Top poster here. In the middle of my original followup post, I mentioned that the school I was visiting was using the computer as a tool. After the two most recent followups, I 'm thinking about something like a hammer, and how there are new hammers...anti-shock, ones that do this and that, etc. Are carpenters racing out to pick them up at Home Depot or are they sticking with the ones they have now? My point is, if 9.1 or 8.6 does the job, why move on to OS X? Stability? >From what I have heard, at least on the older harware, 8.6 and 9.1 are the most stable oses around. (Similar to windows, where 98 is the most stable, the most comfortable and the one that works on a whole lot of old/new hardware plus it is way safer than xp as far as malware goes. ) If it takes the students and teachers some time to become comfortable with OS X , and if it doesn't really offer much more usability, then what's the sense of moving on? XP and OS X were tied to both newer hardware and newer Internet flash and dash but for most of the real world apps, such as spreadsheets and wp, any of the older oses would suffice. I guess this all started with Tim saying that Apple wanted everyone to move to a newer OS. It was only recently that ms stopped supporting 3.1, and, if you think about it, what does it really matter if the original producer stops supporting an os? Look at Amiga and Atari which have spawned reasonably large user groups years after offical support stopped. In Tim's first post he included this line from MacWorld "For most developers, dropping OS 9 is a good thing--and that's good news for you." Aren't we all a little suspicious when someone tells us that something is 'good news for you'? Perhaps a new thread could be started on what we need OS X for anyway, starting with new hardware as well as things like DV editing (although weren't there lots of features edited on older systems?). What percentage of Mac users are using OS X? The majority of windows users have stuck with everything but XP so some thoughts along that line might be interesting. All of this is totally OT, of course. Saturday night in Canada with NO HOCKEY and this is what you get.
bm ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clark Martin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "G-List" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 4:39 PM Subject: Re: And now for something completely different. > At 1:23 PM -0800 12/11/04, Steven Lee Stinnett wrote: > >I worked in the EDU software industry a few years back. > > > >I saw a lot of this. The gap between the fast pace of digital tech > >and the slower pace of EDU bureaucracy is an important conversation > >but in a different way than you may have intended. Your comment > >opens a complicated issue less related to schools and more related > >to consumer activism. Or it's lack thereof. > > > >In as few words as possible: We discuss OS8 as though it were > >Jurassic. Yet it's only a few years old. > > > >I could go on a rant about Corporations leading us by the nose. I > >won't. Suffice it to say, we are being played for cash through our > >"little mammal" greed for new shiny stuff. > > > >So, the question isn't, "Why are some schools so out of date?" The > >question is, "Why aren't we forcing digital profiteers to ante up > >with free tech support for our kids?" > > > >One might point out that software distributors already "graciously" > >offer large "discounts" to school systems! > > > >Having been on the inside of the publishing industry I can tell you > >this means - as an example - $100 is discounted off the price of a > >$170 dollar program which costs $14 (development cost included) to > >publish. The example is a simplistic variation on a theme yet it's > >still safe to say that the same sort of profit to cost ratio applies > >to firmware manufacturers as well. > > > >So - I'll repeat the question, "Why aren't we forcing digital > >business community to ante up with free tech support for our kids?" > > > >On Dec 10, 2004, at 10:03 PM, Anand Keathley wrote: > > > >>I was in my kids' high school a couple of nights ago and was surprised to > >>see that all of the Imacs and G3s were running 8.6. > > > >>It seemed kind of strange that a high school that is about to pump graduates > >>out into university would not be near the cutting edge at all. > > I help out at a K-8 school. This year we upgraded to OS X.2.8 on > about 250 machines. About half the applications were OS X native > when we started and we've been adding more as we go. Our minimum > machine is an iMac w/ 256Mb and 6Gb drive. Over all we are in good > shape but we are in the best shape in the district. There are other > schools using our cast off 6100s and 5400s. Aside from having the > bucks to upgrade the hardware and software there is also the issue of > in house support. I There is one full time Resource Teacher and I > volunteer there. But some schools have essentially no in house > support and the district people can't begin to support an entire > school. And the only thing we know about the future is it won't > include more people. > > Some software updates are cheap ($10 for the whole school to go to X) > others, you might as well be buying new on an individual basis. > -- > Clark Martin > Redwood City, CA, USA > Macintosh / Internet Consulting > > "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" > > -- > G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... > > Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | > -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | > > Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> > > G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> > --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; > Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> > > iPod Accessories for Less > at 1-800-iPOD.COM > Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal > www.1800ipod.com > -- G-List is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Refurbished Drives | -- We have Apple Refurbished Monitors in stock! | & CDRWs on Sale! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> G-List list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml> --> AOL users, remove "mailto:"; Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/g-list%40mail.maclaunch.com/> iPod Accessories for Less at 1-800-iPOD.COM Fast Delivery, Low Price, Good Deal www.1800ipod.com
