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Apple's School Days are Numbered
prostoalex writes "Business Week describes the current situation in the educational market, suggesting that Apple will lose its share among the high school teachers and students. The worst enemies, according to Business Week, are school superintendents. "We want a single platform," one of them said. "We're trying to get there using the carrot, or blackmail, or rewards, or whatever you call it.""
What's the chance that the terrorists will be able to figure out where you go to school?
-a
Okay...since you obviously have a beef AGAINST anything but Macs, I will tell you why I think this is good for my school district...and other ones in my region. Let me look at a few places I've worked, and where others from my school might work. First one on my list was an automotive shop...they had a PC doing their shop manuals...they had a PC doing their inventory tracking...they had a PC doing their accounting. So in that job, it's PC:1, Mac:0. Second place...Signmaking shop that used CNC machines to mill them...the design was done on a PC, the CNC machine was run by a PC, and their accounting, inventory, and typesetting was done on a PC. I will admit that their order tracking was done on some old grimy IBM machine, though...still, PC:2, Mac:0. Third place...Architectural Firm. They did AutoCAD on a PC...specificaitons were done on a PC...accounting was done on a PC...correspondence and such was done on a PC. Score: PC:3, Mac:0. Next place would be some freelance work I did for a grocery store chain...everything, from accounting to payroll to e-mail, was done on a PC. I have stopped keeping score because I am done trying to get anyone to see my point with this method. Every place I have ever worked at had PC's exclusively. I am preparing these kids for the future in this region of the country, and it looks to me that they're all PC. This is not even mentioning some other local "big" employers that are PC-only...Heck, even Wal-Mart's cash registers are PC's now. Where are the Mac's? In advertising and design perhaps...but those are all in much larger cities. So am I wrong in supplying them with the types of computers they will go out into the workplace and use? I think not. Do I have a beef against Macs? Not in the least. But I have a beef against people trying to get kids to use what they see as a superior computer simply because it's there. As for "gunning for" a job...I do my job and enjoy it...and I feel I do the best job anyone can. If that is "gunning for" it, then I am doing so. I believe their mismanagment lies in the fact that they are giving grade-school kids $1000 eMacs (which, I might add, have had a near 50% failure rate in video cards) when a low-end PC would work fine. The mismanagment lies in picking a machine simply because of its name and its aura, and not because of its list of specifications or commonality in the local economy. Now, if you would kindly refrain from insulting me ("If you weren't trolling",) perhaps we could have a nice conversation on why you think I should buy Macs when no business in the area is?