Real word: start-up the machine, restart, open apps, read-write data that's 99% of a computer usage no matter what you do with it, that's why it's called "overall experience" because it applyies to everyone.
Real world: most of my computers are doing server duties (router, web server, e-mail server, file server). As such, I boot them up roughly on average about once every three months, and leave them running continuously. (And I don't really see why you need to turn off a desktop computer anyway, even if you're not using it as a server.) When I start up my main desktop computer, I also start up my e-mail app, my web browser, and my IDE. And I leave them running, for as long as the computer is running. (Although I have to admit that Chrome has been asking to be restarted more frequently; it seems that their update mechanism gets unhappy if you leave the app running for more than a couple of weeks at a time.
)
So no, I can at least state from personal experience, it
doesn't apply to everyone. And, in fact, I don't quite understand why more folks don't just leave their computers up and running, since they complain so much about bootup times...
Sure because the fact it's over your desktop means that the drive isn't spining right?
Again, personal experience: I've had several HDs die in laptops over the years. Lots of friends having this problem as well. SSDs are a
huge win in this case.
Of desktop HDs, though, I can only remember two failures across the literally dozens of drives I've had over the last few decades. Magnetic HDs are definitely fragile wrt bumps and drops; but otherwise, they tend to be remarkably stable.
Perfect! Yes, that article does describe the improvement in one specific feature of SSDs, the one that has had most of the press over the last few years: the fact that any given segment of flash memory can only go through a certain number of erase cycles before wearing out. The technology has indeed improved, both in the number of cycles that each segment can withstand, and in the technology of
wear leveling, which avoids placing too much stress on a single memory segment. Indeed, if you're not specifically attempting to stress the device, an SSD should last just as long as a magnetic HD.
However, this is only talking about erase cycles. A Solid-State Drive, like all other "solid-state" equipment, is a collection of integrated circuit chips. Although ICs do not suffer from mechanical wear, they do have other forms of wear. Heat will eventually cause traces on the chip to deform, and even the very act of
passing electricity through the chip will over time cause failures. Both metal and plastic slowly corrode away, and given the minute size of modern electronics, even background radiation can eventually cause serious errors.
In short, don't expect a solid-state device to last for 100 years. It won't.
