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Apple Businesses

iWorkstations? 332

Posted by michael from the iugly-iplastic dept.
YoDave writes "Have a slick new iMac and a boring old desk? This BBC report may be music to your eyes. John Treby from the University of Hertfordshire has designed the iDesk. It has space age styling with space for all your Apple goodies and not much else. Rain Design of San Francisco is shipping a similar stand called the iGo. PC users can prepare to drool with envy, again."
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iWorkstations? More

iWorkstations?

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  • hmm (Score:5, Funny)

    by freedommatters ( 664657 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:20AM (#6711276)
    what about those of us with an old imac and a slick new desk?

  • But... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Averron ( 677873 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:21AM (#6711278)
    Where do I put all my coke cans...?

  • dumb (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:22AM (#6711280)
    blahblahblah computer workstation..too high, too expensive,too "chic".

    just give me a new chair damnit! I'm turnin hunchback!

  • useless (Score:5, Informative)

    by Gherald ( 682277 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:23AM (#6711286) Journal
    Just look at all the air around that desk. Complete waste of space!

    Instead, get something like this [officedepot.com].

    That's all the desk you should ever need.

  • Huh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by md81544 ( 619625 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:23AM (#6711287) Homepage
    The desk is design to concieveable be placed within the Apple brand.

    Let's hope his design skills are better than his grammar...

    On a desk like that, where would I put the pizza and the stuffed Tux??
    • ...I think.

      All right, I wasn't looking at the desk. It could be plywood and cinderblocks for all I care. Just goes to show that you can sell anything if you put a pretty enough girl next to it, and I'm only slightly ashamed to admit that it works on me.

      Good thing I don't have any money.

  • No offence... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Chicane-UK ( 455253 )
    I don't think PC users drool with envy over Apple Mac computers.. i'd like an iMac, and if I really wanted one that badly i'd sell my PC and buy one. But at the end of the day, an iMac can't do everything my PC so i'm going to stick with it for now.

    Anyway... for me, computer ownership shouldn't be about having to re-mortgage my house just so I can be a trend-whore ;) :)

    • Re:No offence... (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Vexalith ( 684137 )
      I do to an extent. I am a PC Linux user and have been for a while, but I must admit to getting a bit fed up with grey boxes. Sure there's all those PC case modification bits around but all the neon in the world won't make your machine look as good as an iMac. I really like the latest design, especially the screen. I thought the previous iMac was alright but never considered it to be as groundbreaking as a lot of people made out. I think some of the G4 cubes are pretty hot too.

      But these days when I look a

  • Looks great (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Tim C ( 15259 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:25AM (#6711296)
    I'm all for eye-candy, but the desk looks to be unsuitable for my needs (ymmv, of course). At work, I generally have a couple of books close to hand, printouts of specs, a project plan or two, etc. The paperless office is a nice idea, but I don't see it happening any time soon...

    At home, my desk is a complete mess. CDs everywhere, a book or two, assorted junk that I really ought to put away but never quite get round to doing... There, a desk like this might actually make sense, as it would (hopefully!) force me to be a little tidier. For work, though, it's simply not practical.

    Looks utterly gorgeous, though.

    • Re:Looks great (Score:5, Interesting)

      by ampathee ( 682788 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:42AM (#6711343)
      good point - there needs to be more room for *stuff*, while still encouraging tidiness..
      I reckon it could do with:
      * document-holder-clip-thing beside the monitor
      * cd-storage-stack-thing
      * a shelf for books + misc items
      * another one of those mousepad platforms, it looks about right for an open book
      my $0.02 anyway
      • What it needs is some DRAWERS. I know workspace isn't personal space, blah, blah, blah... but no human being will be happy living somewhere 9 hours per day without at least a few cubit feet of privacy.

    • This desk probably is designed for public computers (libraries etc.) rather than your office/home.

      Just by looking at the design, you see that it isn't meant to have tons of papers or books on it. It's more like a public terminal for everyone to use. If you would have seen this on a computer exhibition it definetely would have looked very stylish. Your company or organisation would have got much more positive attention because of this desk, I believe.

