I had my Dilbert moment today ...

[uwe]

Our law firm is getting new IT hardware, lawyers ("fee earners") will receive laptops as opposed to desktop computers. You get to choose between two types. I wanted neither - I never take laptops with me anywhere nor have I ever owned one, if I need to do something mobile, I use my BlackBerry. So I write an email to the good people of our IT department: "A laptop with me is really a waste, can't I have a desktop like anybody else in this firm has who is not a lawyer?"

And this is what the good people of our IT department write:

Thank you for your inquiry. According to our Global Strategy (----> Global Strategy link in our Intranet) laptops are mandatory for fee earners "to nurture a willingness to be innovative, agile, dynamic and disciplined".

Ok, I then felt suitably empowered (as well as - I hasten to add - fully aligned with our Global Strategy in whatever current version it may exist) and just wrote back that the concept of "innovative, agile, dynamic & disciplined" was really only an update of the age-old principles of "sex & drugs & rock'n'roll" and could I please have my mandatory laptop then clad in leather with studs? (They replied they would give it a try, but that Judas Priest was a high benchmark to meet.)

[Dave W]

You can always connect a separate monitor, keyboard and mouse. That way the laptop functions the same as a desktop tower, and you can revel in being the most prominent curmudgeon in your office.

[uwe]

 

[66Atlas]

Went through that a few years ago, the laptop never left my office.  My current company has taken the next leap and moved everything to "the cloud" (I hate that phrase).  Their rational is then we can be forced to access all files at any time no matter where we are.

But how do I put leather and studs on a cloud?

[Highlander]

As DW said... even with multiple screens... LBO can be permanantly set to one of the three screens...



(oops... doesn't quite fit on the desk-top...)
Leather and studding comes as an extra... but all the best bass-players would approve...

[gearHed289]

I was issued a laptop at work a year or two ago. It rarely leaves my desk. I run it through 2 monitors. Usually Excel on one and VectorWorks on the other. I don't use the actual laptop screen at all. And why am I talking about work on a Saturday? 

[Alanko]

My work have issued laptops in the last few years. The problem is that the docking stations they require don't seem very robust. The laptops themselves are also pretty pitifully spec'd. For my work I need a powerful processor, so I get to keep my 'tower' for a while longer.

[Pilgrim]

Yup, either a docking station or port replicator. then let the laptop sit in place.  As long as you don't need to change video cards or do other things that require a desktop, you won't really notice the difference.

[Dave W]

If Uwe isn't going to be moving it or taking it out in the field, he doesn't need a docking station or port replicator.

[Pilgrim]

If Uwe isn't going to be moving it or taking it out in the field, he doesn't need a docking station or port replicator.

I mean for use on his desk. The drawback to most laptops is lack of connections for external devices, and a docking station or port replicator usually provides more than are built into the laptop. 

At least, that's how it works for me - I always have more peripherals plugged in than the machine has ports.

[the mojo hobo]

I just bought a new laptop a few weeks ago to get immersed in the whole Windows 10 experience. My Windows phone is my first Win 10 device, and I like how it shares my calendar with my desktop. When I am doing a job on-site I'll put it in the calendar and it will be there when I do the billing on my desktop. The new laptop is meant to replace my home desktop and occasional work. I just returned from a week in DC and I love this laptop. It has a 14" touch screen,, it's light and the battery lasts all day. Bakery technology has really advanced in the last few years. I can fold the screen flat and it becomes a tablet. When I want to type I can unfold it and have a keyboard, and can still scroll the screen with a swipe of the finger. And I am going to put my stuff in "the cloud".

https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/thinkpad/thinkpad-x/Thinkpad-X1-Yoga-2nd-Gen/p/22TP2TXX12Y?cid=us:sem

[Highlander]

Been using it's brother/cousin for a few years now and have no real complaints...
I think Microsoft is dropping support for the Windows phone though, or quitting the business...?

[the mojo hobo]

MS has stopped developing the platform. That's OK with me; there are probably enough units built and unsold to last the rest of my life.