Slashdot Mirror


Survey Finds 85% of Underserved Students Have Access To Only One Digital Device (educationdive.com)

A new research [PDF] on students who took the ACT test, conducted by the ACT Center for Equity in Learning, found that 85% of underserved (meaning low income, minority, or first generation in college) students had access to only one device at home, most often a smartphone. From a blog post: American Indian/Alaskan, Hispanic/Latino, and African American students had the least access. White and Asian students had the most. Nearly a quarter of students who reported that family income was less that $36,000 a year had access to only a single device at home, a 19% gap compared to students whose family income was more than $100,000.

216 comments

  1. Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Sounds like first world problems, mate.

    1. Re:Only one device? by jonsmirl · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Comcast will sell you 15Mb Internet for $10/mth and a brand new computer for $150.
      https://www.internetessentials...

      The US is littered with used computers. Just ask around and you will find some spare ones and can avoid the $150.

    2. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You have to be poor. Also, they will sell you a chrome book for $150.

    3. Re:Only one device? by El+Cubano · · Score: 4, Informative

      The US is littered with used computers. Just ask around and you will find some spare ones and can avoid the $150.

      Another good option: FreeGeek in Portland (and on Wikipedia if you want to see some of the other locations).

    4. Re:Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Please, check your priveledge, sir.

      .

      Turn your spell check on, you cretin.

      P-R-I-V-I-L-E-G-E

      PRIVILEGE.

    5. Re:Only one device? by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "Sounds like first world problems, mate."

      No, it means they can't probably type and have very good eyes.

    6. Re:Only one device? by Wycliffe · · Score: 4, Informative

      The US is littered with used computers. Just ask around and you will find some spare ones and can avoid the $150.

      Yep. I recently took about 50 computers and enough parts to build 50 more to the scrap yard. They pay $2 per pound for disassembled computers and 5 cents per pound for fully assembled computers. I took several dozen apart and made $100 and then sold the rest for the 5 cents because it wasn't worth my time to disassemble them. I regularly see computers on the curb on trash day and you have to PAY to dispose of CRTs. I disposed of several 19 inch and 21 inch CRTs that likely have much better picture quality and refresh rates than most of the cheap LCDs they currently sell. Nobody wants them.

    7. Re:Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They didn't have Christ.

    8. Re:Only one device? by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      Ah, so you are a racist and proud of it, then? And can't spell?

    9. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I stopped reading your comment after the first sentence. You are a racist idiot who shouldn't be allowed to draw a breath.

    10. Re: Only one device? by JillElf · · Score: 1

      I don't have points today otherwise I could have downvoted our troll.

    11. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't have points today otherwise I could have downvoted our troll.

      You did such a fantastic job refuting the points he/she raised that surely you have discouraged all future attempts at such posts.

    12. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I stopped reading your comment after the first sentence. You are a racist idiot who shouldn't be allowed to draw a breath.

      Ah, the old "you don't think Right-think, therefore you should not be allowed to live!" Yeah, that definitely makes you very much better than whatever you happen to be against. Look at you, just bristling with moral superiority. You are a definite credit to the opposition against that poster. All those points raised by said poster, you just refuted them all and without even addressing a single one, so skilled are you! Thank $DIETY/$EVOLUTION we didn't have to actually have a rational discussion about things like black violent crime rates, the rate of black children raised by single mothers, black celebration of crime culture, or what life is like where black people govern other black people in sovereign nations. No, by towing the societally-approved party line, you neatly sidestepped all of that, so clever and brave of you!

      Just more proof (as if any were needed) that anytime you have a strong emotional reaction to a thing, clearly that means you must be right! Furthermore, your side represents righteousness while anyone who disagrees is pure evil. This relieves you of the burden of any sort of factual articulation, naturally. This is incredibly scientific, after all.

    13. Re: Only one device? by helpfulcorn · · Score: 1

      "he/she" totally is not referring to yourself.

    14. Re: Only one device? by helpfulcorn · · Score: 1

      Mod up parent! He's a gorgeous genius and totally not me.

      See, it's totally obvious it's not really me.

    15. Re:Only one device? by quenda · · Score: 1

      Not a racist, just a troll. Please don't encourage them by replying.

    16. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All that stuff you just rattled off are racist myths. To the extent that they're even true, they're caused by people like you and by the systemic racism in this country.

