In the past few day , Macworld Expo has redeem an cheap , yet feature - packed Mac desktop , a jiffy - based iPod , update to Apple ’s iLife and Keynote offerings , and a ton of merchandise intelligence from third - political party hardware and software developers .
So , of course , I ’d care to talk to you about desks .
That likely seems foreign , walk the trading floor of a trade show where developer are show off the latest Mac software , groundbreaking hardware , and every iPod accessory conceivable to the human creative thinker and coming aside mouth off about new advances in desks . But never under - estimate the wallop a well - designed workspace can have on your productivity and felicity . you could have the profligate , most refined - bet Mac in captivity , one of Apple ’s massive display , and your pickaxe of the best software available on the platform , and I assure you , you wo n’t be as productive as you should be if you wind up having to do all your oeuvre sit on a metal close up hot seat in front of an old card board .
And I do n’t mean I ’m alone in realizing the importance of a good desk . Last yr , I edit a feature called “ Macworld ’s $ 6,000 Challenge , ” in which two writers tried to assemble the perfect Mac - based office for less than $ 6,000 . We ran an effigy of each finished business office to accompany the article , and while we induce the usual spate of letters about why the writer picked one product over another , more than a few people write to ask us where they could get their hands on the desk depict in each image . ( The reply : nowhere . Both images were exposure - naturalistic illustrations from the talented John Kocon . )
So here are some oculus - catch desk I discern at Expo that youwillbe able to get your hand on — once they start shipping , that is .
•Anthro , which has been in this stage business for two decades now , was on hand to show off its usual wares , plus a few epitome . Among that crowd , the two that see my middle wereCarl ’s Tableand the eNook . The former was conceived for a radiologist , though , really , I could see creative professionals really taking to this desk , too . mastery permit you careen , elevate , or depress the work surface to your liking ; Carl ’s Table also features integrated adaptive lighting , which automatically brightens and dims based on the light density of the image on your display and the ambient lighting in the way .
The eNook is a laptop place with table / authorship surface that folds down like a Murphy bottom . ( you could get a looking at ithere . ) When not in consumption , you’re able to fold up the tabular array , insert your laptop indoors ; there are fix for ventilation and line within the eNook . Right now , the back surface of the eNook is a tack board , where you could hang up index identity card and the like , though Anthro is mulling the theory of making a model with a whiteboard back instead . Both the eNook and Carl ’s Table should be useable around March .
• This is the first clip I spottedComputer Comfortsat Macworld Expo ; if it follow up with more products likeThe Hide - Away mesa , hopefully , it wo n’t be the last .
The Hide - Away Table looks like a distinctive industrial - design mesa . But slip out a tray at the front of the table , and you ’ve get quad to stash a keyboard and computer mouse . Pop spread out the back , and an adjustable weapon take hold a show or even a computer ( the board ’s contrive specifically for Cinema Displays and the iMac G5 ) swings up and out . When you ’re done with the computer , put the screen back in its compartment , skid the keyboard tray back under the table , put away thing up if you ’re so inclined , and go on your festal way .
The Hide - Away Table probably is n’t idealistic as a personal desk . But for a classroom , training centre , league room , or any other surroundings where space is at a agio , it ’s by all odds worth a flavor .
• I ’m not certain words can do justice to the OridjinOffice fromDesignJourney Industrial . So I ’ll simply that it may been the coolest thing I see all week - long at Expo . And i ’m including the Mac miniskirt and the iPod shuffle in that assessment .
The elements that make up the OridjinOffice at pretty introductory — some frames and supports that hold up work surfaces ( high character plyboard finished with a proprietary staining appendage ) surrounded by screens . ( Overhead lighting and electrical frame-up are optional . ) It ’s an esthetically pleasing design , but a pragmatic one as well — the screens hold in sound , for instance , so you wind up not bear to talk as loudly to hear yourself over the function rumpus . The screens can gird the desk entirely , making it easy to seal off and lock up when it ’s time to head home . And the setup is extremely flexible — you may meet multiple OridjinOffices in cluster , groups , or however you see fit .
And the neatest legerdemain of all ? Thanks to the OridjinOffice , “ cubicle ” may no longer be a dirty word .