      • Lately I've been using my PowerBook a lot when I'm watching TV. I put the critter on a TV Table (substantial wood kind, not the rickety aluminum kind) and IRC away while I'm watching TV. This desk would be ideal for that kind of entertainment multitasking.

        I have been considering one of those rollaway desks specifically designed for laptop computers. However, being that I'm a broke dot-com refugee going back to school this Fall, I have more important priorities than that, like food and shelter. So the TV Ta
  • ...there's always the one in the front of the iMac, isnt there?

  • Old news (Score:2, Funny)

    by gh0ul ( 71352 ) *
    Macslash (see article [macslash.org]) had this on the 14th.. come'on slashdot.. get up to speed :P
  • First PC's, then consumer electronics, then furniture... What's next? Fast food: iFries and iCola? Deserts: iScream? Bad Movies: iScream 2? Bionics: iBalls? Sex Toys: iLoveBalls?

    Ikea must be sweating like mad right now. Overpriced overhyped overtrendy furniture is their turf...

  • iRealityDistortionStations ??? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by vnv ( 650942 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:36AM (#6711325)
    It's always interesting to see how Apple people create designs that contain severe ergonomic flaws, but because they are for Mac, they are hyped to be some sort of revolution.

    For either of the linked iRealityDistortionStations, there is no place to put CD's, papers, a drawing pad, or any other tools. Much less a drink. Or for the Mac crowd, their reality distortion equipment.

    If you want a good workstation desk, check out the following companies. They make excellent systems for a variety of uses, including video and music production.

    Biomorph Interactive Desks [biomorphdesk.com]

    Anthro Workstations [anthro.com]

    Many of the big companies (such as Steelcase, Herman Miller, etc.) that make office furniture also make high quality workstation systems. With all the leftover dotcom equipment lingering about, you can often find tremendous discounts if you dig around at used office furniture and dotcom liquidation companies.

  • sure they look good (Score:4, Interesting)

    by lexcyber ( 133454 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:38AM (#6711328) Homepage
    But what will looks of your desk help when your back and neck is strained? I think that was by far the most non-ergonomical desks I have ever seen. I think I would throw them it out imediatly if my employer asked me to use one of thoose.

    It is so many errors with the workspace that I don't even what to go into it.

    Only one thing good was probably the iGo's built in lamp for night-work. But that is probably just about it.

    • "But what will looks of your desk help"...."I think I would throw them it out imediatly if my employer asked me to use one of thoose."....."It is so many errors with the workspace that I don't even what to go into it."

      Geeks......please don't drink and post.

    • Re:sure they look good (Score:4, Informative)

      by thatguywhoiam ( 524290 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @01:03PM (#6712828)
      It is so many errors with the workspace that I don't even what to go into it.

      Please, go into it. Because I can't see WTF you are talking about.

      Crucial ergonomics issues with computer workstations: height, position and adjustment of chair; height and position of keyboard/mouse area; appropriate swivel and tilt controls for those surfaces; having the top-edge of the display adjustable to neutral eye-level resting naturally straight ahead.

      This desk, while definitely short on 'extra' space, seems to fit the bill on all of these (I mean, it's designed around a stem; thats a cool idea). So I'm curious as to what you mean.

      • Mod parent up (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) <vincent.jan.gohNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Saturday August 16, 2003 @01:27PM (#6712944) Homepage
        Someone please mod it up. I agree entirely. At work, I have my monitor lifted up pretty high, because I'm convinced that the people that came up with the notion that you monitor should be lower than your eyes have never actually worked at a computer all day. Everything about that desk looks right. As for not having enough room for documents and things, nobody ever said that you can only have one desk. At work, I need a lot more than one dest to suit my needs.

  • Desks made for computers hur my legs (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tage ( 14671 ) <tage&tbef,se> on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:40AM (#6711337) Homepage
    Why is it that almost all desks made specifically for computers have their legs exactly where I would like to put mine? I hate furniture that comes in my way when I try to use it. Why not just let the table have its legs far apart, with room for my legs in between?

