Ask an Expert Online

Lenovo, IBM's spin off PC division, recently announced that its Canadian contingent won a contract to outfit all 19 of Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges with new computers.

A Maple Leaf Lounge is that special place where well-dressed people go for free beer and wine on tap, sandwiches and a cauldron of hot soup, and all the wireless Internet and big-screen TV they can handle. Basically, it’s where rich guys hang out while they’re waiting for their planes.

Anyway, Lenovo will provide nearly 100 new machines for use in the business centers at Maple Leaf Lounges in 13 Canadian cities plus Los Angeles, Paris and London, thereby increasing the number of PCs currently available to bored execs by almost 50%. Installation of the new machines is expected to "be completed by summer of 2006.” Though Levono only announced the upgrades now, in September, the last days of Summer, there are still technically a few days left of Summer '06, so if you don't see a shiny new PC in your Taj Mahal-ish departure lounge, chalk it up to fine print. Free beer, sandwiches and big screen TV should suffice until then.