Laptop vs Desktop Debate Part 2

Alex Scoble over at Computer World continues his Laptop versus Desktop debate.

Last night I talked about why I thought laptops were being deployed more than desktops, by a two to three margin, in corporations. Tonight I’m going to turn the coin and discuss why, in my opinion, desktops are undervalued and what situations they should be pushed strenuously to users.

First off, let me do a quick rant on speed. I see a lot of blogs, comments, editorials, etc. where people say things like “fast enough for today’s needs” or “those computers are plenty good for what that person does”. This is a horrible attitude to take when it comes to your users.

Companies pay for every missed cycle of opportunity, whether it comes from a receptionist, a programmer, manager, CEO or attorney. ALL members of a corporation are interconnected and the slowdown of a system used by a secretary can affect a higher paid “VIP” just the same as if the slowdown happened to the VIP’s PC.

An IT manager should always look to deploy the fastest most capable systems that can be afforded to every position in a campus. Does this mean that everyone should get the same system as the graphics developer or other user with extreme bandwidth requirements? No…what it means is that IT managers would be remiss to shortchange employees just because they don’t get paid much or because they are perceived as not needing “much power”.

Often people make these judgements when they have no good idea what a user will use the PC for is capable of doing with a PC.

Keep reading at Computer World

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