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iWorkstations?
YoDave writes "Have a slick new iMac and a boring old desk? This BBC report may be music to your eyes. John Treby from the University of Hertfordshire has designed the iDesk. It has space age styling with space for all your Apple goodies and not much else. Rain Design of San Francisco is shipping a similar stand called the iGo. PC users can prepare to drool with envy, again."
Just look at all the air around that desk. Complete waste of space!
Instead, get something like this.
That's all the desk you should ever need.
The unofficial
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Problem 1 with that idea is that if Apple put down money for the placement the Apple logo wouldn't be taped over. It almost always is. Problem 2 with that idea is that the place one can most easily find Macs used for style is in commercials for other companies' products, products like shirts and real estate brokerage.
I recently ended a long and agonizing affair with "computer furniture." Over the years I've spent fairly large sums of money swapping out one arrangement for another with the belief that each new purchase was necessary -- to "finally" get comfortable, be more productive, make more efficient use of space, etc.
What did I do? I started by refinishing an old pine dining room table. Instead of a "ledge," I have a "real" desk with plenty of space on which to read and write, pile books, and rest my elbows. My two 21" monitors are off to the side (an L-shaped arrangement) on a second table I built with a retractable keyboard tray. Underneath that table, the computers are kept in a sealed but vented cabinet. The rack equipment (including hissing modems, routers, etc.) I moved into a closet (also sealed and vented).
Workstations may be fine for working if one defines working as doing nothing but staring at your monitor with your hands typing away at the keyboard. Past that, however, I find the entire concept as flawed and unworkable.
Mind you, I do think the desks shown look nice, but I'd never trade horizontal space with the gimmicky extras and pseudo ergonomics that are part of all modern computer furniture design. Put another way, if I hand nothing else, I'd use a 6' utility table instead. Or hell, maybe even a door on supports -- at least you can decorate it with a plant or two.
Please, go into it. Because I can't see WTF you are talking about.
Crucial ergonomics issues with computer workstations: height, position and adjustment of chair; height and position of keyboard/mouse area; appropriate swivel and tilt controls for those surfaces; having the top-edge of the display adjustable to neutral eye-level resting naturally straight ahead.
This desk, while definitely short on 'extra' space, seems to fit the bill on all of these (I mean, it's designed around a stem; thats a cool idea). So I'm curious as to what you mean.
If Jesus wants me it knows where to find me.
What!? I dispute that statement. Consider the PowerBook for instance. (I know the PB because I just bought one.)
- To transfer files to/from any other box: plug an
ethernet cable into the (built-in) e-net plug (it doesn't
have to be a crossover cable). Open System Preferences
from the Apple menu; click Sharing; then check FTP
access.
- To use an external monitor: plug it in.
- To make a disc image from a CD, open Disk Copy
and select "New -> Image from Device" from the File
menu.
Simplicity. Point 1 in favor of the Mac.- To use virtually any Free app, install Fink, Fink
Commander and X11. Click on the name of the app in
Fink Commander, then the Install button, and it's
installed, with all dependencies.
- To add storage devices, plug them in to the USB or
FireWire (IEEE-1394) port. They're automatically
detected.
Versatility. Point 2 in favor of the Mac.Style over substance, n'est[-ce] pas?
No. Style with substance.
Sigmentation fault - core dumped