Laptops are more than just a convenience for modern computer buffs. They have become such an integral part of todayÆs technology that new paradigms have been built around them. Mobile professionals, the military, and law enforcement agencies use them in ways that desktop computers could never support. Computers confined to ivory towers are a thing of the past; todayÆs mobile agencies can access computer technology at the site where it is most needed. Since laptops can be taken virtually anywhere, they can support lab and office technology right in the field. They can be hooked up directly to probes to gather data, evaluate that data, and help determine a course of action on the spot. Immediate access to reference data and the ability to communicate in real time have transformed the way business is done in todayÆs world.
Mobile professionals are the most visible users of laptop technology. Professionals such as sales representatives, insurance adjusters, and field technicians can use laptops for communication from the field and real-time reporting as well as immediate computing at the remote site. Business executives can much more easily access large bodies of corporate data by laptop than by lugging around hard-copy ledgers. Furthermore, since laptops can link to databases, they can provide business data that is accurate up to the minute, any time day or night. Professionals are not always aware when their hard-copy documents become out of date, but they can sidestep document obsolescence if they are obtaining their data by laptop.
Since a laptop is for all intents and purposes a fully functional computer, it allows the user to perform the same functions that used to be performed in the office or laboratory. Calculations, access to reference materials, order processing, scientific measurement, or research via programs can all be performed or achieved via laptop. Before laptops, information had to be gathered and car...