5. Laptops

Laptops were traditionally expensive when compared to a similar specification for a desktop PC. However, with the growing demand for laptops and cheaper production methods, they are now a similar price.

The trend towards the use of laptops has been brought about due to many different reasons:

Changes in working/living patterns

Many workers are no longer 'chained' to their desk. Many people need to be able to move about during their working day. This could be going to different offices or buildings for a meeting or driving to another town for a meeting or conference. It could be that people want to be able to carry on working whilst travelling to and from work on the train.

Schools are beginning to provide all staff and students with their own laptops to ensure that they always have access to a computer no matter where they are in the school. Think about how many schools there are in the country and how many students there are in each school - that is an awful lot of laptops needed!

Growth of wireless networking

Over the last few years wireless networking has grown rapidly. This has enabled people to move around, use their laptops and still be connected to the home or office network to access files and data.

Improvements in battery life

When the early laptops were developed, the batteries didn't last very long and you couldn't rely on being able to use your laptop for any length of time.

Batteries now last for long periods of time, making it viable to work for quite a few hours before the battery needs recharging.

Size and weight

Early laptops were fairly large, bulky and heavy to carry around. This didn't make them suitable for people who needed to carry them for any length of time.

Laptop design has significantly improved along with smaller, lighter batteries.

Modern laptops are now fairly compact and reasonably light to carry. They can be stored inside a briefcase, doing away with the need for bulky carrying bags.