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Aeron Chairs As Stupidity Barometers

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the butt-of-the-beholder dept.

McSpew writes: "This article at Salon describes how much startup venture money went to buying $700 Aeron chairs. Personally, I think Aerons suck. I'm sitting in one now and my back is killing me--I can never get this damn chair adjusted right, or to get it to stay in a configuration close to comfortable for very long. The wonderful high-tech mesh fabric acts like sandpaper and wears holes in my pants. I honestly miss the boring chair I had at my last job. Am I the only person who hates Aerons?" Aerons are stylish, but not everyone finds them the comfortable work chairs they're supposed to be. Here's one that looks truly comfortable.

4 of 340 comments (clear)

  1. Re:aerons are great... by dhamsaic · · Score: 5, Informative
    it really doesn't take that long. you need to know what you want going into it. i'd say maybe 25 minutes tops. the problem is, however, most people a) aren't sure of what they need and b) don't want to spend the time to do it. some tips:

    • chair height - your feet should rest flat on the ground. if your desk is too high to permit this, get a footrest of some type. your legs should not be hanging off the chair. the weight of your legs pulls your knees down against the chair, restricting blood flow.
    • arm height - your arms should be beside you, hanging naturally, but resting on the arm rests. there also should not be any stress on your shoulders, but they shouldn't be pushed up either. a relaxed position is best. this goes hand in hand with chair height - your arms should be parallel to the desk surface.
    • lumbar support - this is a bit trickier, but really, you need to find something that makes you feel relaxed in an upright position.
    • tilt - i prefer none for most tasks, because it means i'm sitting properly and not ruining my back (something i do here at work with the shitty chairs). tilt is *very* easily adjustable on the aeron though, so don't worry about this too much. you can change it in seconds.

    anyway, it really isn't as bothersome as i originally made it out to be. it takes a little time, but it's well worth it.

    hope this helps, should you ever have the chance to sit in one.

    --
    Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.
  2. 700? by supabeast! · · Score: 3, Informative

    "$700 Aeron chairs."

    Try $1200. My last employer (The now bankrupt consulting firm marchFIRST.) had 10,000 of them in a Chicago warehouse, because there was never enough money to send them out.

    The real loser in this is Herman-Miller, maker of the chairs. When Herman-Miller and its vendors sold these chairs in bulk to all the dotcoms, they sold on credit with NO SECURITY. That means there is no collateral, including the chairs themselves. Now the chairs are being sold out of bankruptcy to other firms for pennies on the dollar, hampering further sales.

  3. aerons are great... by dhamsaic · · Score: 5, Informative
    once you get them adjusted properly.

    i use and aeron at home. when i first got it, i spend a considerable amount of time getting it adjusted to suit me perfectly. that means setting the height so your feet rest on the ground, setting up the lumbar support properly, getting the correct tilt both forward and backward, getting the armrest height set properly, etc. it can be a chore, but if you take the time to do it, it truly is one of the most comfortable chairs.

    one thing i've always hated about being a computer geek was what we here at work refer to as sweaty-ass . you know - you've been sitting in the same chair for 6 hours coding or browsing or quaking or whatever and the heat and humidity make for a relatively uncomfortable rear. the aerson's mesh works wonders for this - i can sit in that chair for an hour or two or ten and not have any trouble whatsoever. and i've never had any problem with it wearing out my clothes or anything. i'd guess that the poster doesn't have the chair set up correctly and therefore fidgets quite a bit, meaning extra wear on the clothes.

    anyway, if you can invest the time and money, you can have a comfortable and healthy chair with the aeron.

    --
    Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.
  4. Gotta have the right size by michael_cain · · Score: 3, Informative

    They come (or at least when my company bought them they came) in three different sizes. If you have the wrong size, it's impossible to adjust it to be comfortable. I use the large -- with the small or the medium, the front edge of the seat hits the back of my thighs at an uncomfortable place. I'm only 5'10" (177 cm) and my legs aren't particularly long -- I suspect that tall people might have a problem all the sizes.