    The pictures on the iGo page are hilarious. Can you see the way the woman has to sit in order to use the computer? More than 5 minutes at a time in that position and my back breaks. The designers obviously never tries to actually use the furniture they make.
    • Along the lines of poor design... the keyboard tray is physically centered with the display. Unfortunately, the useable center of the keyboard is not the physical center; the numeric keypad offsets everything. The useable middle of a keyboard is between the G and H keys.
    • The pictures on the iGo page are hilarious. Can you see the way the woman has to sit in order to use the computer?

      Well I thought the pictures were very well done, but the shot of the woman is indeed hilarious, because the photographer (while talented exposure-wise) doesn't know a feckin' thing about computer desks unfortunately.

      Look at the chair they put her in, and look at the height of the monitor. This was clearly done so we could see the screen better but no one in their right mind uses a screen th

  • Where do I put my stuff? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by evilempireinc ( 592230 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:41AM (#6711340)
    Where the hell do I put stuff like reference meterials, notepad, or even, god forbid, a cup of coffee? At least the boring desk works

  • Non practacal (Score:3, Insightful)

    by __aafkqj3628 ( 596165 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @05:41AM (#6711341)
    It may look good, but its functionality as an office workstation is impaired. Unless, of course, you have managed to eliminate all need for paper and take all coffee/meals away from the machine (which is highly inefficent).
  • I must admit, I do own an L shaped somewhat ergo desk, a microsoft un-natural keyboard as well as a microsoft optical track ball. I even have heavy duty platform for my keyboard.

    I appricate the i-desk on some level... but there just isn't enough desk for my tastes, and it's freaking tacky as hell.

    L shape design.. this I like. Place to route cables, added bonus. But even if I owned an i-mac I would want a bit more desk to my deskstation. not this rounded corner look from hell.

  • My desk contents (Score:5, Insightful)

    by OzPeter ( 195038 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @06:23AM (#6711452)
    Lets see .. whats on my desk right now (from right to left, over about 6 linear feet)?

    80C51 Programmer that I finished building yesterday

    My scanner

    5 photos I have been scanning

    5 rolls of film for my camera

    Circular polarising filter for my camera.

    A copy of Mastering Linux (hardback edition circa 1988) that I use to prop up the screen from my notebook when it is on my desk.

    USB cable for my digital camera.

    A CD of the last film that I got processed.

    A box cutter

    My desktops monitor

    A pile of 20 receipts that I need to sort through

    My cheap as Epson printer

    Remains of photos that I am NOT going to scan

    Several PC cords for my film camera

    Last back up DVD from my desktop

    Pile of my business cards

    Photo loupe for looking at negatives

    More film for my camera

    Some floppies

    Pile of paperwork I have to sort through

    Small lightbox for viewing negatives

    A photo album

    Various negatives that I have been sorting through

    Various pens etc


    So remind me again. Why am I drooling over the apple-like desk that would have 90% of my stuff sitting in the floor???? Not to mention that I rest my arms on my desk whenever I am not typing.

  • Looks beautiful but (Score:4, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 16, 2003 @06:25AM (#6711459)
    I recently ended a long and agonizing affair with "computer furniture." Over the years I've spent fairly large sums of money swapping out one arrangement for another with the belief that each new purchase was necessary -- to "finally" get comfortable, be more productive, make more efficient use of space, etc.

    What did I do? I started by refinishing an old pine dining room table. Instead of a "ledge," I have a "real" desk with plenty of space on which to read and write, pile books, and rest my elbows. My two 21" monitors are off to the side (an L-shaped arrangement) on a second table I built with a retractable keyboard tray. Underneath that table, the computers are kept in a sealed but vented cabinet. The rack equipment (including hissing modems, routers, etc.) I moved into a closet (also sealed and vented).

    Workstations may be fine for working if one defines working as doing nothing but staring at your monitor with your hands typing away at the keyboard. Past that, however, I find the entire concept as flawed and unworkable.

    Mind you, I do think the desks shown look nice, but I'd never trade horizontal space with the gimmicky extras and pseudo ergonomics that are part of all modern computer furniture design. Put another way, if I hand nothing else, I'd use a 6' utility table instead. Or hell, maybe even a door on supports -- at least you can decorate it with a plant or two.
  • I am highly happy to not own either the outstandingly ugly (and slow, overpriced, etc) iMac, nor this horrible "workplace".

