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Ergonomic Arrangement for Computers and Books?

Posted by Cliff on from the geeke-desktop-feng-shui dept.

An anonymous reader asks: "So here I am with yet another computer book (Network Programming with Perl) and a pending case of neck, back and eye strain as I try and juggle the book and the keyboard and try to keep an eye on what's on the monitor. I've tried all sorts of ways to try and wade through a book and type in the various examples but everything is a bit of a kludge. I'm hoping to learn what creative methods for integrating books and computers that folks have come up with. There has to be ways to keep the juggling acts and the assorted cramps and aches to a minimum."

2 of 40 comments (clear)

  1. My current work environment... by arb · · Score: 3, Interesting

    At my current client we have desktop cases which are about the right height to allow me to lean the book against the desktop case with my keyboard sitting in front of the book. This works well for the rare situations where I have felt the need to have a book open as I am coding. Of course, this is really only an option for "regular" sized books, and can be a real pain for some of the huge 1000+ page tomes out there!

    For larger books (mostly conference notes or even magazines) I do as an earlier poster suggested and read it before sitting at the computer, then I only need to refer to it briefly... You really need to assess your current situation and determine why you need to be referring to the book so often that it becomes a problem. ;-)

  2. cordless keyboard by dotgod · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I use a Logitech Cordless Freedom keyboard and mouse. I can put it on my lap and then I have the desk surface free to put the book on.