From reading other blogs and sites, especially (but not only) those related to technology, I am increasingly feeling like a dinosaur, for a reason: I don’t have a laptop. I just have two desktops and a server.
And sometimes I feel like I’m almost the only one in the world.
Don’t believe me? Read an aggregator of tech blogs like Planeta Asterisco at any time — either now, 3 months ago, 6 months ago, and probably 6 months from now as well — and you’ll find many people posting about their new laptop, the laptop they’re considering buying, the compatibility problems they had between a particular Linux distro and their laptop, how their new MacBook looks so good :), and so on. This is not just a couple of people, either, but a lot of them.
I virtually never see anyone posting about a desktop system. When someone does, it’s invariably about an old one, bought several years ago; when they buy a new system, it’ll obviously be a laptop.
Am I a dinosaur? Or an alien from Mars? I don’t have a laptop. I don’t prefer laptops.
I’ve had laptops during several periods of my life, always company ones, and since I now work at home I don’t have one. I wouldn’t mind having one, but it’s not a priority at all; I’d buy one, perhaps, if I was lighting cigars with €500 notes. It’s useful if you travel a lot (which I don’t), but as a primary work machine? To me, no way.
You see, the thing is this: no matter how technologically advanced laptops become, they’ll always have a problem: size. No, I don’t mean that they’re too big (or small). I mean that they have conflicting goals. On one hand, they must be portable, meaning as small and light as possible — after all, that’s the point, isn’t it? On the other hand, if they go below a certain size, the screen will be too small to show a decent amount of stuff at a readable size, the keys will be to small for your fingers, the keyboard will have to “sacrifice” several (independent, on desktops) keys, joining them together (with the use of an extra key, “Fn”) so that it fits. That’s why most laptops (there are exceptions, of course), these days, have very similar sizes: it’s the best thing they could come up with. Bigger than that, they’re less easy to carry; smaller than that, they become more difficult — and unpleasant — to use.
Which is why I far prefer a good desktop. No more compromises. Decent keyboard, decent screen, and, guess what, it’s also a lot cheaper, and with virtually no hardware incompatibilities (I haven’t had to install or configure a hardware driver manually in years, on several versions of Suse and OpenBSD)!
As I said, I wouldn’t mind having a laptop, though I’d still use my desktop 99% of the time (I don’t travel much). It’s simply a lot more pleasant to use, I can type faster, have a 19″ screen, and so on. A laptop, to me, is simply not worth buying, unless I simply didn’t know what to do with my money. For both work and games, give me a desktop any day.
So I really don’t understand all this obsession with laptops. Sure, if you travel all the time, or need one for your job, it’s understandable. But, other than that… I don’t see how people can give up a decent keyboard and screen. Is it a “status symbol”? Is it because everyone has a laptop, these days?
Really, I’m curious. 
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Hello
I totally agree with you on this matter. For the work I do in graphics programming, I don’t think that a laptop can replace a desktop workstation with a decent keyboard and a large and comfortable CRT screen.
However, over the last year I have worked ever increasingly on the move and having a laptop with a decent 3D graphics card has been a lifesaver. Sure, it looks and feels like lugging around a coffee table, but it beats carrying around a desktop and a 19 inch monitor any day.
I don’t like laptops either. I don’t have a laptop and I think laptops are for people that live in more than one hous, for instance I hve a lot of friends that work in Lisbon at the weekdays and go to their hometowns on the weekend. They need laptops instead of having 2 machines.
If you want portable computers, I don’t think laptops are the ones. Palmtopes are fine though.
Having a laptop means I can have my stuff around (both work and non-work related stuff) wherever I am (at work, at home, at the park, at the coffee-shop, etc etc etc). That means that I can do whatever I need to do wherever I’m at.
Were it for the status some people think a laptop gives I’d buy something trendy, but I really don’t care about that so I got the cheapest I could afford. Interestingly enough, you sound like those people years ago who proudly claimed they would never ever use a cellphone, other people only bought them for status
Laptops aren’t status symbols, because everyone has one.
I’m talking for me, not for others. I need to move all day around, to university, to home, to my weekends on fathers home … And hell, i still have a decent keyboard and a decent (sort off) monitor …
It’s a matter of personal needs, if you ask me. Of course they are much more expensive than desktops, but it’s a question of choice. Plug it to an external monitor and a keyboard, and it’s like a desktop …
I want a laptop, not to replace my desktop machines, but to supplement it. I want the portability so I can get out of the house or even just work in the backyard or by the fireplace.
