We've got a Mac, let's put Windows on it!

Yes, this was the decision at my office recently with a shiny, brand new MacBook Air. Since the laptop is a loaner, it was decided that it would be easier for the users if it just had windows on it. Forget the fact that we spent over $1500 for a Mac, then bought Mac specific software for a few hundred dollars more. Forget that the broadband card is designed for a Mac and not for Windows. What was really important was that we have a light-weight, portable laptop to be checked out when necessary.

Are you ready for the hypocrisy? The only people allowed to check out our new WinBook Air (made that up on the fly) will be people that already have laptops of their own. I'll say that again, the only people authorized to leave the building with this new laptop on their person are people that already have their own laptops. Here's how this came to be, someone was going on a trip to another country. They wanted to be able to check their work email while they were away. The System Department's suggestion "Take your laptop, we already put all the necessary programs on it for you to not only check your email, but to work remotely." Well that wasn't going to work. Why? Because the laptop was too heavy. Apparently, the laptops whopping 6.4 pounds was just to much to be carried around. So instead, we had to spec notebooks that were "light-weight". My initial suggestion was an Asus Eee PC. Everything seemed fine until the issue of price came up. A max price of under $500?! That would never work. I was told money was not an object and to find something else.

So the search began again. The key was that it needed to be both light-weight, have a decent screen size, and cost at least $1000. I only made one of those items up. In my second round of laptops, I submit the MacBook Air as a joke. I figured it would never fly. But oh, I was so wrong. We ended up getting a top of the line MacBook Air. And do you know how much it weighs? A gargantuan 3 pounds. So, in order to please someone and give them a 3 pound lighter beg, we spent upwards of $2000, and then had to put Windows on the machine anyway. The lesson to be learned from all this? I have no idea, I just know that sometimes it's better just to shred money, because we're pretty much throwing it away.