Military Users Giving Second Thoughts to Ruggedized Laptops

by John Keller Military & Aerospace Electronics, March 2006 U.S. manufacturers of rugged laptop and notebook computers have a message for the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), which is deploying forces in increasing numbers that need reliable and lightweight computing power: "We told you so." That’s right. No so long ago plenty of DOD officials could be found who said ruggedized laptop computers were largely unnecessary for all except the most extreme of operating environments. Dust, direct sunlight, some moisture here and there -- not a big deal. If a notebook computer failed in the field, so what? These machines are cheap enough to make simply throwing away the bad computer and replacing it with a new one a viable option. At least that’s what they thought. Read more