
Medieval Desktops - benbreen
http://medievalbooks.nl/2014/10/10/medieval-desktops/
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leoc
Note how most of them are reading and writing on pitched surfaces, either
using a pitched desk or a pitched stand. The near-ubiquity of flat reading and
writing surfaces is a recent development afaics: even old mass-manufactured
school desks from the early-mid C20 tend to have pitched surfaces. The
explanation seems to be that while pitched surfaces are better than flat
horizontal surfaces for both reading and writing, flat surfaces are superior
for piling crap onto (loose papers, books, telephones, adding machines,
typewriters and what have you).

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arrrg
Pitched surfaces were definitely a thing in schools until the middle of the
20th century.

Check out these images from a Bavarian school museum, showing classrooms from
1875 and 1920:
[http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/](http://www.schulmuseum.org/raeume/)

That’s not 45°, but still slightly pitched. Also note that bench and table are
one massive combined piece of furniture, with two (or more) students sharing
one bench. That makes the classroom layout completely inflexible.

I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained
by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving tables
around to make working in groups easier.

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leoc
> I think flat tables (and individual chairs) in schools can also be explained
> by an increased desire to reconfigure the classroom on the fly, moving
> tables around to make working in groups easier.

Absolutely: it probably mirrors (and likely imitated) the thinking about
modular, open-plan offices which came into fashion around the same time too.
To an extent it probably also reflects the arrival of Stuff on Your Desk into
schoolchildren's lives as well: crafting activities and educational toys in
the classroom, but also just more books and more papers than before.

(I'm not holding up C20 pitched school desks as a _good_ example of pitched
working surfaces: they were often cheap, sometimes even unstable, unadjustable
and cramped, likely designed for someone a foot shorter than the poor eejit
who was actually jammed into it. They were more like the sad fag-end
[http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-
end-18204918.jpg](http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/fag-end-18204918.jpg) of a
long tradition; I think they may have helped sour many people on the idea of
pitched working surfaces.)

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sethrin
The term 'fag end' predates the cigarette by a couple centuries, at least in
Europe. In figurative use, I am surprised to see it associated with cigarette
butts; it's a very unusual figure, and I would have expected anyone using it
to be aware of the (original) meaning.

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DanBC
I would be greatly surprised if more than 1% of UK respondants had any idea of
the use of "fag end" as anything other than cigarettes and the metaphor.

~~~
lmm
Before clicking the links I assumed it referred to the end of a faggot (the
kind used for kindling).

~~~
sethrin
Sorry, I should have mentioned. For anyone else reading, "fag end" refers to
the end of a length of material such as cloth or especially rope. The short
end of a rope which is left over from tying a knot is the "fag end". Another
similar term is "bitter end", the end of a rope abaft the bitts, that is, the
part that remains inboard on a ship.

A useful visual reference can be found here:
[http://books.google.com.pa/books?id=mrDgmObwGZcC&pg=PA387&lp...](http://books.google.com.pa/books?id=mrDgmObwGZcC&pg=PA387&lpg=PA387&dq=visual+dictionary+bitter+end&source=bl&ots=bb3BM4k-ME&sig=QPmBtRz2EjlhrPTD0yO3rUM_rFs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=beI6VIHCFpPPggSOkIGABA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=visual%20dictionary%20bitter%20end&f=false)

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bicx
In this
([https://medievalbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/bl_royal_1...](https://medievalbooks.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/bl_royal_18_e_iii.jpg))
photo, you can clearly see the man flaunting his Beats by Dre earbuds over the
edge of his desk. You know he didn't just happen to hang those bitches on the
most visible part of his gaudily minimalist desk with gravity-defying angles.
This guy was clearly a douchebag. The more things change, the more they stay
the same.

~~~
leoc
Yup, Beats "caually" draped over the top of his multi-monitor stand.

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goldfeld
What really jumps out at me is that before perspective theory was invented the
paintings rather look like Ultima Online.

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Mikeb85
Omg I need a book wheel!!! I've got so many thick reference books (in a
variety of subjects), I would love to be able to have them all open at the
same time...

~~~
benbreen
Anthony Grafton (polymathic historian of the book at Princeton) actually built
a replica of the book wheel pictured in the original post. Only one of its
kind in the world, as far as I know:
[http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW06-07/11-0404/f...](http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW06-07/11-0404/features_grafton.html)

~~~
nl
There's a better picture of his wheel (I assume - it looks the same) here:
[http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/odyssey/images/ramellibook...](http://www.sil.si.edu/exhibitions/odyssey/images/ramellibookwheelmodel_1.jpg)

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michaelbuddy
This is not medieval but for those interested in these 'multi-monitor'
bookstands, I was immediately reminded of a forefather of the United States,
good ole Thomas Jefferson. He had swivel bookstand and here's a PBS woodwright
workshop video on how you can make one.
[http://video.pbs.org/video/2365004559/](http://video.pbs.org/video/2365004559/)

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whitten
It is a fun idea to have one of those book wheels but with laptops loaded
instead of books.

~~~
Too
A whole server tower filled with kvm racks?
[http://static3.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/6/1/1/large2/1160690...](http://static3.bigstockphoto.com/thumbs/6/1/1/large2/11606903.jpg)

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VLM
Only one will be at the ergonomically correct height.

Unless your "real project" is making a variable height powered automated
chair. Which is an interesting idea.

Given an infinite amount of cheap space (coasties need not apply) something
like a teeter-totter with a counterweight to lower static torques to
practically nothing...

A motionless chair might result in less sea sickness when combined with a
moving rack.

COTS is boring but COTS you can buy half racks and lift tables with multi ton
capacity for moving machinery (think like, engine blocks) You'd want some kind
of shielding to keep kids and pets out of the works. And you'd need some kind
of interlocking to prevent forcing a open laptop thru your lap when lowering.

