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La-Z-Boy's E-Cliner
Alec Muzzy writes: "La-Z-Boy has finally realized that there is a market for geeks. A new chair called The E-Cliner they've developed features a built-in wireless keyboard from Sony as well as a data port and surge protector for your laptop. As if that wasn't cool enough, the arm rests have storage compartments for beverages and remote controls! All this chair is missing is a retractable LCD monitor and a set of satellite speakers behind the head rest!"
Kurt The Pope moved out last week, and I just bought a recliner to replace the one he took with him ... if only I had known to hold out for a few weeks. I like the outlet idea: One time I got my laptop's power cable stuck in the retractable footrest. Sparks went flying and the metal supports sliced into the cable. It was sweet, except for the part where I had to wait a week to have electricity for my laptop ... but why does this chair have to come with 6 months of WebTV?
Just when I find a reason to get off my lazy ass, either Herman Miller someone designs something to keep it there.
Lowmag.net
It's proprietary. I almost bought two, until the salesperson informed me I couldn't get it without the WebTV subscription, I couldn't get it without the WebTV hardware, and I couldn't get it with just a normal, flat workspace instead of the dug-out, form-fitting space that holds the WebTV keyboard.
And if it's so WebTV specific, why the hell do you need a phone jack, Ethernet jack, and power outlet in the chair? You *won't* be using a laptop; you've got WebTV! You're FORCED to have it! That's the whole point of the chair!
I think that, at some point, this was going to be a very nice generic chair, and then M$ insisted on the WebTV exclusivity, completely ruining it.
I considered removing the fold-out arm that holds the keyboard and replacing it with something else, but it's a fairly custom job, and you'd end up needing to machine some parts to get a decent quality substitute. Not worth $1,000 a pop for all the trouble. I'll hack hardware, but I don't have a burning desire to redesign furniture.
.@.
On the other hand, a sturdier (i.e. not plush but rather wood, or thinly padded) recliner or even better rocking chair could work, provided you can place the keyboard exactly right and could get the monitor close enough to your face.
Check out Adjustable Keyboard Podiums(I don't work for them, yada yada..) They might help you set up a healthy workstation from a recliner.
Leather/Vynl for $1200, sweet... now I can pay over a grand to sit on plastic and not have it be in a car or a lawyer's office.
The Keyboard looks just like the one I picked up for $10 at active surplus here in toronto, I haven't go a standard IR port on my machine to test it yet. if it's in fact the same KB, its actually a remarked from a korean manufacturer whose name I don't quite remember ATM
brightloudnoise.com
Has this been around last year, the DotComGuy would have put it into a good use.
:-)
For example, with a few more modification, he would have been able to spend the entire year stuck to his chair.
Karma stuck at 50? Add 2-5 inches.. err.. 2-5x Karmas Count to your pen1es.. err.. Karma all naturally and private
Anyone else think that Lazy Boy Explorer is an oxymoron?
Windows is the La-Z-Boy of operating systems [actually it an environment, such as sofa, TV, old dog Tray at your feet, remote control in right hand, bag of crisps in left, can of Old Milwaukee on a coaster to your right.] It's comfortable for the folk who do not want to get in depth with Linux [something for the more creative and agile of mind which requires strenuous effort, such as opening a book and reading it] or something else the uninitiated can't used straight out of the box [well, OK, it crashes at times and does the BSoD which can cause a few axons to fire and a bead of sweat to form.]
This is where Microsoft wants to take you today! Really! No kidding! If you doubt my word, then ask yourself, "Why does Microsoft want to network my 'fridge?"
--
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Microsoft would bundle an offer for WebTV with newborn children, if only Bill Gates could figure out how to pitch to the allmighty creator .
And if BG could talk to the four horsemen of myth in a particular religious belief, then Microsoft would make you migrate to WebTV with Microsoft-branded plague, famine, pestilence and death.
That's why the chair comes with WebTV.