    17. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You ever tried to write an academic paper on a smartphone? Yeah, I didn't think so.

    18. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All that stuff you just rattled off are racist myths. To the extent that they're even true, they're caused by people like you and by the systemic racism in this country.

      If that's true then the Jews should be some of the most violent, criminal, impoverished, fatherless, incarcerated people around. Especially in places like Germany. Turns out, they're not.

    19. Re: Only one device? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 2

      It is a first world problem; but if you live in the first world that doesn't help you much.

      In the educational context(which appears to be where this research was being done), things aren't going to go so well for you if you've got a household with contention over the computer and a bunch of homework that assumes you have one.

    20. Re:Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He must be one of those people the story talks about.

      I bet his phone is from Microsoft.

    21. Re: Only one device? by sycodon · · Score: 0

      I haven't had points in almost a year.

      WTF?

      --
      When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    22. Re:Only one device? by GregMmm · · Score: 1

      You could have made good points, but after using a fairly offensive word in first sentence you lost me.

    23. Re: Only one device? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This academic paper, I assume will be turned into a school of some sort. Which likely has computers available for their students to use.

      Or does owning multiple devices now somehow make you smarter?

    24. Re:Only one device? by Whorhay · · Score: 1

      I don't know if they are still taking them but I turned in a couple large CRT monitors at Best Buy a few years back. So far as I've seen they'll take most all electronics waste. In fact I've got an old PC tower in the trunk of my car waiting for the next time I'm in the part of town.

  2. Are you sure... by cirby · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...they're not just trendy?

    A lot of under-25 people I know only have a smartphone. No desktop, no laptop, not even a TV set.

    Just a phone - with access to the entire Internet.

    1. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um, a single device for the entire family

    2. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      My family was 'rich'. We had 1 computer that did not have the internet. I think we did OK.

      The internet is great for looking things up. But it is not the end all be all of education. That takes time and perseverance. Always has. Just giving someone a computer does not make them smart.

    3. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Times have changed, kimosabe. But you know that, don't you?

    4. Re:Are you sure... by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      What if the family only has one person? Or one person and a toddler (who should not have devices).

    5. Re:Are you sure... by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Times have changed, but people are still people. You can become a top tier scientist without growing up with computers or modern phones. Probably better without, as the 'smart' phones tend to make people dumb.

      Start with solid education FIRST. Learn to do arithmetic without a calculator, learn to do research without Google, learn to read a book without swiping, and draw a picture without a mouse.

    6. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My family was 'rich'. We had 1 computer that did not have the internet. I think we did OK.

      If you think your experience is relevant at all to this discussion, it shows how poor your education was.

    7. Re:Are you sure... by tepples · · Score: 2

      learn to do research without Google

      Did you mean DuckDuckGo or Bing? Because public library branches aren't open today.

    8. Re:Are you sure... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Last I checked they were. If you have to use the internet to do research, then you're screwed because they it doesn't have all the stuff you need, especially at college level or higher.

    9. Re:Are you sure... by LynnwoodRooster · · Score: 1

      Never more relevant... What's a computer?

      --
      Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
    10. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who would do that to themselves? I get the "no TV set". But no big screen at all? How do you not get lost in complex data if you can only view it through the tiny peephole that is the phone screen?

    11. Re:Are you sure... by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Are you implying that having access to just one device makes you so stupid that you don't know what a computer is?

      I know these people are underserved but calling them as stupid by comparing them to the Apple advert is just plain mean.

    12. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A so called "smart" phone or tablet can NEVER EVER replace a computer! And although these devices can give internet access, they are media consumption devices. While these devices may have some computer-like functions, they are NOT a computer! They cannot in any way come close to the capabilities of a desktop or laptop computer!

    13. Re:Are you sure... by robsku · · Score: 2

      By what definition of the word are smartphones and tablets not computers? Yes, they are different from desktop and laptop computers, as laptops are different from desktop and tablets/smartphones, but they still very much are mobile handheld computers.

      I guess you didn't think of PDA's as computers either.

      --
      In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
    14. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      *really!!!!!* I had not noticed typing it into a 19 year old chat platform! /sarc

      Did in the past 30 years somehow getting a computer make you smart? I must have *REALLY* missed something. If so please link it for me. I would really like to know how I can get smarter by surfing the internet and making snarky remarks. I have *REALLY* misunderstood the internet as a place where I can sometimes find information. But somehow magically it makes me smarter!

