[ufmace]

Beside the point of media narratives, I think it tends to depend on the type of work being done. IMO, it's a lot easier to effectively collaborate remotely on most types of software, particularly cloud/web software. It's much tougher to imagine it working out well for troubleshooting electrical or mechanical issues in hardware prototypes.

There's too many tests that can only be done hands-on and require expensive and delicate instruments. Too many issues that can come up with engineers using different physical prototype hardware and different instruments, misunderstanding communication about what is being measured where, misinterpreting results. And too much time overhead in shipping things around the country constantly.