Re: Kinesis sighting - and the Fellowes Stowaway

I thought about this last year.

I had been researching chairs and ergonomics and looking for some related
scientific research project I could do.  I was having trouble finding a
nearby lab where I could do very sophisticated stuff, so I started looking
into computer keyboards and mice instead.  Here was my reasoning: Research
into chairs has to account for all sorts of cultural aspects of chairs and
the entire workplace environment.  Beyond the research itself, encouraging
change in chair use would be harder because the idea of a traditional chair
is so deeply ingrained in our culture.

Computer keyboards and mice are very new, so it's easier to get people to
consider using radically different kinds of keyboards and mice.  Also, the
artistic qualities are less important; chair design is in many ways an art,
so ergonomic correctness is often not a large factor.

The people who use ergonomic keyboards are probably less concerned with the
look than people in general because ergonomic keyboards, especially the best
ones, generally look at least weird and less slick than standard keyboards.
It's not really considered artwork in the same way chairs are. (The Aeron
chair is displayed at the Met.)  This is part of the reason why people don't
use ergonomic keyboards that much and also a reason why they're in fewer
media; including one would be like including a beige desktop computer with a
beige monitor, mouse and keyboard.

Thomas Levine

On 7/13/07, Fred Craven <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>   A long time back there was a Kinesis Contoured in a movie (TV show?) It
> was painted all black--before they offered a black model.
>
> I think it was something the "bad guys' were using in a control center
> in the back of a van...
>
> Great details, eh?
>
> That's the only one I had ever seen.
>
>  
>


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