    15. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but these students from low income households probably have a crappy plan, so their 'access to the entire internet' is rather limited... they mostly have to rely on hotspots of varying speed and quality provided by others.

    16. Re:Are you sure... by serviscope_minor · · Score: 3, Informative

      If you have to use the internet to do research, then you're screwed because they it doesn't have all the stuff you need, especially at college level or higher.

      At college level the internet usually has access to the widest variety of scientific papers compared to any other level.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    17. Re: Are you sure... by c6gunner · · Score: 5, Informative

      Start with solid education FIRST. Learn to do arithmetic without a calculator, learn to do research without Google, learn to read a book without swiping

      Agreed, that's very important. Like, for example, if the author of this idiotic article had learned proper arithmetic she would know that "85% of those with only one device were underserved" is not the same thing as "85% of the underserved have only one device".

      Either that or if she had developed decent reading skills she would have looked at page 5 of the paper and seen there, in clear English, the words "Overall, just under one in five (19%) students from 'underserved' backgrounds report having access to only one device at homeâ"more than three times higher than the percent of students not qualifying as underserved who reported this"

      Unfortunately she never developed such basic skills, and thus ended up having to work as a "reporter".

    18. Re:Are you sure... by jpaine619 · · Score: 2

      The fuck they aren't.. My county has about 20 public libraries and they are all open 7 days a week. Books AND free internet access.

      What shitty part of the world do you live in?

    19. Re:Are you sure... by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      learn to do research without Google

      Did you mean DuckDuckGo or Bing? Because public library branches aren't open today.

      Not only are most libraries open extended hours 7 days a week, they also have free computers with free internet access. My town has multiple book mobiles that drive around to different neighborhoods so you don't even have to go to them. You can also check out hotspots and I think even laptops.

    20. Re:Are you sure... by WorBlux · · Score: 1

      In terms of productivity, a keyboard is a minimum requirement. It's also very hard to develop for a phone with a phone, much less the ability to change anything meaningful about the operation of the device. Architecturally there's little difference between a smartphone and a desktop, behaviorally there's a vast difference.

    21. Re:Are you sure... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      And it's all behind paywalls.

    22. Re:Are you sure... by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      A so called "smart" phone or tablet can NEVER EVER replace a computer!

      They cannot in any way come close to the capabilities of a desktop or laptop computer!

      I would much rather have a modern LTE Ipad than any 486/modem combination of the 90s. There is pretty much nothing you could do on a dialup 486 that you can't do better with a modern Ipad. The exception might be secretarial or accountant work where you have to do a lot of typing but even then I would rather hook up a physical keyboard to an Ipad than deal with all the other limitations of a 486.

    23. Re:Are you sure... by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Sigh. Do you really think these underserved kids are going to get a solid education that negates the need for internet access? Maybe they have a first rate library just down the road too.

      The internet was supposed to make education more accessible. It does, but the cost of internet access is still relatively high. A little phone screen isn't ideal, and remember this is "access", meaning it could be shared between everyone in the household.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    24. Re:Are you sure... by Bruinwar · · Score: 1

      Yep & they are all taken most of the time.

      --
      SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT
    25. Re:Are you sure... by tepples · · Score: 1

      Fort Wayne, Indiana. Most branches of Allen County Public Library are closed Sundays. From late May to early September, all branches are closed Sundays, and most are closed Saturdays as well.

    26. Re:Are you sure... by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      Yep & they are all taken most of the time.

      The hotspots have a waiting list but there are always plenty of computers open every time I go to the library. I'm not sure I've ever seen them all full.

    27. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And that's how red states maintain their excellent level of education. You wouldn't want to have people read anything but he bible on Sundays!

    28. Re: Are you sure... by pete6677 · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Why the hell would they be open on Sunday during the summer? When school is not in session. Who would go to the library on Sunday other than homeless bums? Red states maintain fiscal solvency by making smart use of public funds; cutting out frivolous bullshit that Blue states love to piss away money on.

    29. Re:Are you sure... by hey! · · Score: 1

      I'd never be 100% sure anytime someone makes generalizations. But I don't think that's it.

