The Day My Laptop was Stolen Almost Killed My Business

One of the worst feelings I have ever had was the day my laptop was stolen.
The laptop can be replaced. However the loss of critical DATA was the biggest risk my business has ever faced.

When I recovered from the experience I asked myself the question...."what can I learn from this disaster?" The lesson is simple, loss of data is the largest threat facing any business.

There is nothing that can prepare you for the feeling of loss and the dread that comes with knowing that your personal data is gone forever. While it is very inconvenient and can be very expensive to replace the laptop itself, NOTHING can replace the hours of hard work that is represented by the data stored on a modern computers hard disk drive.

Whether you own a laptop for personal use, or have one for business reasons, there are many, many, items that are sitting there on your hard drive that are simply priceless. We don't often think about the little bits of ones and zeros etched into a spinning magnetic plate as being critical elements in our lives, but no matter what you use a computer for, you most likely have literally megabytes (at least) or even gigabytes of data that you can not afford to lose.

For personal computer users there are mp3 play lists, emails, personal photo albums, and other important files that we all save on our hard disks. For the professional computer user, the stakes are higher...perhaps it's the accounting data for your company's 3rd quarter earnings, the PowerPoint presentation you will be giving to the CEO on Thursday afternoon, or the proposal that needs to be sent to the European office A.S.A.P. These "intangible" bits of data play a critical role in our professional and personal lives, whether we like it or not.

Laptop Computers and the PVP Effect!

Roll over lumbering desktop computers, the limber laptop is here, and it's here to stay! For a while now notebooks have outstripped their ageing desktop PC siblings, easily winning the gold medal in the computer sales Olympics. We will illustrate how the PVP effect has contributed greatly to the increase in popularity of notebook computers.

(P) Portability:

Firstly it may be stating the obvious, but people buy laptops because they can take them anywhere. Office workers need no more be confined to their claustrophophic cubicles. Instead those statistic charts and data reports can be compiled on a train, in the comfort of an arm chair, or even on the beach! Portability equals flexibility, but alas this hasn't always been the case. Today's ultra portable laptop computers have a come along way since the bulky, sewing machine sized machines of the late seventies and early eighties. Indeed one of the first portable computers was built by IBM, and this machine (IBM 5100) weighed in at a hefty 50lbs! Today's corridor warriors would have trouble lugging that puppy from meeting to meeting, unless of course they subjected themselves to an intensive dose of steroids :)

(V) Value:

In the seventies the aforementioned IBM 5100 would have set you back a staggering 20,000 dollars. Today a top of the range IBM Thinkpad can be bought for around 3000 dollars. Cheaper Thinkpads can often be obtained for well under a thousand dollars, especially if you don't mind purchasing a used or refurbished model.

Batteries for Your Laptop

With technology advancing more every day, electronics have become smaller and more mobile. This includes computers. The laptop, or notebook
computer is extremely popular these days and many people have them as backup or secondary computers or even as their main computers. The great thing about a laptop is that it uses a battery to power the unti when you are away from a power source so you can literally take your computer anywhere. But in addition to the batteries, there are other parts of the laptop computer that make it work.

You know that another important part of your
laptop is the screen. There are many different
types of screens and the screen is important since
it is the display that will show whatever you are
working gon with the computer and you may spend
many hours looking at it. Early laptop screens
were dim and dark with poor quality but they are
very improved today and even come in wide screen
and more.

However, you know that the display is not all
there is to the laptop. There are many more
important parts to the computer. The CPU is very
important because it makes your computer work.
There are mobile CPUs which keep the machine
cooler and prevents overheating. These are great
because they also use less power.

There are many great features to the laptop
computer. Most of them come with modular (or
swappable) drive bays which allow you to remove
the floppy drive, the DVD drive and the hard
drive. If you want to use different media for
storing and saving your data, it is easier than
ever to do this while you continue working. You
don't even have to shut your computer down.