10 troubles of laptop

Laptops gave rise to a revolution in the computer world but not so that it did not cause trouble .

Laptops are easy to lose, too large or too small, they are not safe or reliable. If you've ever used a laptop, you're not very satisfied with them.

The fact that the laptop has changed the operation of the business. It's hard to imagine a working environment without a laptop. Professional IT engineers believe that when they are dealing with attackers and must keep the network safe, the support from the laptop is like a nightmare.

Therefore, it may be a bit ironic when the number of laptops sold is growing very strong, 20% per quarter, while the number of sales of desktop computers is clearly reduced, this statement is IDC said.

According to IDC, by the year-to-date, the sale of laptop computers will be superior to desktop computers and this gap will continue to widen. This year alone, the number of US laptop sales is estimated to reach 31.7 million units.

Here are 10 troubles of laptops under the view of IT engineers.

1. Battery power

The battery is always a 'weakness' of the laptop, it is like the Asin heel of these computers, even the new laptop can maintain the time of about 4 hours but still not enough for users demand when they move as well as IT professionals need it.

' I love laptops, I can't be without them, but laptops are also hateful .' Joshue Lee, chief technology officer at the University of California at San Diego Medical Center in La Jolla, Calif, complains that ' Batteries, batteries, batteries . are annoying '

Lee is both a surgeon and a technology director. He always had to run a team of 50 doctors using laptops. Sometimes they encounter a case of checking patients, they must stop working to find a location that can plug in the adapter before they can continue to report patient status. ' There will be a socket and a connecting cord plugged into the device . imagine how difficult it would be to do this in front of the patient .'

Although the UCSD medical center uses Dell laptops and desktops, other organizations do not use the same standard. For example, the computers at the Kansas transport company in Topeka are not always compatible with the AC adapter. " Why can't these standards be standardized? " Swartzman, director of the Data Center expressed dissatisfaction. " Why do they even have such things? There should be a better solution ."

2. Laptop is prone to impact and cause damage

Researchers have found that laptops are most damaged when used on airplanes.

' A lot of laptops are assembled in China, these computers are very fragile, ' said Long Le, IT director at Atlas Air Inc., a major international air carrier.

Le monitors the travel of 300 laptop computers used in Asia, South America and Europe. Not all of these computers were moved by the customer to the ticket class for the upper class, so he saw a lot of debris falling from accidents at the table in front of the upper seat. aircraft, as well as the screen cracked and the shell or other parts are no longer intact.

However, not all computers that follow the airline go to the upper class are not experiencing this phenomenon. At Harvard Business School in Boston, the leaders of anonymous campuses or managers sometimes forget and sometimes check laptops in their luggage, which makes CIO Stephen Laster almost play crazy He said, ' Laptops are very fragile when they have to carry out a check-up so much, because it makes it very easy to cause cracks or bumps of its computer case or screen. '

However, it has not stopped here. With more than 3000 laptops under his eyes, he can know that these fragile specialized computers are simply not suitable for the real world. There are many dangers lurking everywhere: it is possible that a Coke can be spilled (in the case of a very frequent occurrence of Harvard) or a container of water like that is like daily threats like dropping a drop of water, or a threat from children, they can play by mouth and cause many unpredictable troubles.

Imagine potential threats at Manatee County schools in Bradenton, Fla., Where every student here has a private laptop. Or, like Tina Barrios, an educational technology supervisor, said how horrified she was to have nearly 10,000 Apple Inc. laptops. has been widely used by her customers, she admits that an education is required for clients on how to manage their new computing tools.

Obviously, there are a few issues that we need to consider. ' Laptops seem to get too much entangled ,' she said, and sometimes there are some flying out from certain car or truck screenings. Even when you're at home, it's not always lucky.

3. Difficult to fix and quickly fail

According to IDC, on average each laptop has a tolerance of about 3 to 4 years, compared with an average life span of 4 to 5 years for desktops. Maybe even worse is only about 2 to 3 years.

Not only do laptop laptops last longer than desktops, they obviously fall into a battle - that is, IT departments may spend more time on hardware when performing upgrades. grant or repair it.

Today's laptops are built like cars, Matthew Archibald, a director of risk management and global information security Applied Materials Inc in Santa Clara, Calif., Said. Buying a new car and its own manual will tell you to change the safety belt according to the distance every 50,000 miles, he explains. If you don't do that, just go to 51,000 miles, this belt is no longer safe enough, Archibald said, and he also found a similar scenario to be done with laptop computers.