      There *is* a trend to simply using devices as terminals to get at your cloud based data. It doesn't really matter for a lot of those people if they *own* the terminal or not.

      But note carefully here the language: they have *access* to only one device at home. That means that it's almost certainly shared with other household members. And if it's a smartphone, chances are there a some pretty serious caps on the amount of data the family can use.

      It'd be a lot different if the statistics said they only *owned* one device for their personal use.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    30. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a doctoral student at USC in an online program, you're full of shit. You can easily complete a doctoral dissertation with access to journal databases through the University library that are accessed online.

    31. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Again, you don't know what you're talking about. You don't need to visit the University library in person to do college level reseach. The University library system pays for the institution to have a site license to the paywalled databases and then you can access those with your SSO credentials from anywhere in the world. Doing your reseach at home on the computer is far more efficient than visiting the physical library. You should sit down and shut up because you're clearly basing this opinion on your college experience from the 90's or earlier, and your bullshit opinion is going to throw someone off track if they take it seriously.

    32. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That the universities have paid to unlock for its students.

    33. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And I hope Karma gets you and you become one of those "homeless bums". And you (and most other Americans) are much closer to becoming a "homeless bum" than they think.

        You deserve to freeze in the winter.

    34. Re:Are you sure... by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

      Never more relevant... What's a computer?

      What's a computer? Oh, how about a general-purpose device that you can attach peripherals to, like a USB..., oh... ANYTHING AT ALL? Better still, a device with upgradable components... (iPads don't meet EITHER of those criteria.) Something you can use a mouse pointer with if you don't feel like having finger smudges all over your screen? (Possibly my LEAST favorite thing about the iPad, especially trying to use the iPencil with it, where it glides smoothly until it hits finger oils, and suddenly the coefficient of sliding friction changes... REALLY annoying.) How about a device that can be used to boot whatever operating system you want, or run whatever program is compatible with it without first getting your "computer" manufacturer's permission, as if you need their permission to do things with a computer YOU paid for... (and generally letting them take their "cut")? Sorry, the iPad is NOT, (as far as I'm concerned,) a real computer. Not a real, multipurpose, reporogramable, multifunctional computer. It's a computer-like device in tablet form, which though yes, it does contain a programmable multipurpose computer, but it has been dumbed down, handicapped, maybe even crippled, when compared to even a modest, real, actual computer. I'm not sure if Apple, (or whoever made that ad,) meant the main character to come off as such as smug little smartass, but that's the impression I'm left with.

      I'll believe the iPad is a real computer, among other things, when I can:
      - Use a mouse with it, in addition to an external keyboard. (And it would be just DANDY to be able to attach a wired keyboard via the lightning port.)
      - Run LibreOffice on it. And Gimp. And a host of other pieces of software that WILL run on a Mac, (which has the same basic OS underneath... or at least, iOS and macOS-X have the same basic Unix underpinnings,) without having to "hack" it, or break it out of jail or whatever. Mostly I'd like to run F/L-OSS stuff on it, and it CANNOT.
      - Plug other devices into it, like a USB hub and a printer, a scanner, etc., besides the mouse. (Oh, and the iPencil is NOT a mouse.)

      There are other things I have in mind as requirements before that thing can be a real computer, these are just off the top of my head.

      --
      Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
    35. Re:Are you sure... by Hallux-F-Sinister · · Score: 1

      A so called "smart" phone or tablet can NEVER EVER replace a computer!

      They cannot in any way come close to the capabilities of a desktop or laptop computer!

      I would much rather have a modern LTE Ipad than any 486/modem combination of the 90s. There is pretty much nothing you could do on a dialup 486 that you can't do better with a modern Ipad. The exception might be secretarial or accountant work where you have to do a lot of typing but even then I would rather hook up a physical keyboard to an Ipad than deal with all the other limitations of a 486.

      I'm just guessing you've never tried writing/compiling/debugging software on your iPad. That sort of thing requires a real computer. All you've really said, maligning the vernerable Intel 80486 series of processors and the computers they powered, is that you (likely, again,) never used yours to anything remotely resembling its full potential. And hey, a LOT of people didn't, it's nothing to be ashamed of, but that's what Apple's banking on in the "What's a computer" ad: that most people only need a tiny percent of what it can do, in fact, in a sense, that's the Chromebook approach-- 'most people just use their computers for light, casual gaming, webbrowsing, and minor office tasks... calendars, etc., so let's just sell them computers capable of doing that, and regard almost everything else as extraneous.'

