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Michigan To Purchase Record 130,000 Laptops
goombah99 writes "The Detroit FreePress reports that Michigan state is planning the largest single laptop purchase/lease ever, over 130,000 wireless laptops--enough for every 6th grader. And of course future purchases for each new class. The main competion is between Dell and Apple, with Apple having the edge in classroom integration experience. But price points will matter since the school districts may have to pay $25 per pupil. And the Gates foundation has a foot in the door. No word on what OS the Dell laptops would run. What would be your choice for middle school classrooms with minimal sys admin?"
I could not agree with you more. As a newly graduated college student who majored in computer engineering and electrical engineering, I think this post is right on. I have my computer from my freshmen year, which was fall of 1999. It is a PII 333mhz with 128mb of ram. When I got this, it was a great box. It came with NT 4.0 on it, but now has red hat. For most users, Win 98 would be the only other choice, as XP needs more system requirments that this. So what good would this box do for Joe User now? (I actually have it is a file server, but most people would have chucked it by now after the hard drive crash of 2001). What good is a laptop going to do for these kids besides cause a headache? When I was in 6th grade I had enough trouble remembering my house key and glasses where ever I went. I would never trust 6th grade me with a 1000 dollar laptop. Between hard drive failures, cracked cases, failed LCD's, and general misuse like file sharing and music listening, you are just asking for kids to get in trouble. Imigine the attention span of a 6th grader in class with something as cool as a new laptop next to him with a teacher droning on about History. Forget it. The money should be used for computer labs and teachers to supervise them. That way, kids can go after school to do reports or use the net. Giving away laptops is an insane idea, the cost over the next 5 years will be the same as the inital layout, which will be a massive amount of money and time. Another thought: if students are required to have these laptops, I am sure the cirruclum will be written to include these in everyday classroom activities. What will happen if your laptop dies, or you lose it. Its not like a text book where you can share and all the information is the same as the one next to you, your laptop is unique with your personal information. Will you then get a failing grade?