[9855] in Hotline Meeting
New cluster installations
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Thomas H. Grayson)
Fri Jul 24 15:05:34 1992
To: hotline@Athena.MIT.EDU
Cc: tgrayson@Athena.MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 15:05:09 EDT
From: Thomas H. Grayson <tgrayson@Athena.MIT.EDU>
Perhaps you are aware that the new machines installed in the Student
Center (W20-575) cluster were all positioned on the far left side of
the desks. This ergonomically unsound placement makes it virtually
impossible to sit directly in front of the machine without banging
one's leg into one of the legs of the table. This positioning encourages
people to turn their heads to the left rather than looking straight
at the screen, a position unsuitable for long-term computing. In addition,
left-handed mouse users cannot use these machines without intruding
on the desk space of the person to their left. The leftmost machine
in each row is completely unusable by left-handed mousers, as there is
nowhere to put the mouse.
I strongly encourage you not to repeat this mistake in future cluster
replacements (e.g., 1-142 cluster). Please install machines in the
center of each desk, so that legs and arms both have ample room. These
ergonomic issues are important when computers are used for long periods
of time, and I hope you will not overlook them.
I have posted this note to `hotline' because I reasoned this group
was responsible for new and replacement installations. If my assumption
is incorrect, please forward this note to the proper persons.
Thank you,
Thomas Grayson
