Slashdot Mirror
The Ultimate Computer Chair?
An anonymous reader writes "Check out www.mypce.com. They address the idea
of the computer workspaces by treating the it as an overall environment
instead of the desk and monitor we're all used to. Hopefully, the industry will
start moving in this direction and address more of the physical issues of computing.
No idea on pricing, but very cool nonetheless."
Ads for these chairs were in Wired Magazine already some months ago. Nifty stuff, though
It appears to be a Medieval torture device!
Just wire your brain into the computer. Oh, and if you refuse to do so and especially if you don't want others doing so, you'll likely be killed by cyborgs toting guass rifles.
-Libertarian secular transhumanist
The ultimate computer chair is self-cleaning...pr0n!
Still looks so cool. (too bad there no way i can justify the price)
...to be running its own built-in server... which is now slashdotted.
Homer Simpson already designed the perfect chair...
Do you even lift?
These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.
is a fridge for cold beer and toilet paper dispenser...
IANAL, but imagine a beowulf cluster of in Soviet Russia all your belong are base to us welcoming the new SCO overlords.
Can someone explain to me WHY I'd need a sport bucket seat to use the computer? I mean does this thing come with neon and Type R stickers? Yeah, I've got a nice force feedback wheel for playing Colin McRae 3 but I don't think it's *that* good.
Oh...and if they really want to sell then where's the fat person version? Cuz I can tell you the only way to squeeze me into something like that would inolve more Crisco than I'd care to contemplate.
"Where quality is like a dead stinking rat - you just can't miss it."
I took one look at those chairs and the first thing I thought was "These look like the design of a dentist on a bad acid trip."
Comfortable? Maybe, I've never tried one, so I can't say.
Eye-searingly awful looking? You better believe it.
"I won't mod you down - I feel the need to call you a twit explicitly, rather than by implication."
a computer chair with frikkin LASER
I am now super busy filling out purchase orders..
o'please, o'please, o'please
(come on, I can dream)
anime+manga together at last.. in real time.
Since the site is already /.'d, i'll just dream a little:
Laz-e-boy recliner installed with:
1. monitor swing-arm
2. keyboard split across arm rests
3. speaker surrounding head, woofer under seat
4. vertical-load cd tray in left armrest
5. mouse pad on right armrest
6. Linux inside ...sweeeet....
Don't use the Troll mod just because you disagree with me.
No idea on pricing, but very cool nonetheless. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. ;)
It looks just like one of those home gyms. And then when the marketing speak said:
> The MasterPeace Rocks and Cradles you
I thought... "You can rock, rock, rock! yourself to firmer abs!"... damn those infomercials.
The biggest problem with those is there is no place to put good old fashion pen to paper.
Even when I was in R&D I still liked to use pen and paper beside my superfast machine. I like a big desk with lots of room to scribble.
Interesting side note, since we were in R&D, we weren't allowed any "scrap" paper to work on. All our work had to be in our logbooks, that had all our notes (aparently incase of patent dispute). So I started doing my doodles in that. Then I put things like, "if you are reading this, then I must be dead, the treasure is buried....". Of course, after our head of project died, i stopped doing that.
I use to have a funny sig, but slash cut it off, and I forgot what the punchline was.
Interestingly enough, thinkgeek claims to sell the ultimate computer chair.
...I take prompts from the fellows at Arstechnica.
The post-sweet chairs they picked out a few months ago are still very cool...
Hmmmmm. I wonder why it's slashdotted. Could it be the fact that their main page is comprised of 40 images? Who creates these web pages?
Do these have wetnaps for easy cleanup after jacking to porn?? Are they scotch guarded??
This is by far the fastest slashdotting I've seen, there were only 2 comments and the site was already down!
/. article readers has truly risen ;)
Either their puny server is smoldering below an office table or the percentage of
Of all dot-bomb employees polled, 90% preferred the Herman-Miller Aeron. According to rumor, these chairs are easily obtained. :-)
Do you like German cars?
OK, seriously, how many of the Slashdot crowd would actually buy this? I mean we're the kind of people they must be aiming for, but I can't see it sitting in the corner of my room. It'd give me nightmares. It looks like a cross between a psychotic gaenacologists favourite torture implement and one of the Machines from the Matrix. Either way, not something I'd want in my house.
If you want a conversational piece, buy a bonsai kitten or something . . .
"If being a geek means being passionate about something, then I pity those who aren't geeks." - Pike65
Devices like this ensure that geeks do not get laid by the cute coworker down the hall.
just needs a caff IV and a cath, and half the folks here would never leave :)
errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
Not mentioning the fact that this idea is old, I see a few problems. Some of us don't exclusively work with computers. Sure, a good half/two thirds of my desk is dedicated to computing space, but I also do stuff with paper and I need space to do that. Or, more importantly, store CD cases, Star Wars action figures, and pile empty pizza boxes. A work/computing environment without a foot of assorted junk piled on top isn't a true environment.
