[_Donny]

Not being able to select your own hardware for a job is perhaps one of my worst experiences to date.

At one company, I was handed laptop with an older version of Windows, preinstalled bloatware, 3rd party encryption software, anti-virus, VPNs, etc. Even worse, the laptop was about more than 16 inches and weighted over 3 kg because the company crammed in as much expensive hardware in it as possible -- so that the computer would fit everyones needs.

I understand the need for company IT policies, but global companies have such complicated policies it basically hindered all my work.

You won't believe the sigh of relief when I started at a small start-up company, and I was able to choose all of my hardware. The CTO ensured my SSH keys would grant me access to all the servers I would need.

[koheripbal]

That just sounds like shitty procurement, not bad IT.

There's nothing wrong with standardization as long as the standard laptop isn't crap.

[Balgair]

> ... 16 inches and weighted over 3 kg

Where are you from? Thats a heck of a mix between imperial and metric.

[indentit]

Pretty sure screen sizes are still universally measured in inches for some reason - maybe because it is what people are used to, or maybe for the American market as it is one of the biggest?

[mercer]

I live in one of those sane metric-system countries, but I don't have a clue how to describe my MacBook's screen size in anything but inches...

[Tyr42]

Could be Cananda. We can't make up our mind.