I too certainly got this holier-than-thou sense from reading the article, and I also felt that it missed the point.
Pair programming doesn't work for everyone not because of those pretty dumb reasons. Pair programming doesn't work for everyone because not everyone is the same in their thought processes. Personally, I'm a very outgoing guy and when working with a team on a problem I love to throw ideas around and, if I'm the more knowledgeable one of the group, teach. But I know for sure that some people would rather work alone on a problem, and if that's what gets a problem done quicker and more efficiently, power to that person!
I was hoping this article would dive into the more social aspects of pair programming, but nope. Instead it was "your hardware sucks" or "your company sucks".
Apart from the fact that we're still missing a serious study of pair programming (isolated from other Agile hooplah), it's also a false dichotomy. Isolated damsel programmer in the ivory cubicle vs. paired mind meld.
I would say "Pair programming? Yo, Obie, I already gotta pair!" in my best Andrew Dice Clay manner -- but with a German accent, my best Andrew Dice Clay manner is rather abysmal...
Pair programming doesn't work for everyone not because of those pretty dumb reasons. Pair programming doesn't work for everyone because not everyone is the same in their thought processes. Personally, I'm a very outgoing guy and when working with a team on a problem I love to throw ideas around and, if I'm the more knowledgeable one of the group, teach. But I know for sure that some people would rather work alone on a problem, and if that's what gets a problem done quicker and more efficiently, power to that person!
I was hoping this article would dive into the more social aspects of pair programming, but nope. Instead it was "your hardware sucks" or "your company sucks".