Obviously, this makes a major impact on people's lives, so it's important to question the value of spending all those long hours confined in one space.

Jason Freid, founder of 37signals, a company that develops web-based collaboration apps for small businesses, and co-author of the book, “Rework”, gave a great TED talk on how the office can be harmful to productivity (h/t office space for rent).

In a nutshell: