from Hacker News

Herman Miller Cosm Chair

by sathley on 4/24/18, 1:11 PM with 48 comments

  • by chiefgeek on 4/24/18, 1:56 PM

    I used Aerons for several years back when they first came out. While they are really nice looking, I and my staff found them to be terribly uncomfortable. We all went and tested multiple chairs at the Merchandise Mart. The Steelcase Leap was the clear winner. I still have and use several of them almost 20 years later.

    The Aeron has two major flaws, IMHO. It looks like the Cosm may have the same.

    1.) Arms that recline with the back which causes your wrists to have to break to reach the keyboard

    2.) The "trampoline" design of the seat means the front edge of the chair digs into the underside of your thighs.

  • by 198739834 on 4/24/18, 2:06 PM

    Herman Miller chairs are somewhat of a scam. They aren't really ergonomic in that they round inwards at the top edges around where your shoulder blades contact with the mesh. If you actually have good posture, this will round your shoulders inwards as well.

    People can say how much they love their Aeron all over the internet, but you have to understand what that means. They are just saying that they feel good while sitting in them, which often means they sit hunched over and it makes them relaxed. This doesn't mean the chair is helping them in any way. Often it means that the chair is compensating for their poor posture and making them feel good despite not being healthy.

    You can see videos all over youtube of people actually working while sitting in Herman Miller chairs, and they all have poor posture. For example:

    https://youtu.be/_R8bIIQxajA?t=15

    https://youtu.be/cGEb-q5JMU0?t=17

    Most chairs above around $500 will be fine. That is to say, you will still suffer serious health issues like everyone else who sits down all day, but the chair should not cause any pain while you are sitting down.

    If you have back pain and so on, you should probably go to the gym, which will be the ultimately way to feel comfortable at work and everywhere else. Although, it still will do little to reverse the effects of sitting down all day. Programming is a career that guarantees immediate and serious health issues due to sitting and poor posture.

  • by RubyTuesdae on 4/24/18, 1:39 PM

    Wait a year or so and you can pick one up for half-price on the used market from the failed dot coms that bought them new and then ran out of money 6 months later and laid everybody off. Here in the south bay area, you can pick up Aeron chairs at consignment shops for a couple hundred bucks.

  • by Someone1234 on 4/24/18, 1:44 PM

    As someone who recently purchased a high end chair, my only advice is go try them in person(!), and sit how you actually sit.

    Herman Miller Aeron for example is great for people who are either small or sit "correctly." If you fold your legs under yourself, it is super uncomfortable.

    My finalists were the Aeron, Embody, Steelcase Leap, and Gesture. The Leap and Gesture worked much better for my lazy ("natural") seating position. I ultimately purchased a Leap because the Gesture's arms shifted every time I stood up, and weren't as supportive.

    Also our local dealer matched a major online dealer ($150 off).

  • by vyper91 on 4/24/18, 2:32 PM

    I have to say the Aeron is my absolute favourite chair and I've worked in several different environments.

    I haven't had the luxury of testing other high-end ergonomic chairs, but I had to buy an Aeron for my home office as soon as I started getting serious about remote-working.

    I can sit in this thing for a lengthy 12-hour shift and feel physically OK doing so (with some regular small walking breaks of course) - and I cannot say the same thing for any other chair.

    I also think it just looks fantastic, it's definitely iconic and I have expressed my interest to Herman Miller in this new chair even though the one I'm sitting in right now is five years old and still feels mint condition.

  • by NickM on 4/24/18, 1:46 PM

    Every Herman Miller chair I've tried (and several other brands of "ergonomic" chairs) seem to be designed in such a way that there's a big gap in support around the mid-back area, in-between the lumbar area and the shoulder blades. There's very firm, forward support for the lumbar spine and shoulders, and then this weird gap in the middle. This causes my mid-back to round into the empty space, which in turn causes my shoulders and neck to slump forward.

    Judging from the photo, this chair looks like it has the same problem.

    I can't for the life of me figure out how or why anyone considers these chairs to be comfortable. Maybe my back just has a weird shape or something, but these chairs seem to literally fight to keep you from sitting up straight with a healthy posture. And yet, everyone seems to love them. It feels like some sort of bizarre conspiracy.

    To be clear, this is not just my initial impressions. Everyone loves these name-brand luxury chairs so much that I've owned three of them over the last ten years (a Mirra, an Embody, and a Humanscale Freedom), because I keep thinking maybe I just need a different model, or maybe I haven't figured out how to adjust the damn things properly. They all feel well-built and high quality, but they all feel more and more uncomfortable the longer I sit in them, and I can't find a way to use them that doesn't seem to cause progressively worse back and neck problems. I can't figure out where the disconnect is happening.

  • by linsomniac on 4/24/18, 2:56 PM

    15 years ago I went to look at chairs after finally tiring of the "cheap" $200 Office Depot chairs that needed replacing every couple years. The office furniture store I went to had several Aeron chairs and all of them were broken in various ways. I took that as a sign and didn't get one.

    Instead I got a Cramer Triton which is a fairly basic looking chair, but I found comfortable for working at the computer and it was rated for 3 shift use with a fairly long warranty. Later I got a total of maybe 6 of them for my company and they held up really well.

    I left that company and the new company had a bunch of Aeron chairs, the best I could find of the unused chairs was one that I could get into a reasonable position but couldn't adjust at all once it was there.

    Fast forward 4 years and yesterday I spent about 30 minutes sitting, mostly using a standing desk. :-)

  • by bovermyer on 4/24/18, 1:48 PM

  • by jaybna on 4/24/18, 1:39 PM

    Makes me think of line from fuckedcompany.com during Bubble 1.0: “You can have my Aeron when you pry it from my cold, dead ass”

  • by Y_Y on 4/24/18, 1:33 PM

    Airon is the emacs of chairs.

  • by dallen33 on 4/24/18, 11:39 PM

    The Staple’s branded Tarance is the nicest chair I’ve sat on in some time. And it’s modestly priced ($265CDN). Check it out next time you’re in Staples.

  • by Yhippa on 4/24/18, 2:12 PM

    Anybody have a recommendation for an inexpensive chair that isn't bad for your back or body?

  • by blah-blahblah on 4/24/18, 1:46 PM

  • by Cenk on 4/24/18, 1:36 PM

    Looks sleek. Especially love the typeface (Meta), chosen well to complement the chair’s design.

  • by dominotw on 4/24/18, 1:45 PM

    Or you could just just go the gym regularly, take frequent breaks from sitting, lose weight, eat healthy.

    You don't need fancy chair if your back is not supporting a huge gut or is strength atrophied from never using it , you don't need a fancy mattress if your body is tired and your mind calm.