' When the cost of laptop computers is gradually lowered, parts from drive to board - also suffer from a certain amount of time. However, this can be overcome by designing from more permissive materials and more sophisticated in design and needing downtime to fix its failures longer if they are taken. to the service centers, however, this causes too much trouble , 'he added.

Applied Materials, which is mostly mobile, has more than 12,000 laptops deployed, Archibald has been doing technological innovation for laptops every two to three years but in recent years The more it progresses to two years this is because the hardware starts to fail.

Motherboards are usually the first thing to mention, and then hard drives need to be upgraded, and there are plenty of other trivial things like screen hinges or lock locks. broken down. However, Archibald uses one principle: If the price is more than $ 300 for each renewal, then what we need to do is buy a new computer.

4. Very easy to be stolen

Bob Vesely has a simple reason why he doesn't like laptops, which are too easy to steal.

Fortunately for Vesely, the IT director at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, the number of laptops he monitors is small, only about 40. But Vesely wanted to try to protect them in the best way, because a lost computer in his organization could affect many other users.

When zoo employees do not use laptops, it will be sent to the life researchers in Papua New Guinea and other locations. It is clear that the zoo is beneficial for researchers, so this could be considered a win-win scenario, acknowledging that computers are not lost. Vesely only feared in this case that laptop computers could be lost during travel.

' Lost or stolen ' means something else at Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF), a 32,000-mile network of roads linking 28 states in the United States and Canada's two provinces. At the train line, located in Fort Worth, Texas, system adviser engineer Brad Hanson can take a long time in finding company laptops to improve them completely.

Since tens of thousands of users are moving around constantly, finding their laptops when they need to be upgraded is just like the elaborate Easter egg hunt, because of the location of the fruits. This egg is always changing, he said.

5. Poor security with digital and physical problems

Laptops can be attacked while using an unsecured public Wi-Fi connection or can be stolen from the airport lounge, obviously the laptop can be stolen in many ways. but their 'desk-makers' do not know.

Archibald of Applied Materials said that the threat of digital intrusion made him sleepless at night, although his company still did not feel any direct attack. .

Like many other IT managers, he also knows that someone can see directly from the shoulder of the person who is using the laptop in a cafe or on an airplane, easily available. Password or company financial spreadsheet of the next year from a fool.

In addition, public Wi-Fi networks can be attacked in many ways, from network identification scheme errors (where users appear to log on to a network but the fact is logged on to another network), to unsecured security authentication pages, where data such as network passwords can be captured or reused, or blocking transmission, a problem for users who do not use encryption when traveling on the road.

BNSF is also really lucky. With the wide nature of railway businesses, which are relatively few laptops stolen, Hanson said, but that is not without. One of the most recent accidents is a stolen car with a laptop inside. Both cars and computers were found on the bottom of the pond (amazingly, the computer's data was still intact).

Although Hanson was quick to point out that his company did not have as many laptops lost as other companies did as remote businesses as they did, railroads clearly made the risk of stealing laptop laptops serious. more importantly, but still provide all their users with a detailed warning list and tips designed to help reduce the loss associated with this issue.

6. Security precautions make users tired

This issue is related to laments: ' Why can't I connect? 'or perhaps a better question is why it is not easy to connect at all? Between passwords, screen locks, and complicated procedures when logging into a virtual private network and the risk of an unsecured Wi-Fi connection, all of them are not always easy for users when want to be online somewhere.

That's how it is, Greg Fay, the information security leader for State of Iowa, who admits that he has a lot of practice in trying to clarify this point. Still, Iowa does not guarantee that trade secrets ' always have the things we are doing that we do not like around knowing about it until it is ready .'

In order to deal with security-related issues, State of Iowa took a few months to implement a statewide standard - encrypting the entire disk and boot money for each laptop - this is expected. create security in security. However Fay did not think that would solve the problem that his users wanted to log in at Starbucks, a wish he wanted to make if possible. Even with full disk encryption, an open Wi-Fi network may not be able to secure it, he sees that and the user does not seem to understand it.

Users in an unrealistic statement agree with Archibald, quoting an email the user recently asked: ' We must not be building nuclear bombs here, so why do I have to enter too much? Password so much? '

Many users do not understand that data transmission needs to be protected, Fay said and they really do not want to learn them. They just want to be able to do what they want the fastest way.

' To make our lives easier, we want a technology solution for security issues, not just for users, ' Fay said, meaning that he wants to stop arguing with users about what they can and what can't be on their laptops when they take them out to the public. A technology solution, a solution to deny user obligations (and perhaps IT support centers) will be the best way.

7. Wi-Fi still has many potential problems such as a 'Wild West'

The challenge of configuring laptops for wireless connectivity and timely upgrades can be the biggest problem causing many sleepless nights for IT professionals.