Hhm.. have you ever seen those chairs that give you a back massage with a variety of options? I would like to see such features (but programmable and controllable from a computer) in this kind of chair.
:-)
Hhm
Moz.
see a Text Widget
Actually, it depends on whether you read the "featured products" page or the "latest from la-z-boy" page. The featured products page specifies 2 months of WebTV while the other page specifies 6 months.
This moves us closer to the possibility of never having to leave our computer desks. Does anyone foresee a model that provides food intake and handles human waste products?
Or is it just a high-octane phone jack, therefore the marketing pitch, "If your phone and modem could go faster, then this chair can keep up with it!*FCC Regulations prevent transmission speeds to 53Kbps, so really, you're never going to get any faster. But, if you did, we'd be right beside you."
Or is it a low-octane Ethernet RJ-45 port? Then, I guess the marketing pitch would be "Now that you've got high-speed cable/DSL/satellite Internet access, you can slow it down to a crawl with the new Explorer chair!"
Or, a wireless networking port...which would actually be kinda cool. But it would be nice if they included that info for me....
The only thing that would make it better would be one of those split keyboards with half on each armrest (ala this one from Cornell.)
----- I hate sigs.
It's not a recliner but when I came home for Christmas my parents suprised me a 1950's retro slant back chair for laptop's. It's got a stainless steel book rack on the left side, power outlet and phone jack on the rightside, and a table that can be inserted into the top of either arm. It was $699, but my mother said that she bought it for less than $200 because no one wanted one. For another $300 you can get an ottoman that opens up. Which I'm sure can be converted into a cooler. :-)
ROTFLMAO!!
I haven't heard that one before.. it's good one though. Funniest post in this article..
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Delphis
There is an article at Reuters about how Microsoft is teaming up with Leggo to formulate games for MSN and Microsoft's upcoming Xbox video game console. The scariest part is at the end of the article.
"Microsoft's MSN has also recently struck deals with the Walt Disney Interactive Group, Viacom Inc.'s Nickelodeon kids cable television network, and espresso empire Starbucks Corp."
Yeah, that's what we need. Gates Empire teaming up with Uncle Walt's Empire and Mega-Mega giant Starbucks to bring you 'MSN at Night' re-runs. Be afraid. Be very very afraid.
Well, yeah. What'd you expect from a company as innovative as Microsoft?
And if you hate Flash that much, you whiners can go here for more details.
For more information, click here.
I wish I were in the Treadmill market because I'd love to build one from the ground up.
I'd love to have a treadmill with a built in display (or maybe even a touch screen) to connect to a computer.
Include a USB heart monitor device (for a chest strap), with some software to passively control heart rate via speed/incline adjustments). Build & sell this, and you'd have a real winner. With prices falling all the time, it could possibly be cheaper to manufacture than the existing hardware based solutions on today's treadmills.
Moderate me -1 offtopic if you must, but
The LAST think I need is an excuse to sit more often!
Yeah, real men *do* use insulation when testing. The stuff I fix will kill you if you look at it the wrong way.
...will knock the empty Pepsi can on your desk onto it...
You can use insulation if you need to, but a *real* geek wouldn't look at something the wrong way. Feh.
I don't understand. Why would a real geek have an empty Pepsi can on the desk? Empty Jolt, perhaps. Or an (insulated) empty bottle of Bawls, sure.
If the soldering iron is symbolic of the quality of the notebook, yeah, I can see that the manufacturer might have scrimped...
If your beverage is symbolic of the quality of your geektitude, yeah, I can see you having some problems.
Really, that was my first reaction to the word e-cliner. Just goes to show that fiction better run hard; reality is catching up.
So if this is an e-cliner, what's a cliner then?
Decent rubber chest waders can hold about 3 gallons of liquid when you don't wear anything underneath them.
Just be sure to cinch the chest band tight to avoid leakage over the top.
Unfortunately, if your move chair.NET into another room, you will have to reregister your license.
