I figured I'd relay this story:

Although I've invested tens of thousands of dollars on computer equipment over the years, I've never purchased a computer chair.

Both Rocknor's Bad Day and Rocknor's Donut Factory were developed while sitting in a series of crappy chairs: first a wooden dining table chair that eventually cracked from me trying to lean back in it. It was horrible on my back.

I then switched to plastic patio chairs. This worked great for awhile but it eventually started to hurt my butt. And they'd crack too when leaning back too much in them. I repaired my last one with Duct tape so I could continue working without having to go out and get a new chair. Eventually the duct tape peeled off and my shirt would stick to the chair when sitting back in it.

I credit these two patio chairs in the credits of Rocknor's Donut Factory. They served me well.

After shipping Rocknor's Donut Factory, I decided I'd remedy this problem: I puchased myself nothing less than a Herman Miller Aeron Chair (a stable of the Internet bubble here in Silicon valley) . I got mine used for 450 bucks. I figured I've saved enough money on chairs in the past that I could spring for an Aeron now!

So, here's to hoping that my new computer chair will improve my game development performance!

~Hanford

I used a wooden dining chair as my "computer chair" for years. After a while I added a throw pillow.

It worked fine until I went full-time as a stay-at-home indie. Sitting in that wooden chair, even with the pillow, during months of 10 hour days...well...let's just sum it up by saying that I started losing feeling in my left leg...and my spine got rather bitchy too...

Not good.

So I bit the bullet and bought me a chair that had all the features I needed: adjustable back, seat, and height, plus ( something I insist on) fixed arms. I discovered in my search that what I wanted was not what is considered a "computer chair". It's classified as an "executive chair". Comfortable when typing, and comfortable when easing back to consider the task at hand. And even comfortable when reading after hours.

I didn't get a cadillac of office chairs, like handford_lemoore (mine cost "only" $350, new), but I got me a very nice chair that's lasted me upwards of 3 years now and is still comfortable.

You wouldn't think of shirking on your computer hardware. Don't shirk on your "office support" hardware either. Your back, internal organs, and lower extremities will all appreciate it. :)

-David

Right after i started my CS degree studies, I bought a nice comfy chair at 100$. it did wonders to my back problems and improved my posture.

if youre spending a lot of time sitting on a chair, why not buy a nice comfy one? you ARE spending tons of money on your computer, software, ect. why not spend 1/100 on a nice chair to sit on?

btw, here's a nice suggestion for a chair

;)

I spend much of the day sitting cross-legged in my crappy used office chair, which I threw a folded towel on for extra padding. When I was a kid in gym class they called this sitting "indian-style," but that's not politically correct these days so I imagine they don't call it that any more. Yoga-style perhaps, except I don't tuck my feet in ... unless I'm actually doing yoga, which I do on the floor...

So anyway, I don't always sit this way because when the dog jumps on my lap I've got less than 30 minutes before both legs go numb. I've been told when I'm not sitting cross-legged I tend to lean forward hunched over when I type. Probably not good. I'll never be comfortable in a lean-back snoozing position, I'll actually fall asleep. Something to keep my spine vertical and straight would be good.

I've been chair shopping several times, but I never found a chair that was comfortable and accomodated my variety of sitting styles. All the "really nice" chairs either have arms that get in the way or a nasty plastic rim on the seat, which makes sitting cross-legged painful. Now I'm thinking I should try dining room chairs and patio furniture, which has worked so well for everyone else here. :)

I could never imagine sitting on a wooden chair for any period of time. I use a fairly average $100 office chair, with arm rests and swivel and wheels. Have had it for years and years and the fabric on it is starting to wear down in a few places. Once it becomes noticable I'll have to get it replaced. Sitting on a broken chair would be incredibly demoralizing for me.

I did go chair shopping several times but I never found a chair that I thought was worth the money. I cringed at the quality of the 100 dollar office chairs they sell around here. It took me several years to finally just look for an Aeron used, make contact, arrange a time/place to see it, then buy it.

~Hanford

I used to have one of those kneeling chairs when I was a kid and with the back pain I've been experiencing lately I'm thinking of picking one up again. They look goofy as hell but I used to sit for hours at my Amiga when I was a kid and never had any discomfort. Now the question is: was it because of the chair or because I was young?

I started out with poor chairs as well, but then realized how important my back is in the end. My current chair is an executive chair with a full back support and a lot of nice handles that swing the chair in one direction or the other. After trying maybe 10 computing chairs this is absolutely the best one. On the bottom it says "The Finnish Treasury", and it has a nice history as well.

We were moving in the summer of 2002 and out looking for a new washing machine. While walking back to the car my SO happened to glance into this small 150 sq. ft. shop. Well, it wasn't actually a shop, just a dark storage space with a small sign saying "If you are interested in anything, call downstairs". We peered through the window and could barely make out some office chairs in the back. I got excited and decided to call downstairs.

Downstairs was the real shop. The company business was maintenance of industrial kitchen equipment. They had a huge moist space filled with gigantic machines that did things I never found out about. It took some time to find anyone, everyone seemed busy. Finally we managed to get the owner of the place to come up with us to show the chairs. He explained that their usual salesgirl was on holidays, they just got the chairs from somewhere and wanted to get rid of them.

After the lights went on and some fidgeting I finally saw the chair I wanted. I looked really high quality and after a few moments of test sitting it felt like a good choice. When asked for a price the owner scratched his beard and said: "Well, I don't really know how these should be priced, but that one looks like a real good specimen so would it be ok to pay $60 for it?". Holding back my reaction to rush for the wallet I tried to look like I was counting, but for my part the sale was made.

