Front of Book

"[I]nterest in ergonomics went mainstream in the ’90s, as the rise of personal computing meant that workers got used to sitting at their desks for stretches of eight hours at a time. “Lumbar” became part of the lexicon. Leaving one’s desk to access files or archives was no longer essential. Free time was spent sitting at the same desk, the Internet our new water cooler; and for the first time white-collar workers could convincingly claim to work from home, a hotel room, or a coffee shop. Bartleby the Scrivener would at least have Minesweeper to pass the time, and his protest would enact far fewer injuries on his body: his chair would be so supple and airy, he would forget he was sitting in the first place."

Hua Hsu on A Taxonomy of Office Chairs