Besides, the system is too restrictive. I don't like my box shipping with the device. I want to choose what components I use. Similarily, until the quality on LCD displays matches that of CRTs, I'll keep using those. And unless I'm mistaken there's no switching system to allow you to hang a CRT from there.
I mean, it's an idea we've all had, and cherished for a while (I remember in UF Stef bought one to increase his Quaking skills, we all know how that worked out), but it's just not feasible that way.
As much as we would like to think it is, a Personal Computing Environment isn't 100% PC.
That thing looks like if you lean too far to the left or right, you're rollin' (At least for those fat bastards that really need a reclining chair to complement their sedentary work-style.
Get some fat-bastard playing Grand-Tourismo 4 too into the game, he starts leaning into the turns and WHAMMO!!!
Not to mention the collateral damage if your dog happens to be in the way.
an IV and a bedpan...
..holder for the box of tissues???
Space has an article with pictures on a server that isn't slash dotted... yet.
Is to be combined with barstool racing technology!
This chair looks equivilent to head gear for your teeth. I don't know about anyone else, but I'd rather not relive Elementary and Junior High.
I Love Alberta Beef
Looks like a racecar seat + safetybars with pre installed computers... just wondering if it has seatheaters :)
telax - Just another vim and c hacker.
Obviously, it's asfe to assume this chair will not take off any time soon, if at all. The question is what if this did become popular, wouldn't this turn an office into an even more manfucturing type of setting? If everything you need is on the chair, then why do you even need cubicles? Or if you do keep the carpetted temporary walls, can't the "personal space" be even tighter? They only need room for one of these chairs. While I do desire a more comfortable chair, at least one better than this piece of wood at the college has provided the computer clusters with, this may be going a bit far. What's weird though, is that it does look comfortable. Personal taste, style, and dignity aside, we could certainly use a more ergonimic experience when checking Slashdot 7 times a day.
well, front page anyway, and looked at 'the masterpeace'
what i want to know, is can i get it without the computer?
i mean, i have enoguh of my own machines here, i dont want to spend a butt load of cash for a desk/station and get an extra computer. i want to know what the price is for the unit alone.
this looks great for people with limited space.
... and you're all set. Is this straight out of Dilbert or what? How more anti-social can you get? Yout Personal Space is now guarded by 120VAC and large poles of steel. Great. This is a one-stop divorce mill.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
http://www.poetictech.com/
Poetic Tech has been building this kinda stuff for years and years. Definitely on the pricey side, though.
The site was slashdotted pretty fast. Here is a link to a cached version, but it didn't have time to complete:
http://0wn.de/masterpeace
I think it's time slashdot provides mirroring itself, but then again, that idea isn't new...
... oh, sorry, right. don't need to imagine - they already have this - the towers full of red caged humans lulled into behavior by their own personal fantasy - in the Matrix.
"Win treats sysadmins better than users. Mac treats users better than sysadmins. Linux treats everyone like sysadmins."
I wouldn't be able to stop myself from saying "You will be assimilated" when I answer the phone while sitting in that chair.
How I got to see it after it was Slashdotted?
1) click on link from slashdot - darn already Slashdotted
2) Google(TM) it and view cache - darn no pics and info is old.
3) Go to next item on Google. - darn it is slashdotted too.
4) Repeat 3
Open source development is my way of competing with the low-cost programmers in India...
IMHO most chair designs seem to begin with stiff 90 degree angles and then make only slight adjustments for the human body. On the other hand, Stokke designs look and feel like they're made for the human body, instead of the usual rectangular styles. They let your body find a comfortable balance almost magically, you don't have to force yourself into a good position, or correct your position all the time. Because of the unusual shapes, they also look damn cool, but are a bit pricey though.
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
"you must be THIS TALL to ride"
[/joke]
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
fekjfgyufg euakgeygfh fgeygfhksfg gfehsgfkjsega gehfjgfkejsf fucker egfhagfhea fgaehkgf ahgfasgef kfg hsegfh sakf cock sucking whore fejaklghf sekfghfg sldkjfhes fhlksjefhlkjs hkfj
....but I would like to sit in a chair before I buy it.
"If you are a dreamer, a wisher, a liar, A hope-er, a pray-er, a magic bean buyer
I'll stick with my Humanscale Freedom chair paired with two cheapo folding tables. I have an Aeron chair too (one chair for home, one for work, until I got downsized at least) but I like the Freedom chair better. I suspect Aerons work better for heavyset people rather than skinny folks like me.
Wired has an interesting superchair article that led me to the Freedom chair.
Gotta wonder what the Humanscale folks think about PCE calling their chair "Freedom" as well. Methinks somebody didn't do the obligatory Google search.
"The Future of Workspace"
I mean I can't really see a business really purchasing any of these. I mean maybe in some distant future where tech support people are strapped in with electronic seat restraints that clock them in and out every time they enter/leave the chair. As for "Ergonomic comfort" the last thing I want to have to do when i get up to take a break, use the head, or flee from a burning building, is slide the footrest out of the way, slide the keyboard to the side, and then make sure not to hit my head on the LCD on the way out.
