I don’t think much about office chairs these days but when I did I was of the opinion there were only two kinds: really bad ones and really good ones. And like most companies, the two I worked for purchased the bad ones because they were cheap. And before the Aeron, I suspect most of the expensive ones were pretty bad as well. Wheels always falling off or locking up; the seats were wobbly; hard to adjust.
A few years before I retired took some of my savings and bought myself an Aeron chair to use in my office at work. I think I paid north of $1,000 for the thing but I’ve never regretted it. It’s as good as its reputation. The design is based on the following tenants:
- A chair should be perceived as comfortable before, during, and after sitting upon it. Comfort is as much a matter of the mind as of the body.
- A chair should enhance the appearance of the person sitting upon it.
- While allowing postural movement, the chair should also embrace the body.
- The chair should provide correct support for the sacrum as well as the lumbar region of the spine.
- The chair should provide a simple means for height and angular adjustments. A chair should be friendly to all parts of the body that touch it.
My Aeron is in my home office now.
