Forget standing, kneeling desks should be the new office trend
I work the old-fashioned way: Chair below me, desk in front of me and my laptop on a platform raised high enough that I hope I don't get a permanent crick in my neck.
My co-workers, though, manage a dizzying assortment of work styles, that include couch lounging, cubby reclining and standing desks.
That last form is easily the most popular alternative work posture, but that may change now that some of them have gotten a taste of kneeling at the $350 Edge Desk.
It's been sitting in the middle of our bullpen for almost a week after I unboxed and "assembled it" (mostly unfolding and turning a bunch of knobs and levels).
If you've never seen a kneeling desk or even a kneeling desk chair, they truly fit the description. They have a seat cushion tipped at an angle toward the desk and a pair of knee and lower leg cushions for your legs. You climb into the side, kneel and then place your bum in the seat. The result is that most office workers look like they're doing a little work-praying.
The Edge Desk adds an adjustable 30-by-20-inch plastic table top. It features a mottled white face with black edging. Around the perimeter of that edge is a channel where you can snap in accessories like cup holders and smartphone holders (those accessories won't arrive until early next year).
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At 28 pounds, the mostly-aluminum desk folds flat and is light enough to easily carry around the office. It took me about five minutes to set up and adjust the main seat, the height and angle on the table top, and the distance from me to the table top. The adjustments use a combination of levers and bicycle-style clamps; they all have handles so it's easy to tighten and loosen them by hand.
It's important to tighten everything, otherwise the table will wobble. Overall, I was impressed with the craftsmanship.
It was, at first, a little difficult for me to find the right angle for the table. Perfectly flat -- parallel to the floor-- didn't feel quite right, but if I had a little angle to it, anything I put on top of the table -- cups, laptops -- would slowly slide off.
One co-worker suggested a different material for the table top, perhaps something more rubbery. The top also turns 90-degrees to portrait mode, making it a decent artist's easel. Of course, it needs something at the bottom to keep all your art supplies from falling to the floor
I found working on it with my laptop quite comfortable, but the jury is still out on whether kneeling desks are actually good for your back.
I had multiple co-workers try out the desk. One loved it and spent most of an afternoon working on it. Another loved it, but insisted that $350 is too much, especially when you can get a decent, adjustable kneeling chair for $90.
Another co-worker told me that she liked how working at the desk felt, but didn't think a kneeling desk solved the fundamental ergonomic issues surrounding laptop use on a desk.
It's true, even though I could adjust the chair and desktop into almost any position and height to suit my needs and comfort, I was still looking down at my laptop screen. In the future, it might make sense to get an attachment that lets you put a large monitor on the back edge of The Edge Desk and use a standalone keyboard with the laptop.
On the other hand, I didn't find working with a laptop on the desk uncomfortable. I know I sat up much straighter and felt considerably less discomfort after typing for a while.
Is $350 too much to pay for a fully adjustable kneeling desk? Well, how much is your back-comfort worth to you? An adjustable standing desktop costs $269. The Edge Desk fixes your desk posture and you get a seat, all for $350. Seems like a bargain to me.
The Edge Desk
The Good
Well-built
Fully-adjustable
Makes you sit up straight and feel good about it
Comfortable
The Bad
Things slip off if the desktop isn't perfectly flat
Expensive
The Bottom Line
Kneeling at work now makes sense to me.
Lance Ulanoff was Chief Correspondent and Editor-at-Large of Mashable. Lance acted as a senior member of the editing team, with a focus on defining internal and curated opinion content. He also helped develop staff-wide alternative story-telling skills and implementation of social media tools during live events. Prior to joining Mashable in September 2011 Lance Ulanoff served as Editor in Chief of PCMag.com and Senior Vice President of Content for the Ziff Davis, Inc. While there, he guided the brand to a 100% digital existence and oversaw content strategy for all of Ziff Davis’ Web sites. His long-running column on PCMag.com earned him a Bronze award from the ASBPE. Winmag.com, HomePC.com and PCMag.com were all been honored under Lance’s guidance.He makes frequent appearances on national, international, and local news programs including Fox News, the Today Show, Good Morning America, Kelly and Michael, CNBC, CNN and the BBC.He has also offered commentary on National Public Radio and been interviewed by newspapers and radio stations around the country. Lance has been an invited guest speaker at numerous technology conferences including SXSW, Think Mobile, CEA Line Shows, Digital Life, RoboBusiness, RoboNexus, Business Foresight and Digital Media Wire’s Games and Mobile Forum.
