> 1. Rethink -- Techsoup Budget Buster > Posted by: "Doug Dillard" doug.dill...@bworks.org > dillard0...@sbcglobal.net > Date: Sun Nov 22, 2009 7:22 pm ((PST)) > > Ok -- I was about to place my first Techsoup Order for Microsoft Products. > Here is the list, subject to the minimum 5 seats/licenses per product, and > as I was ready to order from Techsoup before I cancelled my order. [...] > *That amounts to $800 for Office 2003 + $100 for Office 2007 + $45 for Win > 7. This seems out of range to me. Should we rethink Office? -- We could > switch to Open Office in the future. Will Maggie be willing to write me a > check for nearly $1000 as her last act as treasurer?
Your post doesn't mention the cost of the XP operating system ... but assuming it is at least $4 per student, that means we are spending $20+ on software for each adult student. We have also been having to purchase additional RAM to get the graduate machines up to spec, which adds a further $10 or so to each machine. We have locked in speaker set prices at $1.50 per student, which is very reasonable. If adult tuition fees at least cover our costs, then I don't see a problem with this. However, if we are not charging fees, or if we are charging less than $30+ per adult student, then it is costing us far more for adult students than children -- and that seems kind of contrary to our mission statement. My two-cents' worth: 1) charge adult tuition > (cost of OS + software + RAM + peripherals) OR 2) drop Microsoft Office, go back to teaching Open Office OR 3) change our mission statement In any case, I'd suggest getting Board direction before purchasing $1K of software. Theresa
