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This chair is expected to sell in retail for $1,300 USD. It would be nice if someone could produce an innovative but affordable solution for the 'rest of us' w

This chair is expected to sell in retail for $1,300 USD. It would be nice if someone could produce an innovative but affordable solution for the 'rest of us' working poor, since we have to sit also for long periods of time.

ericmsimons 13y ago
Agreed - I wouldn't be surprised if this is the creator's grand strategy though. Sell the first premium version at a high price to help cover the initial costs, then build more affordable versions once the majority of R&D has been completed. Very much like Tesla's strategy.
- johnwatson11218 13y ago
  My thoughts exactly. Why doesn't what he was saying in the video apply to these offerings (which I can buy right now btw) http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/egc-ergo-saddle-stool/ergocentric-ergonomic-sit-stand-saddle-stool/ http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/egc-ergo-saddle-stool/er... http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/sto-ball-chair/the-original-evolution-exercise-ball-chair/ http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/sto-ball-chair/the-origi...
- Cthulhu_ 13y ago
  Except Tesla hasn't built an affordable car yet. You could argue the same for Dyson's vacuum cleaners, which are still premium devices much more expensive than regular vacuums.
  - ericmsimons 13y ago
    Originally stated by Elon Musk: 1. Build sports car 2. Use that money to build an affordable car 3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car 4. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options Tesla is on schedule with their strategy; they obviously can't just jump from step 1 to 3. We'll see if they can move from step 2 to 3, but their success from 1 to 2 is super promising IMO. This is actually a very common strategy for introducing new technology to the market. It seems like this strategy was applied for the initial iPhone as well, as it originally cost $600 (far more than any other phone on the market). Pretty soon it was $400, and then after a generation or two, you could purchase one for $200.
    - subsystem 13y ago
      The iphone is a poor example as the original wasn't carrier subsidized. There were a number of phones that unsubsidized were just as expensive as the original iphone. The cheapest unlocked iphone you can buy today is still $450.
  - busterarm 13y ago
    http://teslarumors.com/Teslanomics.html http://teslarumors.com/Teslanomics.html Except they have. It's just that the costs are mostly up-front vs over time as with ICEs.
pallandt 13y ago
What bothers me to no end when someone makes outstanding claims at being 'the best product to accomplish task x' is that they're usually not accompanied by solid evidence. Why not film some comparative long-term lab experiments that involve more than just someone sitting on it for a few minutes, run some Autocad or Matlab simulations or so on? Perhaps even provide just a table with numbers for the metrics they used to determine that this chair is indeed better than most, if not the best? Besides the 27 degrees angle that is supposedly optimal. Also, from what I'm aware, osteopathy is not actually real medical science, it's an alternative view/philosophy of healthcare. This is a device touted to be a preventive cure for so many problems, yet there was not mention of it being validated by real doctors. The designer himself is probably not a doctor, I doubt he would've missed the opportunity of garnering extra-credibility for his KS campaign by adding Dr. next to his name. The unfortunate truth that most people don't want to deal with is that the best way to prevent back pain, assuming you don't have major anatomical problems, is to simply exercise regularly. It takes a bit of time and willpower to not give up after the first few seconds. I've also had some pretty serious back pain caused by prolonged sitting. Resting even more in a fancier chair or worse, in bed, did not make them go away. What did fix the issue was simply using an exercise bike for a few minutes per day. In conclusion, I don't think you should feel sorry for not being able to easily afford spending $1.3k on a chair. Consider pressuring your boss to get an exercise bike for the office instead. It is unlikely that there'll be that much of a difference between a $200 chair and a $1.3k one.
- Mithaldu 13y ago
  To be fair, a bike won't help the back much. I commute 7km to work all year round on a bicycle and due to biking posture being very similar to office chair posture i still have lower back issues.
  - pallandt 13y ago
    Oh, not a regular bike. I use(d) an exercise bike turned on maximum difficulty. I think a regular bike would work for this purpose only if someone were to climb a very steep hill for instance.
7952 13y ago
I recently moved office and the company gave us all new chairs. They had eight different adjustments, and could presumably be made comfortable for most people. Most people didn't spend more than 30 seconds trying to adjust before giving up. They had no instructions and where very confusing, with weird locking mechanisms. Very adjustable chairs exist that are reasonably affordable. What is lacking is a standardised mechanism to make those adjustments easily and in the correct way for your particular body shape.

