Here’s how you can stop worrying about your expensive laptop going obsolete: Go cheap and use online storage. In my current column for Baseline magazine, I talk about the coming age of the disposable laptop.
Here’s how you can stop worrying about your expensive laptop going obsolete: Go cheap and use online storage. In my current column for Baseline magazine, I talk about the coming age of the disposable laptop.
David,
Excellent post. I’m a big believer in being thoughtful (i.e. not overspending) when it comes to deploying technology, although I’ve come at it from a different perspective:
http://blog.netbooks.com/index.php/2007/11/04/buying-computers-for-your-business/
Would love to hear your thoughts.
I am no longer wedded to any computer. As all my information is in the clouds, i can access it from wherever. My favorite is from my Nokia N 81. For some reading, please visit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_suite#References
Other comments from readers:
David, To see if someone will buy a downlevel laptop – check the past sales on ebay.
I suspect that people happily do pay less for brand name laptops that are a year or so out of date.
Of course a disposable computer will seriously aggrevate the computer pollution problem. http://www.epa.gov/osp/regions/emerpoll/swift.ppt
and http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/pubs/ppcttv2004.pdf
Further note that the cost of disposal will soon exceed the cost to purchase.
http://news.com.com/2100-7341-5083569.html?tag=nefd_hed
For the most part schools and charities do not accept random PC donations anymore. The cost of management, support and repair makes it impractical. Further, they realize as the last owner of record, the cost to dispose is on them.
When your company offers you your old computer as a home machine at a bargain price – add in the cost of disposal.
There is a real story in this computer disposal problem.
Another reader:
It’s “thin client” computing all over again! I think we’ll see more of this as more apps move into the web, and internet access becomes more ubiquitous (look at the current spectrum auctions going on in the US, and Google’s involvement in them).
And another:
The ASUS eeePC has become the computer of choice for me when I’m
mobile and/or just goofing around online. We love it!
Sub-$500 sub-notebooks have their pro’s — and cons
David,
For travellers who need to do email, web access and enough writing/editing to want a ten-finger-typeable keyboard and a bigger-than-smartphone/PDA screen, the Asus Eee and others in the sub-$500 sub-3-pound category hold a lot of appeal. (The Everex Cloudbook is one of the same-class alternatives to the Asus Eee — Everex has a 30GB hard drive.) My sources tell me that Asus now offers pre-loaded Windows XP (for an additional $140-ish). (I’m certainly ready for one!)
If low size and weight aren’t as critical, it looks like there’s always notebooks for sale in the sub-$600 range, these will be heavier.
I think it’s a matter of productivity, which in turn depends on what apps somebody needs to run locally on that machine. And whether a company would do better simply getting decent ~$1,200 notebooks (or $1,500-$2,000 sub-notebooks) and plan to get three years out of them. That could easily be a close price match to buying one “disposable” a year… and it wouldn’t take more than, I’m guessing, one hour per month of additional productive time to make the more expensive machine a better deal.
And a lot of these machines can (according to the vendor) take a fair amount of drops (especially with solid-state drives) and liquid-spills; warrantees and sparing keeps the fleet of machines going.
“Low purchase price” isn’t necessarily always going to be the same as “best strategy.”
But yeah, I’m ready for an Asus Eee, Everex Cloudbook, or one like these.
Have you heard about the [currently concept-only] recycled cardboard laptop? They’re progressing quite steadily toward building one of the things. I like the idea that they’ll be cheap, but I still feel weird throwing a laptop away…