The Obama Administration has ordered US federal agencies to hold off on purchasing new PCs in hopes of patching up a broken ordering system.
The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has put a hold on new desktops and notebooks while it sorts through what it says are "thousands" of new system orders every year.
OMB said that because agencies lack a standardized way to order, maintain, and replace their IT infrastructure, officials are forced to seek out their own contracts and purchase orders to get new PCs, leading to huge accumulated costs in waste.
"There is no need for thousands of contracts to purchase common laptops and desktops," the OMB said in its order late last week.
What answer do you predict the US government will reach, "Surfaces for everyone!"?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by ikanreed on Wednesday October 21 2015, @01:17PM
Ah yeah. The great expense of putting text on pencils. Certainly not a thing every single pencil sold on the private market already has for branding's sake.
I've got 3 different writing instruments within arm's reach right now, and every single one of them has my company's name stamped on them somewhere.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by WillAdams on Wednesday October 21 2015, @02:12PM
I remember my Dad's Skilcraft pens w/ great fondness --- great quality, long-lasting. More importantly, made by the blind and visually-impaired.
I was glad to be able to (sort of) replace my Rotring Quattro w/ a Skilcraft multi-pen recently (though I miss having the 3rd pen function) and need to get a dust brush from Skilcraft for my workbench.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:23PM
Skilcraft still being made and still made by the handicapped.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @06:54PM
Skilcraft still being made and still made by the handicapped.
That's "differently-abled" you insensitive clod!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 21 2015, @03:47PM
The problem with skillcraft pens is they sit in a warehouse so long that many dry out and do not work.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Thursday October 22 2015, @12:39AM
That's a good reason to use pencils instead.
(Score: 5, Funny) by snick on Wednesday October 21 2015, @02:17PM
Quit with your fact-based analysis.
It is only waste when the government does it. Because ... reasons.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Francis on Wednesday October 21 2015, @02:43PM
Yes, but $snappyRetort
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday October 21 2015, @07:05PM
Ah yeah. The great expense of putting text on pencils. Certainly not a thing every single pencil sold on the private market already has for branding's sake.
Do you really think marking pencils "Property US Government" was branding? The best we can say of this is that it probably was cheap stupidity.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by ikanreed on Wednesday October 21 2015, @08:31PM
No, I'm just saying slapping text on pencils is not unusual, nor should it be expected to be an irreconcilable expense.