      They're good enough for some things, great at others, but for those of us who ask a little more from out computers, they're pretty toys masquerading as real, actual computers.

      --
      Our reign has gone on long enough. Indeed. Summon the meteors.
    36. Re:Are you sure... by lucasnate1 · · Score: 1

      Start with solid education FIRST. Learn to do arithmetic without a calculator, learn to do research without Google, learn to read a book without swiping, and draw a picture without a mouse.

      Do you know how to write with a quill?

    37. Re: Are you sure... by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately she never developed such basic skills, and thus ended up having to work as a "reporter"./quote. You have it backwards, her failure to use such basic skills is what qualified her to be a reporter. She may actually have the skills in question, but she knows that her job depends on not using them.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    38. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes, I remember when the telecom giants lobbied congress, and all of the libraries were condemned, bulldozed, and set aflame.

      Then all books were confiscated and set aflame, as well as the stores and people that dared to sell them!

      Now the only way to learn anything is with 4 laptops, 5 smartphone, and 7 tablets all streaming at the same time, using multiple data plans.

    39. Re: Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think it provides an opportunity for you to show us just how much of a giant asshole you really are.

    40. Re:Are you sure... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A good university library has subscriptions. Paywalls aren't as much a problem when someone has paid for you.

    41. Re:Are you sure... by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      I'm just guessing you've never tried writing/compiling/debugging software on your iPad. That sort of thing requires a real computer. All you've really said, maligning the vernerable Intel 80486 series of processors and the computers they powered, is that you (likely, again,) never used yours to anything remotely resembling its full potential. And hey, a LOT of people didn't, it's nothing to be ashamed of, but that's what Apple's banking on in the "What's a computer" ad: that most people only need a tiny percent of what it can do, in fact, in a sense, that's the Chromebook approach-- 'most people just use their computers for light, casual gaming, webbrowsing, and minor office tasks... calendars, etc., so let's just sell them computers capable of doing that, and regard almost everything else as extraneous.'

      They're good enough for some things, great at others, but for those of us who ask a little more from out computers, they're pretty toys masquerading as real, actual computers.

      No one said, even in the post-PC era, that we won't need computers. Even Steve Jobs said PCs were like trucks, and you still need trucks to do a lot of things.

      All that's happened is a lot of lighter uses that would've required a PC can be served with a smartphone or tablet or other device (e.g., media streamer). Where once you would've read an ebook on the screen of a laptop, you use a tablet. Netflix is done on tablets, smartphones, or at home using a Roku or something, instead of a PC connected to the TV (remember scan converters in the era before TVs has VGA, DVI or HDMI ports?).

      But there's still a ton of work that cannot be done with any of those devices, just like people don't generally move appliances with their dinky little Prius - you call on a U-Haul truck, or use your pickup (or call on a friend with one) to help you move those things around. Doesn't mean the Prius is useless, it just means for this situation it's not as useful. Given most people's habits, though, the Prius may be more practical for them - uses less gas, easier to park than a truck, etc which they'd do far more often than move appliances around.

      And for some people they do this stuff so often they need their trucks - so owning one is highly justified.

      The variety of vehicles on the road reflects the variety of devices we have today that can access the Internet and to do stuff The only thing that's different in the post-PC era is that everything and everyone isn't focused on the PC as the be all end all device - it's there because there are limitations to other devices but people use other devices to avoid some of the disadvantages of using a PC (e.g., bulkier, less portable, less convenient, need of maintenance, etc).

    42. Re:Are you sure... by robsku · · Score: 1

      Yes, behaviorally they are very different, and different kind of computers are a good thing to exist. Among the differences is that some type of computers are better for development, for others it may be easier or more practical to do the development (or certain parts of it) on another type of machine.

      Still, combine a tablet with bluetooth mouse and keyboard, or a phone with docking station with monitor, keyboard and mouse, and you could indeed run development software just like with a laptop PC, but that's besides the point I tried to make: these are all generic computers, but very different behaviorally - you can do same kind of stuff with them, but some will be better for certain tasks and others for different tasks. And this is good, because there is no one kind of computer that can do all this.