Not to mention that this device requires you to:
1) use an LCD monitor
2) be unable to adjust where any of these things are.
3) take up valuable space with useless pieces of lame furniture. Your desk may take up space, but its a big flat thing you can put things on when you get tired of holding them.
Maybe this had a "desk upgrade" (ErgoDesk 9000!). Maybe they will release add ons like little magnetic pouches or something. This thing is a joke and is doomed for failure.
anonymous reader huh..... I'll bet he works at mypce.com.
still, it is pretty intresting... but then the people in the chairs look kind of ridiculous. Dont really like the colors either..... oh well. I want the one with two screens! make it reclinable, put a fridge next to it, add some bike pedlals (exercise), and youd never have to leave.......... or maybe not.
Competition in America: If you can't beat 'em, Sue 'em!
and spread em wiiiiiiide...
Ok, while this might be ergonomic once you adjust it and all, it obviously fails in ergonomics in one basic fact:
You'll break your neck getting in and out of this contraption!
... don 't have integrated bar, "sombrero", sattelite connection, etc ... in short a waste of money :-)
A real ultimate computer chair has a toilet... It also wipes.
/^[A-Z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z]{2,4}$/i
Its nice that it comes with the system, as I cannot see any of Apples offerings fiting in the thing. Hang a 23" display off of one of those arms, and I bet you can't get into the seat. Not to mention my iMac.
I think I will pass. I did however enter the drawing, that thing should at least generate a dollar or two on ebay.
Oh, Yeah! My wife is going to let me bring one of those into the house! And monkeys will fly out of my butt!
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
The only time I would need a computer environment that did not include open desk area, book shelves, CD/DVD racks, and filing drawers is when I game.
$7000 is just too damn expensive for a gaming rig; especially one I don't build the system myself. Screw that. A comfy La-Z-Boy recliner, surround sound system, and custom built desk I designed myself would cost me so much less I'd have $4000 left for my dream system. Hmmmmm...
I was taking one day at a time, but then several days got together and ambushed me. (from a Rhymes with Orange comic)
Every good /. story that I want to read is gone. The HERF gun... and now this. WTF!? When is /. going to start caching this stuff locally before linking to it? They should make this "from the you'll-never-see-this-site-anyway department."
GRRRRRRRRRRRR......
Fuck it.... I've got Karma to burn and this rant felt good.
Life Imitating Art.
Remember that ST:TNG episode where Reginald Barclay designs that ultimate computer interface in the holodeck and takes over enterprise?
Hmmm.. they perhaps skipped the holodeck part. Yes, in fact, upon further thought, they need to scrap this chair and not put the carriage in front of the horse.
Holodecks First! Ship Dominating Chairs Second!
The last time I tried to sit in one of those someone tried to stick things in the back of my skull...
Whaddya mean it'll feel "WEIRD"?
There is no sig...
Here is a text-based mirror:
left panel: animated links
main page: Thumbnails of some groovey looking computer furniture. Man you gotta see this stuff! This chair is all crazy colored and stuff. A sight to marvel!
The most comfortable thing I've sat on for more than two hours were two pieces of railroad ties stacked up. I don't know why it was so damn comfortable - maybe because it was so solid.
The Chair, after countless ages, has probably had all the necessary innovations applied. Maybe this work could be put into something else...
Anybody who finished the Nod campaign in the original Command & Conquer saw these puppies years ago. The end cinematic goes into the secret room and there's the hackers in these chairs and they go through cyberspace to steal the orbital ion cannon while hooked up in chairs like these.
/>
Very cool if it works, except for the 2/3rds chance of being electrocuted by force-feedback when you hit a firewall.
<smirk!
Clearly these people have not talked to the developer community in designing these chairs. I see no Dr. Pepper / Red Bull holders nor any place to set your half-eaten bag of Cheetos.
When will someone get it?
jack's bicycle is music to my ears
"You'll be a dentist!"
Okay, smartypants, which one do you have?
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
I got into the first page just before it got hammered so I can see what it is. All I can say is that this is more than a "I want one" situation. I am going to get one and I don't care how much it costs.
It's worth waiting 'till their server calms down to have a look folks.
...those ultra-high-res reference devices.
The chair looks comfy to sit in, but not to climb in and out of every fifteen minutes. That's about how often I roll over to my O'Reilly library.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
was built from a hospital gurney. There was a cutout for your head, much like a massage table, and the monitor screen waas facing up. The keyboard was a split-design, which was the one difficult part to get used to, and your arms would just hang straight down. The mouse was a trackball mounted horizontally.
Drool gutter optional.
If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
*Mobility* is the name of the game from here on. Design focus should be more on technology usability issues, rather than how to make human beings adapt to the 1980-90's version of fixed workststions. Thank goodness, the latter are goin away.
