There was a day, thousands of years ago, long lost in antiquity, that think I spent a full day without using a keyboard, mouse, or game controller. It could have been a Thursday. If such a day existed, it was not enough to prevent the onset of wrist pain that will undoubtedly one day evolve into a full-blown carpal tunnel. Fortunately, this gooseneck stand It helps me delay the inevitable.
The first time I took a look at Saiji’s gooseneck frame was at a time when I was suffering from a repetitive stress injury (RSI). It’s not exactly carpal tunnel, but after several months of working long weeks during my freelance era, the muscles and tendons in my wrists were reaching a critical breaking point. Simply put, they were sick of my “paying for food” nonsense. This mount has been a blessing.
For many weeks, not only did my wrists hurt all day, but they were particularly susceptible to subtle movements that most of us don’t normally notice. Holding a Switch a few inches from my lap was like struggling to carry 50 pounds of food into two dozen grocery bags at once. A keyboard without a wrist rest may also have a wrist rest made entirely of 2-inch metal spikes.
Some things, I couldn’t give up. Like, you know, working. While I cut back on my gaming a bit, I wanted to play occasionally to avoid the mental health spiral that comes with working 24/7. Since I could detach the Joy-Con controllers from my Nintendo Switch, I could technically play with my arms at my sides while lying on the couch or in bed, maybe even wrapped in heating pads or propped up on pillows.
The only problem was the Switch itself. Whether on the couch or in bed, I found it difficult to position my arms horizontally without putting additional strain on my neck or back. And he wasn’t willing to start swapping one body part for another. Enter the gooseneck mount. I stumbled across this little guy and decided to give it a try holding my Switch while I went to bed.
I must admit that at first I felt like a baby. I mean, here I am lying in bed with Breath of the wild hanging over my head like it was a daycare mobile. But it worked. I could position my arms how I needed to reduce the strain I placed on them without twisting the rest of my body into knots.
Over time, I realized that the support wasn’t just useful for my hyper-specific use case of wrist pain. If I wanted to watch something while I’m in bed, could Prop up my laptop, maybe place it on its side so as not to strain my neck. EITHER I could just look at my phone and use the gooseneck mount to place my phone in the best position for me. For the first time, I was adapting my phone screen to my posture, rather than adapting to it.
Finally, I discovered the most endearing use case: hugging. One of the loveliest feelings in the world is cuddling up with a partner while watching your favorite show together. While sofas are a fairly comfortable way to do this, beds often are not. Spooning while both of you are trying to look at a laptop or tablet propped up on the bed usually makes one person uncomfortable.
That’s why my partners and I often use the gooseneck support. Instead of struggling to adapt our posture to the screen, we get comfortable however we want (small spoon, big spoon) and so move the phone into our view. The clamp at the base of the stand easily attaches to our headboard, so it can hang above us or beside us wherever we end up.
Is not perfect. If you plan to do any activity that may involve your head spending a lot of time in space around your headboard, you may want to remove the support before crashing into it. But as we age and the ravages of time develop even crueler ways of tormenting our cartilage and tendons, I’m so happy to have a frame that doesn’t require me to sacrifice my posture just to watch the latest episode of Our flag means death.