IT professionals have to decide which card air card to use, and if they are using encryption or set up a VPN, which employees will use and under what circumstances. Should the company support suppliers who sponsor their users on the road or only those carriers that are reliable? What are the employee issues with their own routers and networks in the main office environment? The question continues and continues to increase. IT managers have said so

And if the worst is due to the fact that most users have no clues, Vince Kellen, vice president of telecommunications services at DePaul University in Chicago, said. 'Wireless has dug up unskilled people', he said in a straightforward way, ' there are 20 to 30 different topics related to the choice for us to proceed with technology. and upgrading, and users can't imagine this complexity . '

So not only does he want to be at the forefront of Wi-Fi, but he often creates more fields - to do the right thing for security - for the most messy and worst-case user community. .

Hanson of BNSF fully understands exactly what Kellen is saying ' Wireless is the biggest insomnia problem for us today,' he said, 'Technological changes over time and them. we may not keep up . '

His own problems are air card cards, he says, standards have caused too much trouble in solving and have become commercialized, they are really outdated. Separated from his stuck with a long-term contract to buy a card as a job. ' Connection managers can't catch up and then the cards don't work, ' Hanson explained. But for proper support, the company must standardize on a number of things.

8. Giving new births

Fay really doesn't like the fact that his users watch TV. Flashy ads of people who are using laptops during a dinner or a mountain top or while driving, all give him ideas. Bad ideas. Ideas that make them expect to be able to connect online anywhere, anytime.

' TV ads seem to make things too easy and seem too safe to be realistic. We constantly fight to catch up 'he said, the problem here is that every nature of mobile computing gives users the expectation that they can work anywhere and when they want it. care only about what is involved in supporting them.

They want to connect right away, want it right now when IT support centers can't support them, see what happens.

' I keep receiving emails saying they can't be online at the friend's or friend's house, so they can't make a draft football ball in the football field, so I'm getting caught up in the problems. in their personal lives and I need to change this situation immediately , 'said Archibald of Applied Material. ' I'm tired of users who want to be able to do whatever they want and ask for our help on their issues '.

When the support staff did not wrestle with the problems of remote users wanting to go online with their personal needs, they must be evading what users want everything like - laptops must start right away. Instant and always active no matter what, no password to boot, no screen lock, and many thanks. ' Users often tell me that locking the screen is reducing their productivity ,' Archibald said.

9. Too big and too small

Too big - that makes users complain about getting into all the possible weight expansions - or they're too small in the sense that no one can type on them. Finding an average seems to be difficult in many IT organizations.

Harvard Business School offers standard and ¾ standard laptops, but CIO Laster says that his users are willing to accept but laptops have large screens and keyboards. ' Most people just hate ¾ normal-sized computers ,' he said.

At KDOT, Swartzman said, she had heard a lot of complaints and couldn't really do more about it. Her users hate to use the mouse on the computer but do not want to bring an external mouse. Laptops are fully featured with very heavy usable keyboards, users say. Or they like the weight of the laptop - light enough, but then don't like it at the point where the screen is too small.

In other words, laptops are not very friendly and they will never be the right size , 'she says of 600 to 700 of her deployed laptop computers. 'It is a terrible thing.'

However, sometimes they are of the right size, so the size can still be too large to be safe by hand when holding. At DePaul, Kellen said big laptops were completely outdated - many of his workplace users wanted a bigger screen to be able to see movie utilities, but how big was enough to they are not dropped when they are too heavy, he said.

A problem with carrying a keyboard. IT professionals often have two truths: no one has slender fingers and most people cannot type, saying people with big hands syndrome.

10. Execute asynchronous program

Users want all of their laptops: power, speed, connectivity and the full range of a desktop application and durable battery power.

However, many programs do not work well on laptops. Certainly, standard laptops can view a complex inventory table or a 275 page PowerPoint presentation. The problem arises when users want to perform multiple tasks at the same time when creating a presentation. Even the fastest processor and cache do not meet those requirements.

When this happens, listen to complaints and try to come up with a feasible solution. In addition to the above, the negative effects of antivirus software, DePail's Kellen pointed out.
Software that provides other issues that bring a depressed mood to both users and support staff. On the road, laptop users may encounter a series of network connections to the eyes, peripheral activities and many other issues, not to mention technology with a 5-year-old time used in the middle. hotel business center.

That means that IT managers need to equip computers on the road with a complete set of drivers - obviously need to define what it is for every user - then need to update often. Cross these drivers.

Archibald said, ' If it moves, you have to keep the check on it, grasp it, fix it and change it '.