I suspect a lot of "private offices for developers because their #1 enemy is distractions" talk is cover for the introverted preferences of many developers. This type of personality sees almost all chit-chat as inherently distracting.
I have been in the seemingly unusual position of being a highly extroverted - dare I say, socially dependent? - developer and technician in my career. As such, I found it gratifying to be able to talk to my coworkers easily both from a workflow perspective and, well, just to socialise. It has led to some enduring professional and personal relationships that have lasted long beyond my past jobs themselves, and has formed the basis of a number of key business opportunities for me.
So, I think a more outgoing person is more likely to find some satisfaction in being able to talk to others easily, instead of consciously having to leave his/her secluded office and wander around--looking conspicuously unproductive in ways considered uncouth in corporate America--for that purpose. Such a person is also going to find it easier to manage the distractions posed by others in more natural, intuitive, fluid ways than awkwardly putting on headphones or demonstratively ignoring someone.
There are ways to make people around you go away or pipe down without confirming their ugly stereotype of developers as Asperger's geeks; for clues, if this behaviour does not strike you as self-evident, take a look at how people in more managerial, sales-y and marketing roles do it. They say things like, "Well! I need to get back to this (gestures to screen), I'll catch up with you in a while," or, "Excuse me, I really gotta call this guy back..." That's congenial code for GTFO; it does rely on your companion to get the message, but you'd have to be dealing with some pretty thick people for them to be oblivious to the GTFO part.
That said, I definitely understand and sympathise with the plight of those stuck in noisy cubicle farms replete with salespeople and ringing phones, the sort of suit-driven sardine floor plan that inspired this whole "offices for developers" movement. To appreciate what I have to say above without running for the hills screaming, you definitely need to be in a basically manageable noise, people and traffic situation and have fundamentally reasonable coworkers and management, from the perspective of a technical implementor.
Cubicles are the worst of both worlds, where you have the noise of open floor plan, but not the collaboration. You have the social isolation of private offices, but not the real focus-inducing solitude.
I have been in the seemingly unusual position of being a highly extroverted - dare I say, socially dependent? - developer and technician in my career. As such, I found it gratifying to be able to talk to my coworkers easily both from a workflow perspective and, well, just to socialise. It has led to some enduring professional and personal relationships that have lasted long beyond my past jobs themselves, and has formed the basis of a number of key business opportunities for me.
So, I think a more outgoing person is more likely to find some satisfaction in being able to talk to others easily, instead of consciously having to leave his/her secluded office and wander around--looking conspicuously unproductive in ways considered uncouth in corporate America--for that purpose. Such a person is also going to find it easier to manage the distractions posed by others in more natural, intuitive, fluid ways than awkwardly putting on headphones or demonstratively ignoring someone.
There are ways to make people around you go away or pipe down without confirming their ugly stereotype of developers as Asperger's geeks; for clues, if this behaviour does not strike you as self-evident, take a look at how people in more managerial, sales-y and marketing roles do it. They say things like, "Well! I need to get back to this (gestures to screen), I'll catch up with you in a while," or, "Excuse me, I really gotta call this guy back..." That's congenial code for GTFO; it does rely on your companion to get the message, but you'd have to be dealing with some pretty thick people for them to be oblivious to the GTFO part.
That said, I definitely understand and sympathise with the plight of those stuck in noisy cubicle farms replete with salespeople and ringing phones, the sort of suit-driven sardine floor plan that inspired this whole "offices for developers" movement. To appreciate what I have to say above without running for the hills screaming, you definitely need to be in a basically manageable noise, people and traffic situation and have fundamentally reasonable coworkers and management, from the perspective of a technical implementor.