One client access license is required for each set of butt cheeks to use the chair.
If you don't purchase a client access license within 90 days, chair.NET will grow a series of wheeled legs, much like professor Frink's AT-5000 auto-dialer, so the chair can effectively exit any situations that might violate the licensing agreement.
If they built a toilet in, I'd never leave the seat!
-no broken link
Great! Now my ass can get 17x the mass of Jupiter too!
i don't think any geeks would get this, well they prolly would rip out the webtv keyboard and make it run linux.
Linux Takes Control of the M$ laz-e-cliner, it will now work for more than an hour without a blue screen.
"The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows." -Aristotle Onassis
Is an 802.11 adapter in the base and instead of running phone lines and ethernet and power to it, you can just run power and do VoIP to get to a phone line... but who really needs phones this day in age? Besides... we've all got mobiles.
-Chris
...More Powerful than Otto Preminger...
No matter how many features it has it still won't feed & walk your dog. And whoever owns a chair like this surely won't want to get off of it. Pets are doomed :(
Microsoft's obsession with the name "Explorer" goes beyond their web browsers. The default shell (i.e. the GUI) is called "Explorer." The file bowser is called "Explorer." Their web browser (as you've mentioned) is called "Explorer."
This naming convention stems from the fact that each application stems from a single source, possibly within the kernel (or so I have been told). They are different views on the same thing.
I'm not exactly sure what this has to do with the chair... I'd imagine you're right about associating anything to do with the Internet to the word "Explorer" (and MS by secondary association, of course).
So... There you have it.
-Chris
$1,049 in fabric and $1,299 in leather and vinyl is what C|Net is reporting.
BigCat79
BigCat79
"The dead have risen and are voting Republican!" --Bart Simpson
A followup to our friendly AC.. ;)
True geeks don't get incoming calls! (Sorry..
The streets shall flow with the blood of the Guberminky.
You may be thinking of the Floating Arms Keyboard from Workplace Designs. It uses two keyboard sections, one attached to each armrest, and includes a trackpad and numeric keypad for the right hand. It can be purchased with a chair or separately.
Now called the Interfaces Keyboard, it is currently available from Interfaces by Cramer. Even with the chair, it's not the $8 to $10 thousand you remember, but at up to $965 it's not cheap either.
"Be Happy or Die." -- AoN
If you don't mind lots of false alarms after that big chili dinner...
Just junk food for thought...
Nah...forget Star Trek...forget the couch potato crap...if you want a really cool chair, you'd get an Aeron chair from Herman Miller. Best chair ever.
Hello, I must be going. I'm here to say I cannot stay, I must be going.
Is add the toilet in the middle like Homer Simpson did and I am never getting up again. :)
-Shieldwolf
just = (My)Opinion.toCents();
Thanks for the reply - interesting stuff. Someone should mod it up as informative.
OK,
- B
--
http://www.bradheintz.com/
- updated
It should have a Ethernet connection in the arm along with the Phoneline, what with the Broadband Craze. Also, MS has to put the nose in on everything and make a MSN $400 rebate or some junk, I hate that.
CS majors, we are the geeks that run it all. Without us things die.
to the blue screen of death...
Obviously to target sales to that new breed, the "Joe Sixpack" geek.
Trickster Coyote
Howl at the moon.
Ideology is for ideots.
/(o\ I'm not a medievalist - I just play one on weekends!
Well this is a step in the right direction, I guess. But I was wondering, is there any interest out there for building cases that are actually Footstools/Ottomans?
I've been pondering building my next computer in one of those huge ottomans (with LOTS of fans for airflow) and then taking the matching chair and adapting a table (like they show) for an IR keyboard and mouse. They're on the right track putting ethernet jacks and power outlets in the arm rests. This will catch on with laptop execs, once they ditch the provided net service.
Surfing in style.