      I'm NOT arguing, unlike some, that a smartphone (not without a bunch of additional hardware peripherals) will, or even could, ever replace a desktop or laptop computers (although with laptops and tablets the differences are growing smaller).

      --
      In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
    43. Re: Are you sure... by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      Awww, did the widdle snowflake get his feewings hurt when the mean ole man pointed out the facts?

      Leftist cunts are never happy with anything. You give them free internet and a computer 5 days a week and they'll bitch about the other two days.

      it's not as simple as staying open.. The library would have to hire ANOTHER person, part time, to run the library for those two days.. But hey, to leftist cunts it doesn't matter because they're never spending their own money... It's always supposed to be paid for by those awful rich people who don't do their fair share..

      I'd be willing to bet that Indiana is probably in much better fiscal shape than my shitty state which currently has a $400 BILLION dollar debt load.. CA didn't get to this position by making fiscally sound choices.. I applaud Indiana for having the library open 5 days a week and closing them 2 days a week.. Sounds like the state is being run by smart folks.

      I cant' tell you when it's all gonna come crashing down, but it will... CA can't have an infinite debt load... So there must be an upper limit... You libtards just refuse to accept that... It's like you don't understand money and/or debt and/or responsibility...

      Why is it the same assholes who who don't get fiscal responsibility also don't get personal responsibility? Everything is somebody else's fault and everything should be paid for by somebody else... Well, we're gonna run out of "somebody else" eventually...

  3. omg only 1?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    quick lets give ipads and iphones and everything else to thek at tax payer expense. It will certainly increase their intellectual capacity just by having it near them!!

  4. Yah well by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    when I was poor in 1997 I was stuck with a Pentium 75 and 32 MB of RAM while my rich friends had a P133 and 128MB ! of RAM.

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
    1. Re:Yah well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      i had a apple macintosh performa 6200 with 8MB of RAM that i found in a dumpster got a working hard-drive from my neighbor (the one in the mac was dead)

    2. Re:Yah well by omnichad · · Score: 1

      In 1997, I only had 8MB of RAM. But I did have a Pentium 100.

    3. Re:Yah well by robsku · · Score: 1

      In '97 I bought a new Pentium MMX 200Mhz (with 32MB or RAM, 3.6GB HD and a Voodoo Rush video card) with my summer job money.

      It was so sweet after our family Pentium 75Mhz/16MB/750MB/Matrox Millenium.

      --
      In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
    4. Re:Yah well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a 486 DX 2/66 at that time. Yes, Quake was very choppy, and the infamous sprite-caused slowdown flaw in the Build Engine (Duke Nukem 3d, Blood, Shadow Warrior....) was very evident
      on that kind of machine, Doom ran fine, but it was more than enough to browse the Web, and to do most other computing tasks of the time.

        1997 era stuff would absolutely FLY on today's machines, but of course, the need for stupid baubles.....

    5. Re:Yah well by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had a Cyrix processor of some type. Probably 133 Mhz. I guess 24 MB of RAM. A 2 gig hard drive.

    6. Re:Yah well by houghi · · Score: 1

      I went from 1 to 4 MB to be able to run Win95 and had a DX386-40

      You must have been rich.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
  5. Jewtube Jewgle and Fecebook are very CPU intensive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Last years ipads are not up to snuff

  6. Why is that even a problem by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Is the solution to give those people even more digital devices?

    Or is the solution to figure out how to make that one device many of them do have, able to do everything important.

    If you think about it, there's no reason you cannot learn anything you want with just a phone. Even programming I feel like could be learned on a phone to a high level.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re: Why is that even a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Slinging code on your phone. LOL. How quick you apologists are to ignore the plights of the poor. Nothing to see here, let them eat cake!

    2. Re:Why is that even a problem by alvinrod · · Score: 1

      I'm not even sure there's a problem. If you were to look back 10 years ago, I would imagine that the gap was even worse. There used to be a a big concern over the digital divide and that certain groups of people would be cut out of the digital economy because they lacked access to computers. Since then it seems to have been reframed (it's in the title of the URL that I can't get to load) to mean that not everyone has the same amount of resources.

