> With most (all?) of the big companies following the same path, I think it's safe to assume the data points to the same conclusion

That is, at best, very weak evidence supporting your conclusion.

I agree, by the way, that humans do work better together. That doesn't mean, however, that humans work better in an office environment. There are huge drawbacks to that environment that may very well exceed the benefit of physical proximity.

"Humans work better together" is a very different assertion than "humans work better in offices".

Given how I’ve worked and the developers I’ve worked with over the decades, marketeers or managers might work better in bunches but peace and quiet serves the developers. Offices with a door, few interruptions, etc. Rands has talked about being in the zone when working and anything that favours that should be provided by companies interested in software people.

> That is, at best, very weak evidence supporting your conclusion.

Please see the definition of "assume" to help you interpret what I wrote in a way that's closer to what I wrote/was trying to communicate.

Please also see the last sentence, that you missed entirely:

> It would be very interesting to see their rational.

This sentence strongly implies, nearly directly states, that I, in fact, do NOT know their rational.

What's your opinion? Why do you think they're all converging on the same policies? Do you think they're acting irrationally in opposition of data, or without data?