To purchase desks having innumerablepigeon-holes and drawers on the assumption that theywill be useful for something is both uneconomical andunwise. In the modern office every receptacle formaterial that has no definite purpose is a snare, itinvites disorder, and encourages slovenly methods.
In the past, desks with a number of pigeon holes were used as part of one's database and organizational system. Once card indexes and filing cabinets came to the fore, these affordances of desks ultimately disappeared.