Sure, there is a need for better fixed workstation ergonomics, but very few organizations will spend the capital necessary to deploy this sort of thing on a wide scale.
There's probably a niche market in design and graphics shops for things like this, mostly as a design statement to impress clients.
If innovations like this were cheap, we *might* see them make the residential office markets.
My favourate computer chair is the lay-z-boy. You can kick out the foot rest and rest your laptop on it. You can sit the laptop on your lap (not the best idea if your ripping your mp3 collection and you wish to have kids (assuming that your male)) and rock backwards and fowards (also not the best idea for the laptop hd). Or you can lean back go read /. , watch your favourate discovery channel documenatry about hackers (and there green hair) and become highely amused at all the websites that for some reason disappear when on the /. home page :p .
"You win again Gravity!" -Futurama (Zapp)
Slashdotted
cost $7,800
The thing looks like it's built around a $100 racing seat from Summit. Those are definitely not very comfortable, and I can't imagine they're ergonimically correct for typing.
47% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
Sweet. Now where do I put the scanner, printer, and the always attractive gargoyle pencil holder?
a couple years ago i was at a museum of design and saw something just like it but with a hover craft on the bottom so eventually they can just have people working while on the way to the board meetings... they also plan on the office buldings of the future just being gigantic warehouse houses stacked on top of each other.
I used to lust after those, until they gave me one. The mesh thing is cool, I could ride my bike in and I'd try up pretty quick. But you can't cross your legs in those things, you have to sit "properly." I like to be able to shift around how I'm sitting every 15 mins or so, there are only so many ways you can do this if sitting yoda like hurts your knees... I knew their days were numbered when they stopped stacking up on nurti-grain bars and juice, which in the long run made me happier than the chair.
Here's a brief wired article on the subject.
MasterPeace
As the stories have been a bit slack of late... I propose a new moderation system... let the users moderate the actual editor's stories!
Scoring could be from the following...
Add your suggestions!
AC
Purchase Order Request #15398
Vendor Name: Personal Computing Environments
Ship To Name: Mindragon
Purchase Request:(1) MasterPeace Personal Computing Environment
Price: $7,000.00
Purchase Reason: An ergonomically designed space will reduce the risk of repeatitive strain injury (RSI) and increase my overall productivity while I'm in the office thereby decreasing expenses and generating additional revenues for the company.
Real Reason: This looks way cool!!!
From the Mind...of a Dragon...
Just add {In Space!} to anything.
Check out www.mypce.com.
Don't you mean "Slashdot www.mypce.com."?
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Since it looks like something you would step out of having fabulous abs, CowboyNeal won't ride it.
--
We apologise for the inconvenience
Are you talking about this? "Peace Be With You: The All-Around Ergonomic Chair Has Arrived">
Wheelchairs for very unfortunate children that I have seen. Presumably these have 5-point harnesses and head restraints too? Some of those had little boards that the children point to to communicate.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
I'd prefer on of these
"The last thing I want to do is deal with a bunch of people who want something."
Major Major
Now I can pinpoint the date... 2003.
One big problem, its ugly.
and here is a text clippet from the FreshGear section where I found the video:
You've got all the gadgets to make the perfect home office, but it still has to look cool. If you're willing to pay the premium, a company called Personal Computing Environments in Los Angeles will customize a look that's just your fit.
"Fresh Gear" took a look at PCE's flagship MasterPeace. Here's what it's configured with:
* Two 17-inch flat panel displays
* Dolby 5.1 surround sound
* 3-GHz Pentium 4 processor
* 2GB DDR RAM
* 180GB hard drive
* Radion 9700 Pro graphics card with 128MB of video RAM
* Audigy Platinum sound card
* An adjustable frame connecting the components together
Click on the video icon above to see PCE's MasterPeace up close.
Company: Personal Computing Environments
Price: $4,000 for PeaceMaker; over $7,000 for MasterPeace
Available: Now
I'm a little tea pot.
When all "design" magazines and sites show pc/notebook workareas completely uncluttered by ungainly cables ?
... i don't think they built special cases for those monitors with the cables shooting out inside the red tube ... and that would make the monitor cable a few meters longer than the usual, degrading image quality.
... marketing ppl, gotta love'em
How realistic is that ? my pc has at least 10 cables shooting out of it and my monitor has at least 4 (it has a usb hub built into its base). They look like spaghetti.
Looking at this chair just made it even funnier
ahhh
These are a chair/PC combo.
The PC probably adds $3,000 to the price. I just want the chair. I already have 5 computers. Even better... sell the chair as a kit for $999.
"Building on the PCE logo, the combination chair-computer comes in models called Peacemaker (starting at $4000) and Masterpeace ($7000)."
Who cares about license cost if you can afford this contraption? On the other hand, maybe I can afford this if I only run Linux. Will a gotta-have chair be the undoing of M$? Who woulda thunk it?
Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
For a while I thought my keyboard (Kinesis Ergo) was to thank (and perhaps the MS Trackball Explorer, which you click with your thumb). I still like my keyboard -- RSI aside, it's a great input device -- but I think there's a limit to what they can do.
What really helped me was the armless chair I got, and the posture that has encouraged me to take. Which is actually no posture at all -- I shift positions on the chair at least twice an hour, sometimes leaning sideways, sometimes forward, and reclined in different ways. There's no real stability to the chair. None of the postures I take are ergonomically correct postures, which is why I think it's good -- no posture is right for too long a period.
The problem with a fancy system like this is that it's all about the Right Posture. It creates a whole frame around some "perfect" position, and from the look of it you'd have a hard time taking any other position. It's the same with a lot of the ergonomic devices, which advertise the relaxed and supported position you take, but you are locked into a single position, so even if there's less damage you have to worry that eventually it will accumulate since it's always the same damage.
The only thing missing is a built-in treadmill, cross-country ski exerciser or bicycle. Then I could cancel my fitness centre membership.
I've got arthritis in my spine from being behind a computer for too long. This type of design with the monitor suspended over my head is what the same design I've come up with but haven't been able to build.
The idea of supporting your back and neck is a very good one if you're concerned about your long term health and you spend a lot of time behind a terminal.
There is a significant problem here. It needs to be able to be reclined. You need to be lying down for this design to do your back some good. Otherwise, this is just a raised chair.
Good start though.
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
It appears that the overhead support beams for the monitors do not move. Any computer arrangement that forces me to turn my head to the side to see the monitor is guaranteed to produce neck pain by the end of a work day. I'll stick with my desk, thanks.
Seems to me it's just a geek friendly variant of the fortune cookie game... instead of fortunes, it's slashdot stories and instead of ..in bed! it's with a laser!...
So...:
I want OS X Hacks... with a laser!
I want to take Pikachu To The Patent Office... with a laser!
I want a PowerPC 970... with a laser!
I want Stanley Miller... with a laser!
Seems all you really need is:
One Aeron chair (or whatever that snazzy thing is)
One wireless keyboard
One wireless pointing device of your choice
One iMac flat panel -- easily adjustable in 3 or 4 axes to meet your viewing needs.
https://app.box.com/WitthoftResume Code: https://github.com/cellocgw
This is a chair for the ultimate computer geek, right? And it comes with Windows XP Pro? Am I the only one missing something here?
I mean, at least throw in a Linux partition or something... Sheesh...
I have my computer hooked up to 5 21" LCD Screens. It looks as though their MasterPeace only holds 2. What I am supposed to do with the other 3 screens. After having all of that real estate, I can't go down to 2 screens!
http://www.poetictech.com/
I think this was posted on slashdot several years ago.....oh for those wonderfully artificially inflated *dot com* years......where have they gone?
laptop + wireless + couch, or recliner, or bed, or porch, or hammock, or lawn, or garage, or kitchen, or sometimes even a chair & desk.
If this ever catches on, we can say good bye to team work
I have owned and "sported" several Porsches in the past. I can say from experience that this WILL be the most uncomfortable chair you have ever sat in. They have used a Corbeau A4 racing seat to make this thing which is akin to sitting on plywood. I'm sure it will help emmensely in those high-G corners on the way to the bathroom. Here's a link (not sure why anyone would want it but hey): http://www.corbeau.com/brochure/A4.shtml ER
where's the freaking ashtray?!?!?
Plus, you need (within easy reach) a telephone, fax, filing cabinet two printers, fridge, toilet, etc...
well, the way they look.
I would love to try one for a month.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
So Sites can be mirrored before /. strikes
Who needs WiFi when we can have Packet Over Sheep! http://datacomm.org/PoS-InternetDraft.txt
Dude, it's like being at the gym, but you're like, not at the gym or something...
That hideous monstrosity ain't gonna be bringing you any good luck any time soon.
No idea on pricing
Why do websites list anything buyable without pricing? On this site, BUY NOW asks the user to email Paul. Don't they know how much they want for it? Even if the price changes daily, they can update the website. And they can have that "plus shipping" that could double the price. A little effort and they can allow the chair to be customized online.
Or they can do the random price thing like Amazon.com. Check a product from multiple browsers and you get multiple prices. This is great for finding the price point that maximizes profit.
And why didn't the slashdot editor request the price? Write a post that will be seen by thousands about a product, realize the price is unknown, and not take the time to write an email before approving the story. Aargh!
Did everybody send Paul an email? A million emails from slashdot users saying "So how much is it?" should make him happy. Maybe you should send the request a few times in case the first one gets lost in the crowd.
---
I am currently researching T1 and Fractional T1 prices. Everybody except MegaPath requires a form be filled out. I do not want to give my email address to 20+ providers. I definitely do not want to give my name and physical address. Ask for my ZIP+4 if location is very important to the price, then give me the price on the web page before I lose interest and check the next website. Add a short-term Cookie so when I return to buy, you already know my city and state. (Why do they ask for City, State, and Zip, and then complain when my City does not match the spelling in their database? I really like the sites that make you guess that their City field is truncated to 12 characters.)
