
Investing in a Quality Programming Chair - jlhamilton
http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/001146.html
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silentbicycle
I have a Haworth Zody chair at home (Craigslist in Grand Rapids, MI, office
furniture central) and another Haworth chair at work, and I assure you, _it
makes a difference_. I felt it'd be out of place to drop name brands in the
"how much does comfort in the office affect productivity" thread a couple days
ago (<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=234445>), but oh man. (NB: I am
tall.)

The Steelcase Leap chairs are _really_ nice too, and I have no doubt that the
Herman Miller chairs are great. Absolutely try any of the above and see how
they fit first, though -- there's another Steelcase one that just doesn't work
for me, at all. They're all expensive, too (craigslist nonwithstanding...),
though one that fits you perfectly is well worth it in the long run, and they
all seem to be built to last. As expensive workspace stuff goes, they'll
certainly depreciate more slowly than a huge, expensive LCD monitor.

Just like keyboards -- some people love the split keyboards (including me),
some people can't stand them but love the clacky ones, but the important thing
is to have one that actually fits you if you're going to be using it several
hours every day.

That said, I bet Jeff Atwood gets an awesome Amazon commission if anybody buys
one of those through his blog. Yikes. :)

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whatusername
Did you ever see this: [http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/12/12/whats-
the-weir...](http://www.problogger.net/archives/2006/12/12/whats-the-weirdest-
thing-youve-sold-on-amazon/)

(He "sold" a $22,000 Bulldozer through an Amazon affiliate link!)

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uruzseven
I think breaks are more important than a nice chair. I set a timer to go off
every hour. I get up, refill my water and/or coffee mug, and take a walk
around the office to check in on the junior staff.

Many of my best ideas came just after stretching and human interaction.

~~~
ajross
Absolutely. Fancy chairs are the solution to the wrong problem. The problem is
that sitting is just plain bad for you, and the solution is to stand up and
walk around.

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sker
You tell me. I got varicose veins for spending to much time sitting in front
of my computer. It's mostly linked with heredity, but the lack of activity in
your legs is one of the main responsibles. So be careful guys, if you're gonna
spend all day in your chair, make sure you stand up and exercise your legs
periodically. Your back and your legs are gonna thank you.

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jodrellblank
"If you're investing $500+ in a chair, you'd understandably want to be sure
it's "the one"."

Really?. Go to ted.com and watch Barry Schwartz's video on the paradox of
choice... you will probably be happier with your chair if you have no choice
of chair, or choose it quickly and are stuck with it, with no opportunity to
change your mind than if you try dozens of them with 30 day no quibble return
policies to find 'the one'.

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narag
I'd stop in the "if you're investing $500+ in a chair" part. Why? Where does
it come from?

That said, I'm very surprised to know that my chair is indeed one of these
Miller's Mirra. You don't see this kind of luxury over here very often. At
home I have a €60 that's as comfortable as this one.

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boredguy8
The Aeron is an amazing chair. There's a reason offices that were buying new
equipment (i.e. dotcoms) bought the Aeron. I love mine, and I love that it's
comfortable.

Also, the same thoughts that justify a great chair (time spent using,
durability, etc.) justify finding a -good pen-. I recently got a rotring
rapidograph .25mm pen, and it's the pen I've been looking for my whole life.
For those of you that think the .5mm is too think and 'gunky', I highly
suggest this pen
([http://www.rotring.com/en/produkte/tuschefueller/rapidograph...](http://www.rotring.com/en/produkte/tuschefueller/rapidograph.html)).

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calambrac
That's a drafting pen? Are you suggesting that for regular daily usage?

You would have to pry my 0.5mm Pilot G-2 from my cold, dead hand.

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edw519
_I actually broke my Aeron's recline pin once and had to replace it myself. So
I've retrained myself not to recline, which is awkward, as I'm a natural
recliner._

$700 for that?

I bought my chair for $25 at a thrift store 10 years ago. It reclines all I
want.

If you're that uncomfortable, maybe it's not the chair, but the butt in the
chair. Get off of it and move around a little bit.

I've seen plenty of solutions looking for a problem in software, but never
thought it would also come to office equipment.

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symptic
For anyone shopping for a great chair, I am totally in love with my Steelcase
Think chair. It adjusts to anyone who sits in it, so it can be used by
multiple people and the settings are extremely easy to set, unlike the Aeron.

For the eco-conscious, it's also 99% recyclable and is easy to
assemble/disassemble. Then there are the looks, which I find much more
appealing than most chairs.

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jakewolf
For a second I thought the post was going to be about the need to endow a new
kind of chair in CS departments. Does anyone work standing up?

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vulpes
No, but here is a great post from somebody that does at 37 signals:
[http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1001-standing-versus-
sitt...](http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1001-standing-versus-sitting)

