TWO days ago, I went shopping for doodads on company time. No, I wasn't skiving. The trip was to source for gadgets for an upcoming issue.
But the contraption I was really looking for was nowhere to be found. It was an under-desk keyboard tray.
I found lots of models online in earlier searches but none of them were sold here.
You see, my search for the tray was to alleviate the tightness in my severely knotted shoulders — ligaments and muscles all tensed up from hours of daily hunching.
I sorely need my tui-na lady who will not only tug, stretch and unkink the kinks in the sinews but pinpoint the agony spots, too.
"Ah, here is pain, right?", she'd say in Singlish before I even gesture where they are.
Anyway, back to the under-desk keyboard tray.
Having one would mean a more ergonomic incline for me — forearms parallel to the floor, forming a sort of 90-degree angle at the elbows.
But then again buying the tray would simply mean treating the symptoms rather than addressing the source of the problem.
Yes, the fount of all aches and pains, as far as I am concerned, is the laptop. And the fact that from the first laptop to the current one, no one has thought to break the mould. (At least, I don't think so.)
The wrong mould: a base with non-extendable "legs".
Like how people tell bigger and bigger lies to get themselves out of the original one, a whole industry has come up to "support" the wrong cause.
There are laptop consoles that elevate the appliance so you don't develop a turtle syndrome (stick your head forward when you type); fan bases to whirr under the machine to prevent it from overheating; and cooler balls to stick to the corners of the notebook to tilt it for a better typing angle.
Wouldn’t it be simpler if, instead of fixed studs at the four corners of a notebook PC, there were extendable bumps instead?
The bump would look like a Magic Glide patch but it would be anti-slip instead.
Tapping twice on a pad would release a catch and you could then pull out the bumps and adjust each until the tilt angle was just right for your wrist.
Done for the day? Simply give each bump a light tug, and it retracts into its slot in the base.
Also, you could shape these retractable legs — made of flexible yet sturdy metal (that's for rocket scientists to invent) — to resemble the legs in the Fountain of Wealth structure at Suntec City.
That way you could place the laptop over your lap — finally, giving some true meaning to the word — with no fear of singeing the thighs (or other body parts for the guys).
So, that is my idea for the Worlds' Most Ergonomic Laptop for now. Anyone out there with suggestions to make it even better?
E-mail Eve Yap with your ideas for a better laptop computer or leave a comment below.