I can be dense as a brick sometimes. OK, a lot of times. 

But this piece made no sense to me. What exactly is "co-working"? And who is sharing "shared office space," employees of one company or several companies, and what is the advantage to that?

Best I can figure is that ABC Corp. leases space in a big room as opposed to a suite of offices? If that's the case, how does that help ABC  give its employees appropriate work space? And if it's people from several companies in one big room, how does ABC keep proprietary and confidential information from XYZ Inc.'s people? Don't they distract and interrupt each other?

Or do they lease office the same as before but call it something trendy?

Judging from the pictures in the paper Sunday, it looks like an unholy mess. An admin surrounded by bikes and dogs and junk in one; people working at a conference table instead of a desk. How can anyone concentrate on their own work in such an environment?

Or do I have this all wrong?