Why are office computers so terrible?
November 29, 2018 8:47 AM Subscribe
Why is your standard office desktop still so big, slow and just generally bad?
Why are office computers still so rubbish? This article, “https://techjunkie.com/why-are-the-computers-so-slow-at-workschool/” although now 10 years old, gives some good reasons, especially on the server/software side, but it doesn't provide all the answers.
Primarily, it doesn't answer why are the computers themselves are still so naff? My current work desktop is only 2 years old, yet it has a mechanical hard drive, is big and heavy with plenty of fans, it only runs 32-bit windows, (which is definitely starting to cause memory issues even with basic office software/web surfing these days), but it has a high spec i5 processor that meets the recommended requirements for most modern games and is complete overkill for typing and surfing. It is painfully slow, especially once more than a few programs are open.
Why on earth is this thing not a smaller fanless unit with a lower power processor, 64-bit windows and an SSD? The overall cost would no doubt be the same as the overpowered unit once you downgraded the processor, and a large drive isn't needed on office machines as very little is stored locally anymore. A fanless machine would undoubtedly last longer too, after all no one ever clears the dust out of these things.
I do understand that 32-bit windows is still required in some environments for dependencies with plugins etc., but I struggle to see why it is required in most places I've worked. I work in a pretty regular office in which computers are used to produce, store and edit documents. We have a fairly basic document/case/file management system, a timer program and everything else is your standard Microsoft office setup with Acrobat for PDFs. The vast majority of my time is spent on the Internet, in Word/Outlook and viewing PDFs, with occasional use of cloud based services via a browser. I have worked in various offices over the years, most of them in law and this has been a pretty standard set-up regardless of the company, and none of these programs would be considered particularly taxing stuff, nor particularly legacy. Indeed in one office I worked in, the machines were all 32-bit, but the IT department had 64-bit windows whilst maintaining and using the same applications as everyone else.
I understand what the article I've linked to says re buying machines in bulk, but surely these rubbish machines can't help the like of Dell or HP in the long run either. Anyone who sees one of these in action at work and doesn't know much about computers is automatically going to think 'I'm not buying a HP/Dell/insert make for use at home'.
Can anyone who works in IT or procurement shed some light?
Why are office computers still so rubbish? This article, “https://techjunkie.com/why-are-the-computers-so-slow-at-workschool/” although now 10 years old, gives some good reasons, especially on the server/software side, but it doesn't provide all the answers.
Primarily, it doesn't answer why are the computers themselves are still so naff? My current work desktop is only 2 years old, yet it has a mechanical hard drive, is big and heavy with plenty of fans, it only runs 32-bit windows, (which is definitely starting to cause memory issues even with basic office software/web surfing these days), but it has a high spec i5 processor that meets the recommended requirements for most modern games and is complete overkill for typing and surfing. It is painfully slow, especially once more than a few programs are open.
Why on earth is this thing not a smaller fanless unit with a lower power processor, 64-bit windows and an SSD? The overall cost would no doubt be the same as the overpowered unit once you downgraded the processor, and a large drive isn't needed on office machines as very little is stored locally anymore. A fanless machine would undoubtedly last longer too, after all no one ever clears the dust out of these things.
I do understand that 32-bit windows is still required in some environments for dependencies with plugins etc., but I struggle to see why it is required in most places I've worked. I work in a pretty regular office in which computers are used to produce, store and edit documents. We have a fairly basic document/case/file management system, a timer program and everything else is your standard Microsoft office setup with Acrobat for PDFs. The vast majority of my time is spent on the Internet, in Word/Outlook and viewing PDFs, with occasional use of cloud based services via a browser. I have worked in various offices over the years, most of them in law and this has been a pretty standard set-up regardless of the company, and none of these programs would be considered particularly taxing stuff, nor particularly legacy. Indeed in one office I worked in, the machines were all 32-bit, but the IT department had 64-bit windows whilst maintaining and using the same applications as everyone else.
I understand what the article I've linked to says re buying machines in bulk, but surely these rubbish machines can't help the like of Dell or HP in the long run either. Anyone who sees one of these in action at work and doesn't know much about computers is automatically going to think 'I'm not buying a HP/Dell/insert make for use at home'.
Can anyone who works in IT or procurement shed some light?
This post was deleted for the following reason: Sorry, this is a rant disguised as a question. -- restless_nomad
« Older Which of these Great British Bake-off cookbooks... | What are some great board/card games that aren't... Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.