How do you know that? Desktop form factors are much more flexible, making them effectively smaller. They don't need a case - you can disassemble them, build them into cabinets and consoles; you can reduce their volume to a keyboard (or less).

▲

kube-system 2 hours ago | parent [-]

They’re not looking for a science fair project, it’s a production piece of IT equipment.

Adding a bunch of bespoke equipment is an unnecessary risk when a well understood off the shelf product fits the bill. It’s just office equipment for doing basic computer tasks. A laptop is appropriate.

▲

mmooss an hour ago | parent [-]

Much production IT equipment in industrial and many other settings is what I described. It's a mature, commonplace form factor. It's in cars (without keyboards), control rooms, server racks ...

That said, I don't know why they use laptops, and it doesn't look like you do either.

	▲	kube-system 28 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		I’m not making things up. Much has been written about the use of PC on spacecraft. As it turns out, PCs make good PCs: https://gizmodo.com/how-astronauts-use-laptops-on-the-intern... https://web.archive.org/web/20160526014418/https://www.techr...