I read an article in the Wall Street Journal today that really has me upset. The journalist (writer) was tasked with identifying and elaborating on what could and should be done to improve the modern laptop for its role in remote office and meeting activities. The author suggested that the number one thing that needed to be done was to make us look better in the meeting (visually) and went on to describe daemons (running utilities) that make it look like we are excited by the content or engaged with the meeting even if we aren’t.
Sorry folks, but what a waste of effort. How about improved audio and video compression firmware to reduce the bandwidth required to carry on a meeting of a given quality? Or, perhaps, adding lighting to the edge of the display panel so the machine can automatically compensate for low lighting, glare, background elements, and so forth?
Other things I would like to see that are not available on the average laptop include larger (and yes heavier) batteries so you can run on battery power for 8 hours or more while operating meetings, searching videos, etc. A keyboard enhancement that allows you to change the “click” volume to suit your activity (silent while in a meeting to clearly audible for burning the midnight oil with your laptop), this might mean having a keyboard that is capable of being silent most of the time. An external indicator to inform the user if the Microphone and/or camera is actively transmitting or collecting audio and video (a common feature on external cameras but not the built-ins on most laptops).
I am sure that those of you who often use a laptop for virtual meetings and the like have some other features that would make that laptop a better tool for your home office. I know that my biggest current issue is that many people do not have enough bandwidth at home to comfortably carry out a meeting from home and honestly, many rural areas don’t have that kind of bandwidth available for any price. My experience is that most organizations have gone with Zoom (which has some real issues including being a bandwidth hog); but, the nature of meetings is that groups, organizations, and businesses needed to standardize and many chose products they had been using well before the pandemic impacted our activities.