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| The Rise of Affordable Laptops |
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The other day, I was looking through the classifieds section of the newspaper for some affordable laptops
and I was shocked by how much the prices have dropped in recent times!
I mean, just over a year ago, when I decided to go out shopping for a
laptop, it cost me an arm and a leg.
So much so that I abandoned all hope of ever finding affordable laptops (from a good brand that is) and began using the trusty old desktop at home. But the latest news was an eye opener of sorts for me. I had never before seen such a wide range of affordable laptops ever before. But of late, the dynamics of big businesses had resulted in affordable laptops. I don’t exaggerate. If you don’t believe me, compare the process of laptops a couple of years ago with the laptops after the emergence and consolidation of companies like Dell. By eliminating the middlemen and rationalizing storage costs, they have brought about a revolution in affordable laptops. Which is why, a basic laptop that cost upwards of a thousand dollars a couple of years ago is now available for well below the magical thousand dollar mark. Of course the rise of affordable laptops also has a lot to do with the falling of various computer part prices. Hard disks are a lot cheaper than ever before as is memory. RAM is much more rational and today, for an earlier price that could get you barely 256 Mb of processing speed, you can get 1Gb or more. All of these have had a role to play in making affordable laptops a reality. But if there is any one thing that has contributed the most to affordable laptops (in my estimation of course) it would be the revolution that has taken the modern enterprise by storm. I am referring to the concept of mobile offices. Ever since large scale enterprises realized that fixed costs like infrastructure and rents have been spiraling upwards with no downturn in sight, they have been exploring ways in which to reduce the dependency on these costs. The first trend that emerged was flexible hours. But nowadays, telecommuting is the norm. And rather than look at the company for the provision of a laptop, most individuals prefer to have one well within reach to give them the kind of mobility that they seek. And this is why affordable laptops have had to become a reality. |
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