    If you are a fashion designer, by all means get this, as you will probably not spend that much time in front of it, and you can ramble on about Gucci and the latest dresses (about as practical as this desk...). I have to spend a considerable time in front of a computer, so I want it to be practical, I can care less about the color as long as it doesn't reflect a lot of light.

  • Hrm (Score:5, Funny)

    by The-Bus ( 138060 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @06:37AM (#6711481)
    I got a table. Probably not very hip (nor expensive) but at least I don't look like some candy-ass who decided to steal something off of the set of Minority Report.
    • True that.

      Look at the printer... That's not funcional workspace. That's just a shelf to show off the fact that you actually have a printer. If the second shelf wasn't in the way, you *might* be able to get paper into it and print. Be sure to catch the output before it floats to the floor.

      The scanner? Sure, I'll get on my hands and knees and crawl under the desk to get to it.

      Give me a break, this is just for show. No one intending to actually work would buy this thing.
  • I use this custom desk [staples.com] for my PCs. It is the perfect aesthetic match for my mail-order generic beige cases. And at $37, it's affordable, too.

    Just as the mac table holds exactly the equipment a mac user needs/can afford, my table accomodates my monitor, KVM switch, printer, scanner, speakers, network hub, firewall, and fax machine, with room left over for note paper, coffee cups, pens, USB gadgets, CDs and manuals. It has plenty of space below for my 5 PCs and their huge tangle of cables.

    As an 31337 mod,

  • No envy here... Those seem a little too "corporate" for me. Maybe I'm just not part of the Mac Generation.

    I prefer my 2 old doors up on 2x4 legs wraparound desk. I covered the tops with some kind of wierd plastic posterboard, and I added an aftermarket lamp. I got a few old arm lamps from a yard sale, rewired them and drilled holes in my desk that fits the bases of them.

    Maybe it's not as pretty as those i-thingies but it's as solid as heck, it fits in with this renovated barn I hav emy office in, and I

  • Drool? (Score:3, Funny)

    by 13Echo ( 209846 ) on Saturday August 16, 2003 @07:23AM (#6711566) Homepage Journal
    Oh yes, I'm drooling with envy. I've always wanted a desk that was straight out of the Jetsons. The furniture in these pictures look like that modern crap that came out of the '60s, and quickly died, except for the fact that it's not a nasty orange color.
  • It would probably break under the weight of my 1 ton IBM model M keyboard. I think it's made out of depleted uranium.
  • PC users can prepare to drool with envy, again.

    OK,so what prevents me putting a PC on the desk? Let me guess, it comes with an EULA!

  • I wonder how long before they change the name to avoid confusion with iGo, the portable computing (Palms, batteries, etc.)retailer?
  • HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    I'm sorry, but it had to be done.

    If I saw one of these in real life I'd be rolling on the ground, seriously.
  • These guys [poetictech.com] make cooler furnature that looks halfway functional.
  • Envy? Is that what that is?

    Oh. And here I thought it was just loathing, bile, and contempt. Silly me.
  • The desk is cool but that table lamp he has sitting on it looks even cooler....
  • I think the only real function for this "desk" is to advertise the Macintosh on it. In other words, it'd be great to draw attention to the Macintosh for in-store demos or something but that's about it.
  • Sure it's pretty but how what percentage of people will it serve sufficiently?

    For lesson in form and function in furniture design, look no further than Frank Lloyd Wright
  • ...But thats just iStupid.
  • I'm waiting for someone to combine the iDesk [artshole.co.uk] and the Segway [segway.com]
  • tissue paper dispenser?
  • So the iMac was considered an aesthetic success for a couple of reasons, one of which was its minimalism: It's small, it's self-contained, and it doesn't dominate your space. Designing a whole freakin' desk around the computer doesn't exactly go along with that concept. "Needing" special furniture to acomodate your computer is one of the problems with computers that Apple's design tries to avoid, and they're reintroduced it on stylistic grounds.
  • Obviously, the pictures of the iDesk show what is merely an "artist's concept". It shows a round shelf to hold mouse. The production model would at the very least include two more shelves like that: one big shelf to hold the pizza, and one small shelf to hold the caffiene.

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