"One touch of Darwin makes the whole world kin." George Bernard Shaw
You want the chair I have which looks exactly like this one, is made by La-Z-Boy but has a answering machine in the right side and built in upper-lower back massager with heat. I'm not making this up. It was about $700 a couple years ago. The answering machine plate has a phone port already and can be modified to include a RJ-45 plug next to it. Run that out to your wall jack. I also have a headphone jack. I think you'll find the fold out tray a hassle when you get up and down. I use a Mac PB on a piece of honeycombed aluminum with foam and just set it in my lap (lap-top ...get it?). Then when you want to get up
you just yank the Enet cable, sleep the
PB, set it to the side, get up and go. At
my house it's know as "the super chair" ... and indeed it is.
Because it's a consumer-level product ... not an enthusiast, or early-adopter level product. It's not being made for the Slashdot crowd.
Personally, I'd rather have no keyboard and WebTV, and just a nice holder/tray for my laptop.
They have a multi-billion dollar company and all they can do is make recliners? Who knows, maybe they will soon be broken up by the recliner anti-trust team.
Arthropoid, the Right Clam for the Job
We are truly living in the decline of Western Civilization...
well, according to the story, microsoft is in on it too and they are the one's including the web tv. more proof that they are "not a monopoly".
No todo lo que es oro brilla
I can pass 18 hours without eating (although a small fridge would be a nice addition, it isn't necessary), but without peeing is too much. I'm still not a Borg, mind you.
--
Death to Vermin.
"Trust me - I know what I'm doing."
- Sledge Hammer
If this thing looked like the Captain's (picard, that is) chair on the Enterprise, I'd buy it. The e-Cliner one would just give me bad-airplane-travel-feedback.
Add a motor, battery, rack chassis, and castor set, and you've got one kickass lan party entrance.
"Microsoft Web TV® Plus Interactive Service Access the Internet right through your TV with e-mail, chat, instant messaging, simplified VCR recording, interactive TV programs and more. Includes Sony WebTV Plus receiver, Sony Wireless keyboard, and 2 free months of WebTV Plus service. "
They Should let you hook it up to your computer and use tv out off your video card. Or at least have the option. I don't want to spend $1000+ and still have to pay for webtv on top of my isps fees. That sucks
"The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows." -Aristotle Onassis
Buyer beware: La-Z-Boy's warranty is not what it once was. My wife and I got identical recliners a few years back from La-Z-Boy. Hers had some serious manufacturing problems and is now sitting as a stack of parts (with perfect fabric). They came out a couple of times and used electric drills and bolts to try to strap it together; it finally fell to pieces and they won't do anything about it.
And, no, she ain't heavy. I'm heavier and my chair is OK.
Her replacement chair, needless to say, was not from La-Z-Boy. That one's holding up just fine.
Like something seriously worth hacking into and putting in a real computer.
I understand the wireless keyboard is for the WebTV unit...kinda making it useless.
"We were half way to Rivendell when the drugs began to take hold."
-- Hunter S. Tolkien
...with few more modification and its users don't even have to get up!
:-)
I think Microsoft is trying a "bit" too hard to get into the consumer market.
This may hurt my "karma" but I couldn't resist myself not posting.
Karma stuck at 50? Add 2-5 inches.. err.. 2-5x Karmas Count to your pen1es.. err.. Karma all naturally and private
Anyway, this sounds neat, too, even if my wife would shoot me for getting one. ;)
OK,
- B
--
http://www.bradheintz.com/
- updated
Is 2-3x faster than a phone line. Just having a special chair will make my downloads fast! oh boy.
Can't see from the pictures - is the cool-looking Sony keyboard proprietary to a WebTV unit, or a generic PC-compatible unit?
