Anyone got ideas or wishes for their "office of the future" I can use? I'm upgrading my home office, and as I'm a bit of a gadget guy I'm looking for new ideas. They can be weird or wonderful - the only qualification is that they be useful and futuristic.

I find the immediate, short-term future is boring. Media center PC's, whole office automation, home theater... I've got all this - as much as I need anyhow. I had a Roomba vacuum (www.roomba.com) and Beamer videophone (www.vialta.com/) when they first came out, so I'm a classic early adopter.

So I'm really looking further ahead for a gee-whiz factor that will make my day-to-day work fun and interesting. The hand gesture computer sequence by Tom Cruise in "The Minority Report" was great, but in that film they still had a desk with a keyboard in the drawer. Is that the hard limit of the future? I don't think so... but it takes imagination and a creative mind to dream up something better.

Since many on this forum are computer-savvy, perhaps there's some ideas floating around.

Here's my setup at the moment so you know what I'm building on:

- Windows XP Home.
- Broadband (goes without saying!)
- Two 19" HP flatscreen monitors side by side. I use UltraMon (www.ultramon.com) to link them as one.
- 15" flatscreen satellite TV next to the monitors.
- Plantronics headset phone connected to Outlook XP.
- Desk weather monitor.
- Logitech MX700 wireless mouse.
- Old Mac Powerbook laptop connected to room speakers. I've set up QuicKeys to speak timed announcements, reminders etc. For such a simple setup, that's the thing that impresses people most.
- Aeron (fully adjustable) office chair, coming in 9 long weeks.

Since you've all been so helpful with an earlier post of mine for my wife's watch, maybe someone can come up with something again here that will add to my interest.

Ken Silver
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~1993 SL500, glistening triple black, xenons: http://www.kensilver.com/SL
~1999 SLK 230 Kompressor, silver/black leather, CD, immaculate (my wife's)
~1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara. black & silver
~1991 Daimler, shiny grey/grey leather, best in country!
~ex 350SL, 230E, 280E, MX5 and a lot of other makes not nearly as nice.

First . . . why Windows? Apple products scream "cutting edge" and "cool" from the design standpoint. Dual processor G5 with the newly announced 30" Cinema LCD display, perhaps. Add iSight for video conferencing and the with the G5, the ability to have a terabyte of hard drive storage inside the case.

If you do have the XP, then a "must have" is the fingerprint login unit from Digital Persona.

You need a bluetooth/wireless IPAQ synced up and ready to go, bluetooth GPS in your car. Data to go. Cool.

__________________
You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Although the primary focus of these products are for the physically handicapped, they do show the range of products that might make you less keyboard/mouse dependent.

Madentec

A few digital cameras or how about a nice big flat screen tv. If you need to spend $10,000 on new electronics, I could sell you a few things

Hubby got me my Aeron chair for Christmas and I love it!!

Sounds like you have a great set-up.

My dream office/desk would have touch pad keyboard -- no keys to clean....a projection monitor instead of a physical one -- that you could resize (no glasses needed), built in fridge for my sodas/water/snacks...lazy susan type corner cabinet for office supplies...built in fax machine and printer instead of piece of equipment taking up work space on my desk top.

That's all I can think of at the moment.

AdMaven

Thanks all, good sparking ideas so far.

MTI - I've been a Mac enthusiastic for some 15 years, only changing to Windows about 4 years ago because my business needed it. I agree, many things were done better by Macs - plug and play being one of them. The head tracker etc looks interesting, and yes, a fingerprint reader is definitely a good idea!

Kuan - I've had a couple of PDA's, but found they were limited for my daily use. For example, I have about 8000 contacts in Outlook. The PDA memory just isn't big enough.
As for GPS, I have a Navman iCN630 and an old Garmin eMap. Wouldn't travel anywhere overseas without my Navman, it's brilliant. And the eMap was useful when I was in Japan last month... I used it on the train into Tokyo to find out what speed I was going, our altitude, the names of the towns we were passing, ETA and some interesting places. Didn't matter that most of these details these were all on the screen in the train!

ptoro01 - Yep, got a camera and a 42" plasma, but in the lounge, not in the office.

AdMaven - I'm really looking forward to my Aeron, glad you like it.
The interesting thing about a projector in place of a monitor is lack of workability. I planned a few weeks back to use my Infocus DLP on the wall instead of my monitor screens. But when I put up an image any larger than 40", I found it became more difficult to read text. I'm a speed reader, and so my eye travels down the center of the text allowing my peripheral vision to fill in the edges. The projected screen is too big for this to happen, so I'm forced to "read" the whole line back and forth. Just didn't work. And if I make the screen smaller, the advantage of having a large size is lost. Not to mention the cost of a projector bulb, sound of the fan (loud, about 32db) and lack of image quality and sparkle that I get from my current LCD screens. As well, I've found all projectors go out of focus every hour or two, and refocusing is annoying all the time. Sometimes the future is so darned inconvenient!


Look forward to more ideas - keep 'em coming please!

Ken Silver
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1999 Mercedes SLK, 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas).

While I've been trying to figure out the best desk arrangement to suit my home office, I came across a picture in the paper of a local firm who have developed an amalgamated, built-in computer chair.

It looks like an elaborate reclining dentist's chair with attachments protruding out of it... a tray at hand level for the keyboard and mouse, a flat screen properly angled, headrest with built-in speakers and lights, and full support for the legs as well.

While it looked futuristic and space-agey, I think a standard desk is all I'll need for now.

Yesterday - some 6 months later than the rest of the world it seems - I bought a D-Link 108Mbps wireless setup. Once it's all installed, I will be able to use my laptop anywhere in the house and the upstairs PC will be free of the cord snaking up the stairway.

Best of all, using a remote service called GoToMyPC.com, I'll be able to work directly on my main PC from anywhere with any computer that has net access... which means I won't need to install separate and duplicate software in my other PC's. That means there's no updating needed because I'm actually working on the main PC by remote control.

I'm still a long way from working "in the future", but this gives me something to do while I'm waiting!

Ken Silver
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1999 Mercedes SLK, 1999 Suzuki Grand Vitara, 1993 Mercedes SL500, 1991 Daimler (Vanden Plas). Finish detailing, then start all over again...

My little company purchased GoToMyPc a few months ago. While I was away on vacation, my partners could access my files and work on my accounts for me.

Also, when I'm in LA I can access them instead of having to haul a bunch of stuff along with me now. It's really great!

Unfortunately I'm on dialup and live in the boonies with no DSL in sight. Even wireless doesn't reach me because I'm not line-of-sight to any towers. My only high speed option would be DirecTV satellite but I've read up on it and it doesn't sound like I want it.