[jonnathanson]

Perhaps, but I think we're missing a crucial point of the article, which is that the culture needs to match the employees. For a startup that wants to hire a bunch of college grads, company trips + ping pong tables + Call of Duty + Friday keg sessions may actually increase productivity. Conversely, for a company trying to hire older, more experienced employees, such perks are considerably less appealing.

I think the general takeaway here is not that X is inherently bad, or Y is inherently good. Rather, it's that you need to know yourself, know the culture you're trying to create, and know the people you're trying to hire, rather than trying to imitate whatever perks happen to be trendy at the moment.