The build system we have now is significantly better than what was available at the time he mentioned (September 2007). IIRC back then the local machine was a significant bottleneck in dispatching work, storing intermediate build products, and running tests. If you weren't around then, send me a mail from your work address and I'll tell you about when we had to walk uphill both ways in the snow.

Now, build times are not a major loss of productivity for me. In fairness, I don't work on the same system he was working on, and presumably not the same as you either.