The Evolution of the Laptop

The Laptop – A 21st Century Solution

For so long the preserve of the travelling businessperson or corporate CEO, portable computers and laptops have gone from being one of the most exclusive technological devices on the market to being a ubiquitous, must-have item which people cannot live without. Whether for use as a work device, as a tool for browsing the Internet or checking and sending email, or as a multimedia device for managing all your music, movies, digital photos and video clips, a laptop is now the essential device for keeping up with what is going on in the world and in your life. It is fair to say that many people today effectively carry their life around with them in a padded bag, as laptops are now used by not just technology-savvy people but by the general population as a tool for keeping in touch with friends, updating their social networking profiles, paying bills, booking holidays, managing their personal media and just about every other aspect of daily life. Many people purchase a gaming laptop to allow them to play massively multiplayer online role play games, or MMORPGs, on the move and anywhere they like. The rise in penetration of wireless technology 802.11B, or WiFi, means that people can now get online practically anywhere. Whether in an airport awaiting a flight, sitting in a train station on the platform waiting for your train to leave, or just sitting and relaxing in a popular café sipping a latté and checking your email on your netbook, laptops are now ubiquitous and as much a part of daily life as a mobile phone or an iPod is.

Portability is the key

Not so long ago a laptop was a big, unwieldy and frankly sometimes downright clumsy piece of kit to lug about with one. The older models of portable computer would come in a large padded bag which was the size of a small suitcase and often needed wheels to help the user prevent them getting backache carrying their computer about. That has changed in recent times as technology miniaturization continues apace, with smaller and smaller components hitting the market meaning that the manufacturers of laptops are able to offer sleek, small and lightweight portable computers to everybody at increasingly cost-effective prices. A satellite laptop for example now weighs in at less than two kilograms, or using the old standard for the weight of any portable piece of kit, not much different from a couple of bags of sugar. Anyone who is now looking to make their online life easier and simpler could be well advised to think about checking out the range of tiny Netbooks which are now on the market. Satellites and Netbooks are among the most convenient laptops to use since they combine lightweight, minimalist design with high definition screens and high levels of usability. Increasingly people are investing in more than one laptop and having a lightweight and small portable PC for using in public and when travelling at home or overseas, while having a larger and more complex home laptop on which to manage all of their multimedia, downloads, photographs, videos, movies and so on.

Managing your multimedia

The past few years have seen access to numerous different types of online media skyrocket. Consumers now have an unrivalled choice of laptops available to them, with different models specialising in different aspects of online life. Some people prefer to use a more specialist business laptop which offers larger monitor sizes, often increased battery longevity and also different software packages which allow them to manage their multimedia in more professional ways. It is now not uncommon to see people out in public hooking their digital camcorder up to their laptop and sit there editing and producing a movie they have just filmed while out and about. Likewise it is now perfectly normal to see people sitting around in cafés, bars and even pubs showing off their digital photo collection to their friends, having just connected their digital camera up to their laptop and downloaded their photos onto their hard drive. Wireless connections mean that users are then almost instantly able to upload photos directly to their photo hosting gallery on the Internet, meaning that they can share their galleries with their friends and family anywhere in the world in a heartbeat. Laptops are also equally essential for managing digital music collections, as the majority of users use their computer for downloading their favourite songs and albums from online stores like iTunes before transferring them to their portable music player. The savvy user also knows that laptops are the perfect place for keeping their digital music backed up in case they should misplace their MP3 player or have it stolen.

Never been a better time for laptops

One of the old barriers to entry for people investing in laptops was that the computers seemed at first daunting and perhaps intimidating to use, but this was something which really went hand in hand with them being the preserve of businesspeople. Today, the laptop is a simple to use piece of kit and is every bit as user friendly as a mobile phone is, or for that matter a new television or DVD player. Operating systems vary on portable laptops these days, but they are designed in such a way as to be as simple to use as possible for the entry-level user, and most people tend to find that once they have had a play around with their laptops, they are soon zooming around the O/S like it is second nature to them. For the complete novice however, the manufacturers of modern laptops offer extensive post-sales service and laptop support, so whether the user finds that they don’t know how to do something or that they think they may have a technical problem with the device, the manufacturer will have a team of specialists and experts on hand to offer advice and tips to enhancing the user experience of their laptop or to help with product trouble-shooting. As manufacturers go on providing top class products and service to consumers, there has never been a better or easier time to think about investing in a first portable computer or about upgrading to a smarter and more intelligent model.