These are companies that are building the internet. I assume they want to make money. I assume that more customers means more money. Don't they know that most customers will expect to make their decision quickly without waiting for an email response? Another company may provide better service and better pricing, but we will probably go with the company that has a clue.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.
You could add something in the seat of the chair that would make one-handed typing unecessary ;-)
"Much work is lost, for the lack of a little more." -Edward H. Harriman
Hoo!Yah! "...120-degrees of rotation in 15 seconds," under my control! WOOT!
Seriosly, these guys "designed, developed, manufactured, and installed a modular trading pit system for the CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE ," and, if you've ever been there, much more difficult, IMHO, the exceptional indirect lighting system for the MERC. They're known for quality of materials and effort.
Remember guys, this is Amerika. Just because you have the most votes, doesn't mean you get to win.--Fox Mulder
Here's a 23kb screenshot of the site in case it gets Slashdotted.
I highly recommend this style of web design.
One major change I have done to the traditional computing environment is to place the cord (or where the cord would be) of my mouse parallel to the keyboard so my arm is sideways, below the keyboard.
Cheaper than a new chair, and keeps the arm in a more relaxed position. Anybody with any other ergo tricks?
-twb
Let me guess, it used to be the French Chair, right?
Mmmm.. Donuts
and my massive 4x8" desk. Take two sheets of 3/4 plywood, screw them together, and stick legs on it. Presto. Room for everything, including two cats.
..don't panic
damn units...
..don't panic
I totally agree that this is too restrictive. But perhaps we can take some of the ideas and build your own chair to your needs?
I would like to have:
Access to a normal desk and a smaller, movable desk
Suspended LCD screens slightly above horizontal
A chair that tilts back slightly
Footrest
Places to mount computers
Cup holders!! =)
Perhaps there's a cheaper way to get this by assembling it from common office furniture. Anyone have experience in this area?
It just needs wheels and a motor, with a joystick for steering! Imagine 3 of them moving single file - Segway eat your heart out!
From the "Peacemaker" design description:
... Freedom Chair..."
"...while seated in the
I mean, doesn't it look French?!?!
These things are built around racing seats... If you've ever sat in a racing seat for more than about 15 minutes, you'll know that they aren't exactly designed for comfort.
Racing seats are designed for safety. They are designed to keep a driver in place and secure in the event of a wreck. Any company who would build a product such as this deserves to have their heads beat in with a baseball bat. My office chair is 1000 times more comfortable and it costs 40 bucks. I can see if perhaps they were desigining some sort of chair for a racing sim or game, but for everyday use... I'm sorry but any fucker who orders one of these deserves the back pain they develop!
BTW, for any naysayer: you can tell they are regular (cheap) racing seats by simply looking at them -- the holes right below the headreast are for the four or five point shoulder harnesses to go through to secure a driver into the chair.
Again, in case the people who posted this advertorial are reading, I hope you don't sell a single one of these piece of shit chairs. Any comment refuting this argument is most likely someone from this enterprise posting some bullshit about how great their complete crap idea is...
~GoRK
Ludicrous. They expect me to give up my 3/4" thick cube walls for this? Have you seen what Nerf ammo can do at close range?!
Hah! I made one of these back in 1999, except I used an armchair I found on the street and a piece of plywood. And I had a 15" CRT, not one of those fancypants LCDs. Pictures here. It was kind of a pain actually, but it did save space in my tiny bedroom. Guess I should have patented the damned thing after all.
This thing looks frightening and unsuitable. My whole room is my computing enviroment. I wouldn't want to try to cram it into this tiny space. I have several computers I work on, whiteboards, table tops, phones, printers, fridge, microwave, sofa, tv, vcr, dvd player. and bathroom. I like to pace the room, jump around, etc while working. This thing looks like an absolute nightmare for those things. Leave the fetish equipment in the bedroom.
At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
If I wanted to put a geek equivalent of a shark cage in my office or house, I'd have done it a long time ago.
4 hours driving in my Porsche and I dont want to sit down anymore. I cant imagine that these racing seats would be good for a 70 hour week.
A Konix Multisystem w/Hydralic Chair!
I tried out the microsphere at a trade show. One of the few high end ergonomic solutions that lets you easily adjust the distance between the screen and your eyes. www.microsphere.com
>instead of ..in bed! it's with a laser!...
... chyea, right. For $7,000 I better be sitting on Claudia Schiffer's lap for 8 hours a day.
Actually I keep a laser under my pillow. Because you never know.
No joke.
I was pretty seriously contemplating one of these chairs until I saw the $2,800 - $7,000 price tag
Glonoinha the MebiByte Slayer
Those things look *way* too much like "matrix pods" for me. No way I'm sitting down in that.
Moderation in everything, including moderation.
