I finally decided to spend the serious cash on a serious office chair. Not some $30 hunk of plastic from Office Depot, but a real grown-up chair, one that would make me want to sit at my desk, instead of slouching off to the chaise lounges in the backyard. For the last few years I've used a hand-me-down chair that I acquired during the shutdown of Circus Freak. I don't remember if it was my actual office chair or not - I'm pretty sure it had been a conference room chair before it made it to CFS.
Out with the old!
I had been contemplating buying an Aeron, but I didn't really want to. There were several reasons. First off I don't really like the look of the Aeron. Second off, they are so mid-90s nowadays. They just scream "Web 2.0" to me, and I assume there's a marketeer lurking nearby - complete with their sob story about how they had to work so late they were in the office after six PM, and the sushi plate they ordered in wasn't even very cold! (Please note: I'm not making that anecdote up. Really happened at Accolade. It was the explanation as to why somebody was getting a "110% award".) Third, they are fussy and finicky. Fourth, even given my desire for a grown-up chair and a willingness to pay for comfort they cost about a grand. That's a lot for one chair. (And please don't start in with me about Craigslist. I want a new chair, and I want to just pick it out, order it, have it show up and not worry about any mysterious stains on it.)
Luckily I remembered Cory Doctorow talking up the Steelcase Think last fall on Boing Boing. I looked around on the web a bit and decided that A) it was the chair I wanted, and B) there was no major discount to be had compared to ordering it straight from Steelcase. They aren't super-fast, it took them about a week to fulfill my order, and a week for shipping, but I did get it last Thursday. It's smart, modern looking, color matched to my desk, and it only has four controls (counting the lumbar adjust). I like it a lot. And it came with a big huge box that makes the cats happy :-)
Most suprising thing? It's quiet. I hadn't realized how much noise the casters on my old chair make with the squeaking and grumbling until the first time I slid from my desktop over to my laptop and didn't hear any sounds.
In with the new!
technorati tags:Office, Steelcase, Think, Chair, Furniture
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