The Other Pong 98
theodp writes "Before there was Pong, there was Ping-Pong. Table tennis began in 19th-century Victorian England as a parlor game for the upper-middle class, with cigar box lids used as paddles. Today, as BusinessInsider half-joked, federal law requires all tech startups to have a functional ping pong table. Photographer Alec Soth discusses his love of the game in a NY Times interview and shares some vintage photos of the sport from his new limited-edition book Ping Pong. So, why do people — especially lots of computer programmers — get obsessed with Ping-Pong? Table tennis is 'a way to do a physical sport that has actual athletic qualities but is kind of contained,' explains Soth. 'There's a real mental element to it. It's not chess, but your brain is engaged. It's a break from neuroses.'" As workplace stress relief games go, a ping-pong table is also a lot easier to carry than an air hockey set-up or a bowling alley.
Bong Pong (Score:1)
So, why do people — especially lots of computer programmers — get obsessed with Ping-Pong?
It's the bong hits, stupid.
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kinky
asdf (Score:1)
I had a job interview, for a job at a technical university, on a ping pong table. Was pretty cool.
Re:asdf (Score:5, Funny)
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Was being able to play table tennis considered a qualification, or the only qualification?
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"why do people - especially xyz..." (Score:5, Insightful)
A sufficiently large group of people will have lots of members obsessed with almost any well-known pastime you can think of.
A homogeneous group is likely to randomly have certain obsessions tip over critical mass, and then it's just a matter of fitting in.
There's not always a peculiar explanation for everything, you know.
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the startups I've been at did not have a ping pong table. Foosball and pool, yes. Also, I interviewed at a place that mentioned they had bowling league most employees belonged (yes, in Chicago)
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I know I haven't been a regular "employed" person for over decade so don't really have to give a fuck, but I can't bear the idea of semi-forced socialisation with colleagues at a private company. They're there to profit from my work, and I'm there to collect a salary.
Now, I'll do *solidarity* all the way, but that will be based on my voluntary interaction with my peers, not on management initiative. If anyone mentioned socialisation at interview, I'd be concerned.
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Yeah, you may be right, I am out of touch with the whole employee jazz.
Also for using "jazz".
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Ping Pong is particularly good as a choice because it's a great way to beef up the cerebellum with all that cross body coordination. Plus, it's fairly cheap, the main expense being the room you put it in. Balls are cheap and tend to last a long time, same goes for the paddles.
It's also a great way of developing focus and clearing the brain when you get stuck in a rut.
Obviously, there are other choices that have merits, it's just that Ping Pong is pretty efficient.
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It's also a very physical game and I don't want sweaty people in my office.
Play table football or pool or something instead. You know, a game where you can actually share information and discuss random shite while playing, rather than bouncing around like a demented kitten on acid.
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To me it's the ultimate combination of physical and mental efforts, problem-solving, and working towards reaching a goal.
Rent a fucking helicopter. Problem solved.
Then solve conflict in the Middle East. _That's_ a physical and mental problem to solve.
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maybe that's because you belong to a rock climbing club and know only hipster coders(evident by the fact that they can rock climb). I would play ping pong if I had the chance. Problem with ping pong is that unless you got someone to play with who can at least somewhat match your skills then it's useless to play it. we used to play with friends and my brother a lot when I was younger - even had a ping pong table in my room for couple of years(was great for lan parties too!).
anyhow, rock climbers tend to want
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Wiff (Score:1)
Waff
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Gamers (Score:1)
Maybe it's because table tennis is the closest thing to a computer game that is socially acceptable at work.
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Maybe it's because table tennis is the closest thing to a computer game that is socially acceptable at work.
There's fifty percent of ping and fifty percent of Pong in it. The perfect computer smoothie!
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I know a hot blond babe who is a great ping pong player. She has excellent muscle tone and a nice figure thanks to this game.
The only shortcoming I've seen is that the table is a bit flimsy for having sex on between games compared to a pool table.
Easier to carry? (Score:2)
Even folded up, a ping pong table is much bigger than a air hockey table.
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A decent ping pong table will fold up and roll to the side of the room. If you want to play it takes like 5 minutes to set up, and if you need the room for a meeting, it takes about 5 minutes to fold up and slide to the end of the room. Or, you just take the net down, and use it as a table.
As opposed to pool, where you absolutely have to put something over the top of it, because it's not going anywhere, between the weight and the very specific requirements to maintain a level playing surface.
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You don't have to move just the table tennis table to set it up, but what was already there. Which makes it a heck of a lot less practical, because that has to be portable and store in little space too. Good luck stowing a typical conference table and set of high back chairs in the same space as the table tennis table went.
Then there's the space requirements beyond the actual table. You need a fair amount of room for the game to be enjoyable. For recreational purposes (which has a lot less space requir
cheaper than pool table (Score:1)
At every startup I have ever worked, folks wanted a pool table but when management found out what they cost we ended up with a ping pong table.