When I look at the pictures on the site, I see a person in a chair with a keyboard and mouse in front of them and a monitor or two hanging from pipes overhead. Apart from surrounding yourself with a roll cage, I don't see how this is radically different from putting the same chair on a regular set of wheels, the keyboard and mouse on pull-out trays, and the monitor sitting on a stack of laser printer paper. Like now.
The thought of having my head tilted to one side for 8-to-10 hours a day (to see the monitors in the configuration shown in most of the pics) is enough to give me nightmares...
Ergonomic?? I don't think so...
I did see one pic with two monitors, fairly close to center (which would make sense--move your eyes, not your head), but that seemed to be the exception (as opposed to having a 'photoshop' look, which seemed to be the rule), leading me to think that these people are either a) clueless, b) clueless, or c) enjoying some sort of cruel hoax at our expense...
If a giant oil company wanted an abortion, would W's head explode?
This looks like the perfect rig for watching pr0n!!! All it misses is a few chains, nuts and bolts...
I have back problems and use a fitness ball as my workstation chair, where the hell do I fit that in?
Go permanent? In your dreams and my worst nightmares.
I have seen lots and lots of super-special-extra-designed computer tables.
They all share one thing: lack of desk space.
I don't know about you, but I bury my work space with books, notes, papers, memos, calculators, cups, pens, rulers, speakers, CDs, food, wristwatch, PDAs, several laptops, more books...
As do my cow-orkers. Especially the paper notes seem important to us programmers.
And I can just see the new VirtualCubicle (tm). These things, standing in endless rows...ugh.
At the end of the day, I need a simple, good chair, and a huge desk. The bigger, the better. Nothing fancy at all.
Ciao,
Klaus
Free PC version of ChipWits at http://www.breueronline.de/klaus/chipwits/
I wouldnt wanna get caught watching pr0n in one of these :p
If you'd like to read a long-term detailed Aeron chair review, you can find it here. It has its flaws but I haven't come across a better task chair yet.
Anyone else have the feeling this is the last time we'll be hearing about this chair? Wonder what their eBay user id is, I'd like to see what stuff they'll be selling off in 6-12 months.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
Looking at the specs of the chair, the system comes with a, "360GB Western Digital Raptor".
erm... decimal is off by one.
Sorry if this is a dupe, as I only ctrl-f'd the 1st page for "360".
Thank you for your time
i find it hard to believe that nobody here has posted a link for Poetic Technology (http://www.poetictech.com/).
sure the chairs look instanely out of league for the average user, but for those lucky few...i can only imagine the joy of using a computer.
1) Create a roof mounted convyer system in the office.
2) Hook the chairs to it.
PCE was demoing the red model at WinHEC (please don't flame me for having attended this conference, there really was some good information there) and I must say... it.. was... interesting. A lot of the crossbars and positions are customizable, there at least seemed to be some though put into cable management, however it looked suspiciously like the black cable conduits you can buy at home depot. The cables ran along the "spine" and everything gets mounted on a set of rolling wheels.
I asked the rep 2 questions, 1) how do I get this thing to a lan party (or at least my computer) since things are integrated the way they are and 2) what makes his company better than the others who have tried this "revolutionary" desktop
1) was answered with the wheels, though I would love to see someone try and get that into an elevator and up to say the 3rd floor and such
2) wasn't answered very well, basically ran along the lines of their "customizability" and the fact that they aren't the other companies. Though I have to admit it LOOKED cool, it felt... weird sitting in it.. I'm sure it would have been better with several flat panel monitors lined up in front of you... but honestly I don't think this is going to work perfectly.
My thoughts
I'm a geek. I program network apps. I'm an "apprentice" Unix admin. I sit in front of the computer 16+ hours a day. But then again, sometimes I just stay there for a few days working ahead of the curve.
But before I got here I use to pour concrete and shuffle packages at UPS. I'm tired of listening to a bunch of piss ant nerds whine about how sore thier ass is from sitting on it all day. Ergonomics my ass! Lay bricks for a few days then come back to the office and tell me how much those keyboards make your fingers hurt.
Yeah, I know, this post is slightly off topic, but this article seemed like a good place to blow off some steam.
Next time I hear one of the network guys complain about how hard changing a network cable is on his back, I'm gonna stuff his fat ass into one of those UPS receptacles.
Okay, back your regularly scheduled Slashdoting.
McDoobie
Where's the cup holder?
Get a life you god damned geeks!
I wrote this column a month ago about the Peacemaker and the Masterpeace. Besides my comments, you'll also find pictures of these expensive combination chair-computers.
dude, wheres the part that generates power from my body's kinetic energy...
Bean Bag!
That looks like a really awkward place to work, how do you reach your manuals and drink and phone and....etc. And where do you rest your wrists when using the keyboard?
And you just know someones gonna push it over while youre sitting in it and roll you across the office. Does it have a safety harness?
If you try to fail and succeed, which have you done?