The Master Of Muppets,
CAPTAIN: TAKE OFF EVERY "SIG"!!
ewwwwwwwww, it seems like EVERYTHING comes with internet service these days
1. Coffee maker 2. Steaming water tap for making Ramen soup 3. Phone for calling pizza delivery 4. pr0n printer 5. One of those jacks for brain-tap phalluces like in The Matrix 6. Foot massager 7. Motorized wheels for the luxury-seeking Steven Hawkings of the world 8. Electrocution helmet
-3Suns
~~~~
The Revolution will be Slashdotted
Will a Sony Wireless Keyboard work with real computers? If so just give the webtv to your least favorite neighbor and enjoy your new recliner with true internet access!
For the ultimate in overclocking!!! Built in liquid nitrogen bath for your motherboard!!!
Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.
Strong data typing is for those with weak minds.
The eClliner has all these features, yet it doesn't have a simple back massage? I wonder what kind of market they were trying to hit.
Be afraid, be very afraid... or amused- whichever you tend to do in the presence of sarcasm.
-p4
(c) All Rights Released.
Why couldn't they have included a surge protector for the user as well? It's about the only thing that'll save my fat arse when blipverts start coming out.
--
I would be a paid subscriber if Taco and Hemos weren't such cunts
So is there no attempt to reverse engineer the infra red/radio protocal these keyboards use?... Webtv keyboard --> little box o trix --> Linux box
Am I the only one who remembers the joke about Microsoft going into the furniture biz.... Seems one day the Redmond PR machine called a press conference to announce that they were going into the e.furniture biz. That morning select high profile members of the MS community had woken up to find an advance copy of the new MS Hotseat on their front doorstep. It soon turned out that the collective response was to yawn and go back to bed. Intrigued, the media started inquiring as to the reason for the lack of interest. One Dalton Nebish of Park City, Utah, well known pencil necked geek and M$ adherent, encapsulated the community's thoughts quite neatly by stating that "This is nothing revolutionary or even new, I mean its not like its the first time Microsoft has shipped a shrink-wrapped stool sample"
Actually the link said 2months of Web TV.. but yeah that's pretty lame regardless - just M$ trying to get a little free publicity. Still though nice chair .. just needs the shiatsu massage rollers and a fridge but other than that it's pretty nifty.
Microsoft and Legos? The X-box? The La-Z-Boy Explorer? Aren't these the same bozos that have been calling Linux "the toy operating system" for a couple of years now?
Looks like they've found their market at long last.
I wonder if Ford pays royalties to use the name Explorer (even though there would be no reason to).
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
This just seemed too silly to pass up: "Imagine a beowulf cluster of these things"
Inheritance is the sincerest form of nepotism.
qUOTED (oops, caps lock) from article:
Sparks went flying and the metal supports sliced into the cable. It was sweet, except for the part where I had to wait a week to have electricity for my laptop[sigh]
You're not a real geek if you don't own at least two soldering irons.
Yessir, about a 25W Ungar iron-clad tip soldering iron, a little bit of Kester 40 rosin-core solder, a few inches of heat shrink tubing. About five minutes, and you're all set to do battle against Microsoft again.
Dabblers use electrical tape. Real professional geeks use heat shrink tubing.
Besides, notebook computers don't make sparks. Tesla coils make sparks.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
Hello? This is slashdot! Anyone caught posting anything Microsoft-related would be subjected to endless BSOD torture.
.sigs are useless; it doesn't protect you from imposters.
My initial, gut-most reaction is: when (not if) the MS part of the chair crashes, will the recliner part go haywire and fold you into a pretzel?
You're only as young as the last time you changed your mind -- Timothy Leary
ummm, there's just one small problem...
"I will gladly pay you today, sir, and eat up
Sacred cows make the best burgers.
Kinda defeats the whole purpose of wireless doesnt it?
"it could just be the midgets. You've got to be careful with midgets in Spandex." --Jamie Richardson
A few months ago I bought LZB's "Oasis" ...fridge, massage, phone.
Also got wireless keyboard & mouse, and -- not a retractable monitor -- but an old projector. (aim it at the baseboards of the wall for best neck angle.)
I recommend it.
