On Wed, 2005-11-02 at 07:35 +0800, Jacqueline McNally wrote: > The timing is impeccable, complete with a helicopter entrance. I > wondered how Apple, Linux World and IBM were going to compete with that. > Are we in the same race?
Spectacular events with individual schools are short-lived. I was a member of the team that set up the first industry sponsored City Technology College in the UK. Hanson was the main sponsor and my performance related bonuses were paid by Lucas Industries. The finance director of Hanson used to land on the school field in a helicopter for governors meetings, we had a national TV network documentary done by the BBC shown at peak time and a regional news programme. Visits by royalty and just about any international visitor to the UK that had an interest in education. However, despite all that, within a year the school had less impact than fairly mundane initiatives that affected all 3500 schools or even 5% of that market. So personally, I don't want to get into a race that is inherently unaffordable and really does not have the impact to justify the costs. If Apple, Linux World or IBM have any sense they will not try to replicate MS head to head on this stuff. They would be far better to target things that appeal to education professionals at grass roots level with the potential to support teaching and learning in all schools everywhere not just one or two show sites with no real attempt to make it replicable. In fact if one or two sites get preferential treatment its just as likely to breed jealousy in the others. -- Ian Lynch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ZMSL --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
