I was working at IBM when it sold its first PC. At the time, I loved the technology but hated the design. There really was no comfortable way to place the keyboard, your paper, and your monitor. More than 20 years later, I am repeatedly struck by the irony that the solution was not to improve the design of the PC but to introduce an entirely new category of furniture.

I've always thought that the best design for a PC would be closer to that of a piano. Imagine a monitor that sits at the angle of a music stand, with space on the table or desk in front of it for paper or a book to lay flat, and keyboard that is hangs over the edge of a table or desk on a mechanism that's a little like a pair of legs and feet.