Your point is well taken - I don’t understand people that have a laptop that never leaves their office. In fact I had a friend who wanted to buy one for his wife to use at home just last week. Here comments were a lot like yours. Of course you can finally buy a laptop for very close to the same price as a desktop, so it’s not that poor of a choice.
Hi all,
One thing that you might be overlooking is that laptops are sub-optimal for gaming, and IIRC you’re a gamer. It’s been a while since you last wrote about your Nintendo DS, but I’d guess that you still keep a Windows desktop hiding there somewhere for a few games, right?
If you happen to take that out of the equation, a laptop is nice to have for “joe user”, who will pull the lappy out of the bag while waiting for the dentist appointment, or might have the option to get some work done while away from the office. Some time ago it wasn’t uncommon to read about people in the US and UK accusing their employers from handing out mobile phones and laptops just to get a little extra work time from them when necessary.
As for the rest of the blogging community, they are different from “joe laptop user”, they tend to use the laptop as their 2nd PC, or maybe they keep their old PC as a NAS and when they get home they just plug their Macbook pro to a LCD and proper keyboard. That’s how the sales of laptops has surpassed desktops in the last few years - both in sales and in volume.
[quote post="379"]Interestingly enough, you sound like those people years ago who proudly claimed they would never ever use a cellphone, other people only bought them for status :-)[/quote]
Hey! I resent that!
No, seriously, I’ve had (company) laptops in the past. The last one was actually pretty decent. As I said, I understand the need for one if you’re always on the move, or need one for your job; however, what I see is that people choose laptops by default. Even if it’s just to use them at home. I can’t be the only one who thinks that laptops’ keyboards suck, can I?
[quote post="379"]Laptops aren’t status symbols, because everyone has one.[/quote]
Well, technically, a status symbol can work in the opposite way: having one doesn’t grant you positive status, but not having one means negative status.
I’m not saying that’s the case here, but…
[quote post="379"]One thing that you might be overlooking is that laptops are sub-optimal for gaming, and IIRC you’re a gamer. It’s been a while since you last wrote about your Nintendo DS, but I’d guess that you still keep a Windows desktop hiding there somewhere for a few games, right?[/quote]
Yes, it’s my older desktop. I rarely use it these days, though, as it’s too underpowered for most new games, and I’ve been enjoying my GameCube and Nintendo DS a lot, making up for my console-less youth.
Can’t wait for the Wii, by the way.
[quote post="379"]a laptop is nice to have for “joe user”, who will pull the lappy out of the bag while waiting for the dentist appointment[/quote]
I don’t think most Joe Users bring laptops with them most of the time. Anyone who does so either uses one for work, or is a geek. In the latter case, a decent PDA or smartphone would, IMO, be a much better idea.
[quote post="379"]As for the rest of the blogging community, they are different from “joe laptop user”, they tend to use the laptop as their 2nd PC[/quote]
Not from what I see. Most of them seem to use laptops all the time. I even know some people personally who have packed up their desktops because they never used them. Or my ex-boss, who gave away his company desktop because he used his company laptop all the time - he didn’t have a desktop on his desk at all.
There’s a good reason to have a laptop just to be at home; you don’t have an extra room, neither you have space in your room, and obviously, no one wants a desk with a desktop pc in the leaving room. That’s the reason I have a laptop that is always at home.
… I meant “living room” instead of “leaving room”
Okay…now I feel like a dinosaur
I never had a laptop of my own, had one borrowed for a couple of days because my desktop monitor decided to drink yogurt and had to aquire a new one… but besides that I’ve only worked a couple of hours, ocasionally, with a laptop.
And having a laptop does take a certain status to adquire one. You won’t see many people on the country side with them, you see college students, and most of the IT, administrators, and certain people with certain kind of jobs working or walking with a laptop. So yeah it does take a certain status.
But just like you, I don’t need a laptop for my current job or lifestyle so won’t spend money on that.
I switched from a desktop system to a laptop (I’m now on laptop #3) as my primary system approximately 4 years ago. I frequently travel for work so I use it all the time when I’m off-site. I also use it to VPN into my company network when I’m working from home. Since we have a small house, I don’t have the room in my home office/library/spare bedroom to keep a desktop system AND a laptop AND all the associated peripherals. I needed to reduce what I was keeping in the room in order to have a functional and stress-free workspace. It also means I can sit on my back deck and work in the summer sun instead of being tied to a room in my house when I’m home.
And yes, I did try the PDA cell phone route before buying my first laptop. I had one of those cute PDA keyboards and everything. Unfortunately, it was completely useless in my line of work and turned out to be a major expense I regretted. I’m much happier with my laptop.
I know it’s not right for everyone, but it definitely works for me.