Same thing with office space. Everyone wants a good space where you can get work done during regular hours but when you price out offices or even cubicles the BS about "communication" and "collaboration" comes out to justify the open plan office.
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You obviously are either in great shape already and play with people who can barely return the ball, or don't play table tennis. It's a pretty good workout, akin to tennis. You are moving a shorter distance (but quickly!) and swinging a lighter paddle, but the volleys are much faster, so you are constantly moving. I get as good a workout from table tennis as from tennis, just in a smaller space. Darts? You stand still and use a beer in the offhand for balance. No comparison.
Unlike foosball/air hockey, insta
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So much this. It's a great competitive activity for programmers/developers/nerds who don't generally have the most athletic ability. Dare I say it's almost gender neutral as it places a lot more emphasis on hand-eye coordination and quick reflexes rather than any real amount of strength.
I used to play against my mom when I was still in high school and she would regularly slaughter me without even trying. She'd have me chasing her returns from one side of the table to the other and then finish the volley
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Why does everyone plot "learning curves" with experience on the independent axis?
No ping-pong obession here... (Score:3)
Maybe other things, but the two long-lived small companies that I've been a founder of have had no ping-pong tables or other sporting paraphernalia: many of us simply didn't enjoy 'compulsory' group activities/fun and still don't.
Rgds
Damon
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Yes, that may indeed fall into the "heroically trying too hard" behaviour that many people in this space exhibit.
Me? I'm just an idle bum... And hate sport... and any other opportunity for bullying and grandstanding...
Rgds
Damon
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Gee, the founder doesn't like X and (presumably) gets to determine where the money is spent -> nobody else gets to play X (and say they don't like it either)
ping-pong and Thorazine (Score:4, Interesting)
My psychiatric training, including playing ping-pong with patients, was invaluable at an early start-up. Being good enough to *lose*, at will, while making the other person feel as if they'd earned the win was as much of an art form as playing with patients overdosed on Thorazine. They can get "tardive diskinesea", where physical motions are profoundly delayed from when they're intended, and aiming the ball to where their paddle will wind up, so that the game can continue cheefully, was the kind of skill needed to realize you *have* to leave bugs in your code so the system architect will feel empowered by fixing them, and will stay the hell out of insisting that you rewrite everything to some made-up-on-the-spot new scheme that you've already tried and know damn well didn't work 20 years ago, either.
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Mod parent up.
Celebrity endorsement (Score:1)
King Kong played ping pong with his ding dong.
Construction Company (Score:2)
Where I worked a few decades ago. We had a ping pong table. It was great for unrolling blueprints on during working hours.
All this tech-hipster crap aside... (Score:4, Interesting)
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Except that's what it's called.
at the office I work, then get the hell out (Score:1)
No way I feel like spending all my time at work, even if some of it is spent in "ping pong"
I'd rather be outside or at home in my free time
i cant pong. do i have to surrender my K&R? (Score:2)
Only amateurs and idiots (Score:1)
Call it 'ping pong'.
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And there's nothing wrong with being an amateur. Everybody can't make a living out of it, or there would be no one to pay.
Colloquial names for sports are common. We can deal.
If you insist on saying table tennis, pugilism and association football, no one is going to stop you. But others may continue to say ping-pong, boxing and soccer.
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And continue to be uneducated idiots if they do so. The game is not ping-pong, and they are not welcome in the sport if they cant even call it the right thing.
If you are to get on your high horse, next time, make sure you don't climb onto it backwards. It looks very foolish.
The game was known as ping-pong until J. Jaques & Son Ltd. trademarked that name in 1901. Other manufacturers had to come up with different names.
This is pretty much the same situation as with Frisbee and flying disc. The public continues to say ping-pong and frisbee.
There are uneducated idiots, indeed.
I welcome people to play against me whether they say table tennis or ping-pong. If y
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You can shove your nonsense ( and a paddle ) up your ass. I don't accept any 'commoner' name, created by the common folk.
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Are you one of those people who scoffs at "soccer," even though the term originated in England?
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Nasty troll: please go away.
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Bite me, worthless speck of flesh..
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All of China calls it "ping pong" (actually ping pang qiu, but I digress). Doubt you can call them amateurs, as they have professional ping pong leagues.
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I broke someone's arm playing Unihoc once. He was coming at me fast so I just shifted weight and he bounced off my shoulder and into a wall.
It's one of the few games I was any good at; shame I wasn't allowed to play after that.
They missed the obvious (Score:4, Insightful)
Ping pong is attractive to the tech crowd because it can be played indoors.
It's scary out there in the real world with that hot ball burning things from the sky.
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I went the other way: first played ping pong, then some tennis. I go overboard with spin in both.
Foosball (Score:2)
We had a foosball table, too. It got much more use than the ping pong table - it's much easier for beginners to join in games with more experienced players.