up with the idea?
During the second week of my office stay, I was sitting on The Couch with Diane. We were talking about the length of my office stay (I knew that I would have the office for only five months), when I spotted a Polaroid camera that someone had left on my bookcase. That's when the idea of a photo essay was born.

This site should not be confused with another web site called The Couch.

Why did you have the office for only five months?
The company I worked for moved from the Metro Tower in Foster City to the Bechtel building in San Francisco. The new building has fewer offices, so I lost my office and had to go back to a cubicle.

Is MacUser still around? I never see it on the newsstand.
Nope. MacUser-- as a magazine in the United States-- is gone. Ziff-Davis and IDG decided to merge Macworld and MacUser to create a new Mac magazine with the old Macworld title. Both staffs were merged to create a new Macworld staff. International versions of MacUser still exist.

MacUser had a unique office environment. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed working there. During the merger, I decided to leave. I'm still friends with many of the new Macworld staff.

What eventually happened to The Couch?
The Couch became a vagabond. First, it found a temporary home with Jeff Pittelkau. Second, after the MacUser/Macworld merger, The Couch found a home in the Macworld Labs. Third, Macworld moved to a new office, which unfortunately left out The Couch. From what I've heard, The Couch finally found a home in either a Ziff-Davis or IDG warehouse.

I hope that someday I'll run into The Couch again, maybe in some lobby, maybe in some CEO's corner office. The Couch deserves a good view and some company.

Hey, that dude/chick is really cute. Can you give me their phone number or email address?
Sorry, but I can't do that. What do I look like, a dating service? Besides, chances are that that person is married or is currently in a serious relationship. The personal information about everyone is kept confidential.

Do you have lots of free time or what?
Actually, I don't have a lot of free time. Fortunately, this Web site found a use as fodder for me to learn HTML. How many times have you said, "I want to try building a web site, but I need content"?).

People were really enthusiastic about The Couch: A Retrospective. I had tons of fun with it. I hope you do too.