Yes …..i finally won. I bought a Herman Miller Aeron for $20CDN

I felt like one of those people who have bought a precious painting at a yard sale. I know there is no way that I would have bought one of these at full pop ….
But you never know what you will find at your local office surplus place. This one was piled amongst chairs needing some repair before being resold. When i spotted the webbed back and seat rest I instantly knew what I had found.

When I asked the guy at the place how much he looked at me with a puzzled look …..”it’s broken …..you want a broken chair? …I can let it go for twenty bucks …..twenty bucks I respond ……is that too much, he quips …….i couldn’t get the 20 spot out of my pocket fast enough.

I will probally have to spend a hundred for a new lift cylinder ….but aside from that the chair works well.

So …. I wanted to know a bit more about my chair. My gut told me it was a left over relic from the internet boom bust …..I really wanted to confirm. I did some checking on the chair …..to know the history and to find it’s part in history.

…..and the chair is from a company Accelight Networks Canada Inc.

January 2000

” Although AcceLight Networks is young – born December 1999 – the company is ambitious. Their goal is to be the world leader in all-optical Internet switching. By the end of the year, AcceLight plans to begin manufacturing the “core optical switch” that will route the flow of data over the Internet faster and in greater volumes than eve
before.

November 2001

AcceLight Networks Raises $60 Million for Photonic Service Switching
AcceLight Networks, a start-up based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, announced $60 million in new equity and debt financing to support its development of its photonic service switching platform. The funding will also be used to expand the company’s sales and customer engagements in key North American and international markets. In addition to AcceLight’s initial investors, Menlo Ventures and Venrock Associates, the company attracted new venture capital from the investment firms CDIB Ventures, Granite Global Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation, NIF Ventures, Stonewood Capital Management, Western Technology Investment, Whitecastle Investment and Vertex Management.

January 2003

AcceLight Networks Inc. closed its doors for good last Friday and sent its last 60 employees home, according to industry sources. Word is that in the end, the company’s photonic switch fabric didn’t work as advertised; and the company even tried to replace it with an electrical fabric in a last-ditch attempt to raise more money and keep potential customers interested. The company’s managers did not return phone calls. Short of an official casket viewing and ceremony, several Light Readers have already started chiseling AcceLight’s tombstone.

From what I can see they raised well over 100 million ……and all that is left is my $20 Aeron …..

I suggest you check your local surplus suppliers …..but don’t bother going to mine ….

Cheers

Scott

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