      I suspect that this a problem that's already being solved. Not because anyone went out of their way to fix it, but because computers (in some form or another) kept getting cheaper and more accessible. There are certainly some aspects of computing that aren't as easy to accomplish without a PC, but most people won't benefit more from a PC than having a phone with internet connection. This just comes across as a solution in search of a good problem.

    3. Re:Why is that even a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Even programming I feel like could be learned on a phone to a high level.

      .

      And you can cut a lawn with a pair of scissors.

      Let us know how it works out for you, you goddamned imbecile.

    4. Re:Why is that even a problem by tepples · · Score: 1

      Even programming I feel like could be learned on a phone to a high level.

      I'd be interested to see how you solve the problems of 1. adapting an IDE to a 5 inch touch screen and 2. getting it approved by Apple, as the money you make from selling an iPhone used might not necessarily cover the purchase price of a comparable phone that runs free software.

    5. Re: Why is that even a problem by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      If you're too poor to afford more than one iPhone, but you bought an iPhone, you're an idiot. Could have gotten 3 decent android devices for the same price. Or one decent android device and a Chromebook. Then you wouldn't have to worry about programming on a 5 inch screen.

    6. Re: Why is that even a problem by WorBlux · · Score: 1

      But you have to pay it all up front for a chromebook. You can get an iPhone for $45/month for 18 months.

    7. Re:Why is that even a problem by Wycliffe · · Score: 1

      Even programming I feel like could be learned on a phone to a high level.

      .

      And you can cut a lawn with a pair of scissors.

      Let us know how it works out for you, you goddamned imbecile.

      The only reason I own an Ipad is because there were several "teach your kids programming" apps that were only available on an Ipad. In order to gets kids interested in programming you need an environment with a relatively quick feedback loop. Things like scratch, mindstorm, coding apps, and javascript probably are the best at immediate feedback. All that (with the possible exception of scratch) is available on the Ipad.

    8. Re: Why is that even a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you are too poor to afford more than one iPhone for your kids to use, but buy an iPhone anyway - you're an idiot. What, Android phones? Screw that.

      You could get an older desktop PC for free, and moderate speed internet access for $30-$50/month. You can get slow speed internet for $10 (or less), even. At this point, people are throwing away PCs 5 or 10 yeas old that are better computers than modern phones.

    9. Re: Why is that even a problem by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      Or you could go without for 3 months, save that $45 each month, and buy a secondhand android device for $135. Then for the next 15 months save your $45 each month, and have $675 to buy a laptop.

      Unfortunately budgeting and self-control seem to be rare skills indeed.

    10. Re:Why is that even a problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And you can cut a lawn with a pair of scissors.

      Let us know how it works out for you, you goddamned imbecile.

      No need to get rude -- though it gives us a useful insight in what passes for your mind. Cutting lawns with hedge scissors actually works better than something motorised if the lawn is suitably small, and is a whole lot less annoyingly loud. I've seen it work out beautifully. But then, the guy doing it had quite a bit of experience.

      The only reason I own an Ipad is because there were several "teach your kids programming" apps that were only available on an Ipad. In order to gets kids interested in programming you need an environment with a relatively quick feedback loop. Things like scratch, mindstorm, coding apps, and javascript probably are the best at immediate feedback. All that (with the possible exception of scratch) is available on the Ipad.

      You've got kids, you're trying to get them interested in programming, and you feed them javascript on a walled-garden platform. I'd call the CPA on you if I thought I could explain things like "javascript" to them.

      There are plenty of programming environments that have that short feedback loop. Logo, lisp, FORTH, even the programming language-du-jour python. Of course you're not getting childified GUIs with them, but if you need those I say leave the child some wooden blocks, lego, or meccano, to play with for a bit yet.

  7. "Underserved?" by ScentCone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    underserved (meaning low income, minority, or first generation in college)

    So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved? Being the first person in your family to go to college means you are being underserved?

    This sort of "words no longer mean anything" crap has completely swamped the entire educational establishment.

    --
    Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    1. Re: "Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was the first person in my family to graduate college. Middle class family. I wasn't underserved but I damn sure wasn't over served either.

    2. Re:"Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, think of it like this. Imagine that your ancestors were slaves in the USA. You are the descendant of slaves. That means you are a slave. America has enslaved you.

