I don't have a citation, but I used this analogy in 1999 for terminal server as a replacement for desktops. Y2K was pushing people to dump whole networks. Rath

I don't have a citation, but I used this analogy in 1999 for terminal server as a replacement for desktops. Y2K was pushing people to dump whole networks. Rather than upgrade people were just buying all new, but losing data on the machines was a huge scary thing. And migration tools sucked at the time. http://www.cdstoledo.com/ http://www.cdstoledo.com/ where I was working at the time, under my direction started to role out commodity computers. Computers that used Hardware Compatibility list components, and were supplemented with Terminal services to allow important data to always be backed up "in the cloud". When a computer "died" or had an issue, we could just swap the hardware. No local files were needed as everything was on the server as either part of the Terminal Services, or a Roaming Profile. We could then fix the computer at the shop quickly. It had highs and lows. At the time it meant better service at a lower price. But that meant less money for the company. We could offset this to some degree, but the reliability was so high that in many cases we ended up with support contracts that wouldn't get renewed because the hardware never needed support. I can't claim that I invented the analogy. I think someone at Microsoft told it to me when they pitched terminal services to me. Or maybe I pitched it to them, being a farm boy as I was. In any event it is an analogy that is 15 years old at minimum.