When I was carrying out the chair the owner started to come to his senses. "Hmm, I think I might have sold it to you somewhat underpriced. But what the heck, it's summer and all. Hope it server you well.".

The chair sells for $1400 as new and rarely under $600 when used .. :)

Excercise ball. Keeps my gut from growing as I spend heaps of time sitting down. Also it is fun to bounce along to music when I code.

As a bonus your posture will improve. Unfortunately you will hate normal chairs as they can not bounce.

Evah unf!
http://holepit.com/

Originally posted by illume
Excercise ball. Keeps my gut from growing as I spend heaps of time sitting down. Also it is fun to bounce along to music when I code.

As a bonus your posture will improve. Unfortunately you will hate normal chairs as they can not bounce.

Evah unf!
http://holepit.com/

That's interesting. Where'd you get it from, and how much did it cost? From Rebel sport?

When I can afford to do so, I think I'm going to buy a nice 'executive chair' type thing, but one of those might be fun too.

For many years I have used a lying-down position, from a bed. At home this wasn't so good because the screen was too high and caused some neck strain, but here in the dorm I can set it at just about the perfect height(a little below and tilted upwards), cause my bed isn't just a mattress on the floor.

Good:

-Can cozy up under the covers at any time. Very pleasant ^.^
-Fairly natural position for the majority of your body, doesn't result in back problems.

Bad:

-My ELBOWS!!!!11!!! Actually it's not that bad. They can get sore if you spend hours lying down, but that becomes a problem I sit up cross-legged for a while. Or use the hard wooden chair but that's annoying and I haven't spent too much time in it lately.

-Wrist strain can also become a problem, but mostly only because of bad technique or poorly developed arm muscles. Age might be a factor too but I'm still young so I dunno.

And my knowledge about kneeling chairs says that they are very useful for helping anyone with back problems - there were two of them in the office of a back specialist I went to see(for scoliosis, which has never been a real problem and we decided in the end it was caused by my having one leg slightly longer than the other). They were probably there because they work.

Regarding the exercise balls, I know Rowe And Jarman has a few, you can usually pick one up for about $40 or $50 (AUD). I tried one for the first time yesterday in the gym, they're not bad. Definitely like the way you can bounce on them :) But I don't see how they're any better for your posture then a normal chair. I think it's because they barely provide any support at all, you're more conscious that you should sit up straight. Perhaps someone can explain how it works to me more clearly though.

Also, I'm curious if anyone here has a reason why they *wouldn't* get an Aeron chair (apart from the price?). I tried one in a showroom once, and it seemed nice but I wasn't completely overawed by it. I was actually more impressed with how it looks then the comfort. I did try adjusting to fit me and I did feel some improvement, but I only got a few minutes with it so I couldn't adjust everything perfectly.

Just curious if others feel that Aerons really are the best chairs for programmers, or if it's a case of emperor's new clothes? Incidentally I didn't like the Herman Miller Mirra chair, but I was really impressed by their multitask Caper chairs.

Originally posted by hanford_lemoore
After shipping Rocknor's Donut Factory, I decided I'd remedy this problem: I puchased myself nothing less than a Herman Miller Aeron Chair (a stable of the Internet bubble here in Silicon valley) . I got mine used for 450 bucks. I figured I've saved enough money on chairs in the past that I could spring for an Aeron now!

My company moved to these chairs a couple years ago, and I gotta say, they're not overrated. Everyone made fun of the bosses for investing all that money to buy 1,500 chairs at a grand a piece, but now everyone is grateful. I used to just stand all day when I talked on the phone, now I sit a large portion of the time and am not very sore at all. Then I come home to my "decent" office chair and try to think of ways to destroy it because it doesn't compare to my work chair :(

Man, I'll know I've hit the big time when I'm no longer sitting in a rickety old foldup chair...
Doesn't seem to bother me though, I guess I'm still young and I'll be a cripple in later life.

Going full time indie meant sitting in my horrible computer chair all day, it was getting so bad that I had to switch from my crappy executive chair (my brother gave it to me) to a normal computer chair..

Today was great! In my old chair I was always leaning back and recently my lower back has been aching.. I switched to this one last night and having a solid back support and always sitting up straight made a huge difference!

For so long I thought it didnt really matter, but it does! I dont feel like an old man when I bend over anymore!

You know, its funny, when I got my job at DCS the FIRST thing I did was bought a good chair. Got it on sale for $150, totally worth it. I dont know about spending 1k on a chair, but I definately know that sitting in a chair meant for your kitchen table is a good way to develop a hump, lol.

Anyone who doesnt have a good chair I would say "HAHA, go buy one you dolt."

Best investment I ever made.

Joseph Lieberman

Originally posted by illume
Excercise ball. Keeps my gut from growing as I spend heaps of time sitting down. Also it is fun to bounce along to music when I code.

As a bonus your posture will improve. Unfortunately you will hate normal chairs as they can not bounce.

Evah unf!
http://holepit.com/

I agree, and I can't recommend an excercise ball (I call it my yoga ball) enough. I put my back out a couple of years ago and have been sitting on one of those ever since.

It's funny when you think about it. Everyone else at the office sits on $700 chairs while I sit on an inflated $15 piece of plastic.

It's cheap, it's does the job, it's comfortable (really, it is), and it's much better for you than any expensive chair out there.

And I bounce on it all day too. ;)

Originally posted by Terin
Anyone who doesnt have a good chair I would say "HAHA, go buy one you dolt."

I wish I knew you a few months earlier!:D I've had this new chair for a week and I feel so much better!