It sounds old fashioned, but I have to agree. I look at my parents -- my mom worked 16 hour shifts in a hospital with no natural light for almost 40 years. She was doing work that touched people in life or death situations; a far cry from many of the apps we're building.

She never complained. Yet we find problems sitting for 8 hours in an Aeron chair drinking micro-brew coffee with the freedom to check out Facebook or Amazon whenever we want.

Was my mom unhappy? Nope, she loved her job. Was she tired and burned-out at times? Absolutely. I think a lot of this has to do with perspective.