Cisco opens up: How is this novel?

The Mercury News has an article about Cisco's new open plan offices:

Like other valley stalwarts, including Intel and Sun Microsystems, Cisco is casting aside the cubicle culture that has thrived in the United States since the late 1960s. In its place, the company is embracing a new workplace design that saves space and money, and encourages collaboration among co-workers.

Cisco is not the first to forsake the cube. Younger companies such as Google and VMware have created open office spaces that still retain assigned seating. But as the valley's largest employer - and with 6 million square feet of South Bay real estate - Cisco's decision reflects a push for efficiency and a trend that emphasizes the bottom line.

"It's a competitive world," said John Scouffas, principal and designer for Gensler, the San Francisco-based architectural firm that's been redesigning workplaces in valley companies, including Cisco's. "Collaboration has been shown to spark innovation and speed product to market."...

[C]ubes are becoming dinosaurs.

"Cubes have had their day," said Michael Joroff, senior lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's School of Architecture + Planning. "They were established at a time when work was done head down, by yourself. More and more, work is collaborative."

Clearly, the trend is gaining ground. Gensler architects confirmed they are also working with Intel, Intuit, Hewlett-Packard and Network Appliance. Already at Sun, about 56 percent of the workforce, or about 19,900 employees, work without assigned office space.

There's nothing wrong with the article per se, but haven't these arguments in favor of open space been around since at least 2000?

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