That situation could improve as early as next year. A technology is only as beneficial as the use to which it's put. A huge, marketing-oriented company with hundreds of reps on the road would obviously do well to invest in notebooks. However, when the same company decides to bring its salespeople in-house, the picture changes drastically. A salesperson who works exclusively on the telephone will be just as computer dependent as a counterpart on the road.
Common sense suggests no.
If a given employee doesn't need one, he or she probably shouldn't have one. OS D. Douglas Graham is a freelance writer based in Missouri.