"Relax in an award winning freedom chair"
Does this mean they used to be called French chairs?
Skiing? Check out The Independant Skiers Portal
I want one.....NOT. Where do I put my coffee? Or the piles of .net mags I like to have by me, or my Batman figuer that I play with....or my guitar and keyboard. OR......Most of All.....my hi-fi and CD's???
foolishness.
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by."
Wow, this really takes me back. Back to 2000 when we had to cater to whining developers with their never ending quest for the next toy. Back to 1999 when we had to tell them how much "fun" they'd have at work. And, best of all, back to 2002 when I cut their inflated salaries by 60%. Those were the days. Sigh.
You know, "Now rinse..."
A modded barber chair, wuzzup with all this "It is cool" stuff? Not cool at all! You could poke yourself in the eye with this thing!
Yeah, it looks cool..
But monitors should be at eye-level or below.
Otherwise it will put a strain on your eyes.
At least this is what the doctor told me when I wondered why my eyes were sore and I couldn't see clearly.
I'm sure most of this crowd spend looong hours staring at the screen, so be nice to your eyes.
Where's the eject button?
Humorless sig goes here.
Looks like these chairs were inspired by someone's trip to the dentist.
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
1) I'd buy a reclining chair from the Relax The Back store. $1500 gets you a mid-grade model, so let's say $1500 as conservative.
:) Let's budget $1500 for this, too, for round numbers, but it shouldn't cost that much. (Note that it need not look like a museum piece; more like curved truss.)
2) I'd hire a sculpture student, a metal shop or a custom furniture designer to create a large metal arch with support points built in in order to support one or more largish LCD panels. The arch should be tall enough that one could sit on the chair in its fully reclined position, facing up at the monitors. It would have to be dis-assemble-able for transport
3) So, vs. a budget for the featured compu-chari thing of $7800, this approach leaves us with about $5000. Two VIA EPIA systems with 512MB RAM, DVD+CDRW drives and 120GB hard drives in small cases could be assembled for $500 apiece, so there's another thousand. Down to $4000 for displays and input. One of these systems should have a video capture card, and one could be equipped with a dual-out PCI video card.
4) Buy two decent but budget-friendly 19" LCDs (Samsung look decent, so do some Mitsubishis). $1500 is generous for a pair. Mount to the metal arc.
5) Put $2500 in the bank. Get into the spaceship thus created, work, play etc.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
it's a little lightbulb that blinks.
http://www.toms.net/rb/
If I'm going to pay as much as these things look like they're going to cost, I want cupholders for my favorite 128oz SuperGulp. Of course once I'm settled in to one of these workstations, I'm not going to want to move, so maybe this is what the new, high end iLoo is going to look like on the inside.
James
The biggest problem with those is there is no place to put good old fashion pen to paper.
Wow, did you miss your own joke. The biggest problem with this chair is that it looks like a home gym. Home gyms are like Kryptonite to a geek.
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
... I can build a Thrustmaster HOTAS/Cougar into it. And then I need the thing to pitch, yaw, and roll based on the movements of my stick, throttle and pedals. Of course none of this has to do with work, but it would make for one hell of a PC Gaming/Piloting experience. :)
404 Error:
Heck, I've darn near already built this (yes, out of a lazyboy), although this version lacks a few key features.
1. An ajustable chair. Being the long-torso'd type, standard chairs require me to either slouch (goodbye lumbar), or stare at the ceiling when I rest my head. The all-one-piece thing just doesn't work for me.
2. A split keyboard. I'm not talking about the type of keyboard where the spacebar is curved like a smileyface, either, I'm talking a truly split keyboard. Half of each attached to each armrest, so I don't have to hold my arms out in front of me to type. (try typing with thumbtacks under your palms for an hour or so, and you'll see what I mean).
3. A monitor holder that allows me to dynamically adjust the location of the monitor. I've designed two ways to do this, why can't they even come up with one?
4. A place for a telephone. You expect me to get up from such a comfy spot every time the phone rings? Get serious.
5. An eject button. Even my lazyboy has a lever on the side, so I don't have to ooze my way down to the foot of it when I want to grab a reference manual. In the world of ergonomics, comfortable and easy-to-get-out-of tend to be opposing concepts.
Wake up - the future is arriving faster than you think.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
If this chair operates the same way, count me out...and I don't mean *out* in that way either...
"Right now, somewhere in this world, Scott Baio is plowing a woman he doesn't love," - Peter Griffin, *Family Guy*
ZIP+4 defines a very small area, usually one block, sometimes one building. It provides a method for identifying a geographical location in the US without requiring a mail address. It can be discovered easily by the clueless masses.
Your GPS coordinates would also provide an anonymous location, but most people would find them much more difficult to discover.
I was complaining that these service providers require my full name, phone numbers, physical address, email address, and a variety of other information before they will give a possible customer any information about their service. They could make more money selling the information they collect than from providing connectivity services.
I spend my life entertaining my brain.