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So, the question isn't, "Why are some schools so out of date?"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"
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