Are you sitting down?

It’s one of those things that continues to puzzle me about personal computing.

Folks will spend a fortune on their computer system, buying large screens and fast processors and not spend a cent on the chair they use.

It’s a bit like buying a really expensive camera with a cheap lens or rolling out in a Ferrari with plastic sheeting for a windshield.

A good chair won’t show up in the quality of your writing or the deftness of your picture editing, but it will quickly prove itself in the comfort levels you enjoy throughout long computing sessions and, if your mind happens to run that way, the enhanced productivity you will enjoy as a result.

A properly configured chair isn’t just an option for me. I have a medical document attesting to the two compressed vertebrae in my back that I’ve pressed into service at least once to justify corporate expenditure on a proper chair.

In my continuing examination of seating choices, I’ve had one eye on the offerings from Steelcase.

Steelcase, as it turns out, has also been keeping an eye on us.

The company looked at how chairs were being used in the workplace, taking notes on 2,000 people in 11 countries.