Caren, Congrats on completing your novel.  I enjoyed reading both versions of Chapter 1 but prefer your original version. The beginning sentences of a book are so important to “hook” the reader and I was drawn much more quickly into the story by the characters interacting than by the descriptive sentences of the office and its machinery. Your book is character-driven and the beginning of your original chapter 1 is true to that style. You could certainly include the information from the opening of your alternative chapter 1 in your original Chapter 1 at an appropriate moment as it’s good historical background info.