ericmsimons 13y ago

Agreed - I wouldn't be surprised if this is the creator's grand strategy though. Sell the first premium version at a high price to help cover the initial costs, then build more affordable versions once the majority of R&D has been completed. Very much like Tesla's strategy.

johnwatson11218 13y ago
My thoughts exactly. Why doesn't what he was saying in the video apply to these offerings (which I can buy right now btw) http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/egc-ergo-saddle-stool/ergocentric-ergonomic-sit-stand-saddle-stool/ http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/egc-ergo-saddle-stool/er... http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/sto-ball-chair/the-original-evolution-exercise-ball-chair/ http://www.sitbetter.com/view/chair/sto-ball-chair/the-origi...
Cthulhu_ 13y ago
Except Tesla hasn't built an affordable car yet. You could argue the same for Dyson's vacuum cleaners, which are still premium devices much more expensive than regular vacuums.
- ericmsimons 13y ago
  Originally stated by Elon Musk: 1. Build sports car 2. Use that money to build an affordable car 3. Use that money to build an even more affordable car 4. While doing above, also provide zero emission electric power generation options Tesla is on schedule with their strategy; they obviously can't just jump from step 1 to 3. We'll see if they can move from step 2 to 3, but their success from 1 to 2 is super promising IMO. This is actually a very common strategy for introducing new technology to the market. It seems like this strategy was applied for the initial iPhone as well, as it originally cost $600 (far more than any other phone on the market). Pretty soon it was $400, and then after a generation or two, you could purchase one for $200.
  - subsystem 13y ago
    The iphone is a poor example as the original wasn't carrier subsidized. There were a number of phones that unsubsidized were just as expensive as the original iphone. The cheapest unlocked iphone you can buy today is still $450.
- busterarm 13y ago
  http://teslarumors.com/Teslanomics.html http://teslarumors.com/Teslanomics.html Except they have. It's just that the costs are mostly up-front vs over time as with ICEs.

pallandt 13y ago

What bothers me to no end when someone makes outstanding claims at being 'the best product to accomplish task x' is that they're usually not accompanied by solid evidence. Why not film some comparative long-term lab experiments that involve more than just someone sitting on it for a few minutes, run some Autocad or Matlab simulations or so on? Perhaps even provide just a table with numbers for the metrics they used to determine that this chair is indeed better than most, if not the best? Besides the 27 degrees angle that is supposedly optimal. Also, from what I'm aware, osteopathy is not actually real medical science, it's an alternative view/philosophy of healthcare. This is a device touted to be a preventive cure for so many problems, yet there was not mention of it being validated by real doctors. The designer himself is probably not a doctor, I doubt he would've missed the opportunity of garnering extra-credibility for his KS campaign by adding Dr. next to his name. The unfortunate truth that most people don't want to deal with is that the best way to prevent back pain, assuming you don't have major anatomical problems, is to simply exercise regularly. It takes a bit of time and willpower to not give up after the first few seconds. I've also had some pretty serious back pain caused by prolonged sitting. Resting even more in a fancier chair or worse, in bed, did not make them go away. What did fix the issue was simply using an exercise bike for a few minutes per day. In conclusion, I don't think you should feel sorry for not being able to easily afford spending $1.3k on a chair. Consider pressuring your boss to get an exercise bike for the office instead. It is unlikely that there'll be that much of a difference between a $200 chair and a $1.3k one.

Mithaldu 13y ago
To be fair, a bike won't help the back much. I commute 7km to work all year round on a bicycle and due to biking posture being very similar to office chair posture i still have lower back issues.
- pallandt 13y ago
  Oh, not a regular bike. I use(d) an exercise bike turned on maximum difficulty. I think a regular bike would work for this purpose only if someone were to climb a very steep hill for instance.

7952 13y ago

I recently moved office and the company gave us all new chairs. They had eight different adjustments, and could presumably be made comfortable for most people. Most people didn't spend more than 30 seconds trying to adjust before giving up. They had no instructions and where very confusing, with weird locking mechanisms. Very adjustable chairs exist that are reasonably affordable. What is lacking is a standardised mechanism to make those adjustments easily and in the correct way for your particular body shape.