IDG Contributor Network: Amazon Echo sets the bar for the perfect PC, smartphone or tablet upgrade experience
Back in the 1990s I became concerned that it took way too long for someone to provision a new laptop. What brought this to my attention was when Intel was recommending users get laptops every two years, arguing that the impact on productivity easily justified the cost. I observed that the people doing the briefing had products that were 3-5 years old and asked, “if replacing a laptop every two years could be justified based on productivity gains, why don’t you do it?”
Delving deeper into this question, I found that a lot of Intel employees refused new laptops because it could take several days – sometimes up to a week! – to get a new laptop provisioned and working correctly again. Apple was kind of the gold standard, because migrations were far quicker and less annoying.