Remote control?

The article Five essential office design trends to look for in the near future details the dramatic trends in commercial office interior design (spurred largely by the tech industry): Open vs. Office environments, Flexibility, Playfulness & Culture, and Nature & Sustainability.  An overview of each one and the forecast trends are captured.

What caught my attention most was the final of the five points: What Office.  Apparently 34% of the American workforce is working freelance, with a projection that the number will climb to 40% by 2020.  Is this a result of the dramatic changes in the US economy since 2008/09?  It stunned me that this number was so high.  Obviously, recent media stories such as Yahoo (i.e. Marissa Meyer's recall on work-from-home) stand out as curbing this type of trend.

Focusing specifically on working remote/freelance, without an office, do you believe that this is a positive trend in the industry?  I can't imagine sustained success, creativity, or forward progress without engaging your colleagues in physical presence.  Am I nuts, or would you agree?