[PapaBear3625]

>>MY employer sent me a brand new top-of-the-line laptop a few months ago, to replace my three year old model (I didn’t even request it), and it sat unopened on my desk for 3 months before I finally bothered to set it up knowing it would function exactly as my old one.<<

Your company didn’t send you a new laptop because they want to give you a faster computer. They sent you one because disk drives, even solid-state drives, tend to start failing after 3-5 years.

How would you be affected if your laptop’s disk died right now, taking your data with it? (I hope you back up important work to your company’s network)

https://www.newegg.com/insider/how-long-do-hard-drives-and-ssds-last/

[Alberta's Child]

Your company didn’t send you a new laptop because they want to give you a faster computer. They sent you one because disk drives, even solid-state drives, tend to start failing after 3-5 years.

You're kind of reinforcing the original point. The issue you describe is one of physical breakdown and not necessarily a technological improvement.

A few months ago I transferred the last useful files off a Dell computer I had purchased in 2011. Most of them had already been moved over to the 2016 model when I went through an upgrade. And now I've got one that I purchased in 2021.

I got the 2011 files moved just in time; the computer broke down completely several weeks later and now it won't even boot up.

Interestingly, while opening boxes I had packed two years ago when I began the process of moving my office, I came across an old Dell computer that dates back to 2005 (if I remember correctly). It still works fine, but no modern software will run on it.

[Myrddin]

My employer has a hardware management process that replaces enduser hardware on a 3 year cycle. Nominally 1/3 of the devices are replaced each year. That tracks a warranty/maintenance cycle with the suppliers. They are replaced before a catastrophic failure impacts productivity. Another group in the company does "image management" to build corporate standard, security configured images for each authorized enduser device. We use Druva InSync to keep devices backed up and recovery (from a physically damaged device) can be as easy as 1) select replacement 2) apply authorized image 3) ship to employee 4) restore data from Druva InSync. It's not perfect, but works pretty well for a company of nearly 45,000 employees.

[qwerty1234]

>>Your company didn’t send you a new laptop because they want to give you a faster computer. They sent you one because disk drives, even solid-state drives, tend to start failing after 3-5 years.

No doubt about that - but the point I was trying to make was that in years past, getting a new laptop was exciting event for me - everything just ran better/faster than before, so it was something to look forward to and enjoy - now I do it only because I have to and its a chore that I need to complete (migrating files etc), with no real benefit to me (except as you point out, the likelihood that it is less likely to fail).