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Herman Miller: From Aeron to air

Maker of iconic chair finds climate control

Mike Yamamoto Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Mike Yamamoto is an executive editor for CNET News.com.
Mike Yamamoto
Herman Miller

How times have changed. At the height of the dot-com boom, one of the early symbols of egregious excess was Herman Miller's "Aeron" uber-chair, which often sold for more than $1,000 apiece. Although it still sells those chairs--which apparently haven't come down in price--the specialty furniture maker is now touting a very different kind of product that's far less visible. In fact, its effects are completely invisible.

The "C2," so far as we can tell from its product literature, is a fancy personal air conditioner and filter that goes for $280--or, in the words of Fareastgizmos, "enhances an individual's personal climate experience" with "air quality provided by its Greenguard-certified particulate air filter."

Whatever. We're just surprised that the designer, which puts so much emphasis on asthetics, would create something that looks so much like a salt shaker.