Why didn't they put a toilet in it too? That's what every nerd needs... maybe a portable refrigerator too. :-/
As is instantly evident to anyone who reads the page, it's not called the "E-cliner". It's called the "Explorer". E-cliner is just a lame pun they use to describe it.
I imagine this name was Microsoft's idea, because anything internet-related seems to have this same name: Internet Explorer, MSN Explorer, now the La-Z-Boy Explorer.. why can't they come up with a new name once in a while?
Hello,
La-Z-Boy has had storage compartments in the arms for a while. In fact one could get a built in mini-frig/cooler job.
I knew this looked familiar. Check out this article on zdnet dated April 7, 2000.
It reminds me of the kid in the neighborhood who keeps wanting to be cool, but hasn't got a clue. This is the same kid who only has friends because daddy has money, and he can buy stuff.
It is really sad.
because the right way to be is not to try to be like someone else.
In other words, get your own life, don't try to rent, buy, or steal someone elses'.
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
$999 (in stores) for fake leather, or $1,199 for the real thing.
If they were smart they would also sell a version w/o the webtv device or keyboard, but still with the useful tray and cable conduits, (and space to put in one of those espresso minicomps if your chair isn't near your computer). It wouldn't cost them anymore to do, they'd sell more chairs, and get another whole audience who thought La-z-boy was for old farts (no offense dad).
I have been trying to find an appropriate living room computer chair - I swear, I would buy this thing without the webtv crap (for $899).
Oh, one more thing - it sounds like we came damn close to losing cmdrtaco - household current is not a toy. I can see it now - "/.er invents worlds most comfortable electric chair, Bush calls it soft on crime."
THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal...
---------
Umm, no. Thank you.
--
NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
BTW, This chair costs 1000USD standard, 1200USD if
you want leather. Don't know if that's with orBRwithout the access.
Where's the beef?
OK, I went down to my local Laz-y-Boy Showroom to try out the chair. It was nice black leather. I liked the electrical, phone, and LAN outlets. Too bad they are tucked away in the back of the left arm pocket. The arm pocket open from the inside, up and out. I had to shift around everytime I wanted to open of close the pocket. I'm kinda skinny so wide-bodied folks won't be able to get the pockets open without getting up.
Another bad thing is the keyboard tray. It is on the left side and doesn't center on the person sitting in the chair. It is too high and any REAL ergonomic adjustments that would make it usable by us folks that suffer from carpel tunnel. For a real guide I suggest that the designers at Laz-y-Boy check out The University of Michigan's Center for Ergonomics.
The part that really put me off is that you MUST purchase the M$N/Sony WebTV bundle and subscription. Even my wife (am Internet Neophite) said she thought WebTV stinks.
Someone really needs to let marketeers know that (1) the internet is not like TV, and (2) if I wanted Intenet on my TV I would put a ATI All-In-Wonder board in my Linux box, and grab a Logitech Wireless Keyboard/Trackball combo.
Yes with the new Ford Explorer Microsoft Edition you can now surf the web while you drive...
I don't think I'd want to drive a vehicle associated with a company which, when mentioned, brings up the word "crash" in my mind.
The Register also has a story along with a link to a picture at Newscom.com
beebware
Richy C.
Can I set the chair to "vibrate" when I get an incoming call?
--
MailOne
Non-meta-modded "Overrated" mods are killing Slashdot
(Hey Ryan! Here's your proof!)
whats next a car with web tv?
Yes with the new Ford Explorer Microsoft Edition you can now surf the web while you drive, with voice command and a heads up display.
"The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows." -Aristotle Onassis
d
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
Invent recliner that appeals to geeks and is easily modified to keep geeks in a reclined position for hours at time.
Watch as geeks' weight increases, heart rate increases and general health decreases.
Geeks no longer have stamina to code all night long, Linux development slows down.
Microsoft vanquishes another competitor.
Whatever we do, don't let Linus or Alan Cox get one.