      It is your right to rise up in a communist, Marxist furor and take from all non-African people what they stole from you. You must destroy American civilization. You must kill all the white people (although it was an African that actually was the first owner of an African slave in the USA; I think his name was Anthony Johnson). You must destroy all technology that can't be comprehended by your brothers and sisters that lack an IQ above 65.

      You must kneel for the American flag, and tell the NFL that police do NOT have the right to arrest people of color when they commit crimes!

      Kneel for your rights, my brothers. Buy Nike products. I am Kaepernick. I am the shadow lurking where light dares not go. I demand that for #BlackLivesMatter, we rise up, and that we kill as many police officers as we possibly can, kidnap as many lily white children as we can (for raping purposes), and then kill as many white people as we can.

      Only then can we be free.

      I am Colin Kaepernick, and I am a proud brother and member of the Nation of Islam. Fuck America. Fuck the troops. Fuck the police. Kill them all.

    3. Re:"Underserved?" by El+Cubano · · Score: 2

      So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved? Being the first person in your family to go to college means you are being underserved?

      I get where you are coming from. However, the fact remains that there is a fairly strong correlation between parental educational attainment and offspring educational attainment. Both parents went to college, kids will almost definitely go to college. One parent went to college, still better than even chance that the kids will go to college. Neither parent went to college, then the chances of a kid going to college drop off a cliff.

      This is likely for two reasons: 1) parents who did not go to college are less likely to emphasize that their kids go to college; 2) people who did not go to college tend to earn less than those who did and we all know about the cost of education these days.

      Based on that, I think it is entirely logical to consider that the first person in their family to attend college is something other than the expected norm. Now, whether that should qualify as "underserved" or not, I don't know.

      This sort of "words no longer mean anything" crap has completely swamped the entire educational establishment.

      I have to agree with you here. Of course, it is not just the educational establishment. The political establishment suffers from it and even some parts of the scientific establishment. Plenty to go around.

    4. Re:"Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bad orange man got two scoops of ice cream and I only got one, I AM UNDERSERVED.

    5. Re:"Underserved?" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved?

      In America, statistically yes definitely.

      Being the first person in your family to go to college means you are being underserved?

      Definitely. Not having direct experience of your own parents to drawn on is a hindrance. In fact if you're the first generation in your family to go to college statistically you're poorer than your fellow students and less likely to be in a good college.

    6. Re: "Underserved?" by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Both parents went to college, kids will almost definitely go to college. One parent went to college, still better than even chance that the kids will go to college. Neither parent went to college, then the chances of a kid going to college drop off a cliff.

      This narrative keeps being repeated, but it seems to be obvious nonsense. At one point in history almost nobody went to college. Additionally, educational achievement is negatively correlated with number of offsprings (ie. the less schooling you have, the more children you will have on average). If your argument were correct, the number of people with university educations should have decreased over time or at best stayed stagnant. Instead, the percentage of the population with university degrees has more than doubled in the last 50 years, and is 7 times higher than 80 years ago.

      I'm not saying that the educational attainment of your parents doesn't play a role, but the EXTENT to which it plays a role is clearly being grossly exaggerated.

    7. Re:"Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not "parental". It's maternal, because the ratio of single parents to married parents is roughly 2-1 in the black community. It's 1-2 in the white community, and even lower in the asian-american and indian-american communities. Single moms have one *hell* of a time affording extra electronic widgets, and time to focus on education, that married couples find. Single dads may have similar issues, but are usually much more successful or the judge would never have let them have custody at all in modern divorce courts.

    8. Re:"Underserved?" by robsku · · Score: 1

      So, you wan't your nlggers to behave nice and stop complaining about cops targeting and killing unarmed blac... I mean nlggers. Like the good nlggers they should be, right?

      --
      In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
    9. Re: "Underserved?" by c6gunner · · Score: 2

      In America, statistically yes definitely.

      That's not how statistics work. Unless you're suggesting that 100% of minorities in America are undeserved. In which case you're an idiot and probably don't know any minorities.

    10. Re:"Underserved?" by jpaine619 · · Score: 0

      So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved?

      In America, statistically yes definitely.

      You are an idiot and a racist.

    11. Re:"Underserved?" by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      The paper makes it clear that they are using those factors because their other research and work has found that they are good indicators and correlate closely.

      This is common practice because otherwise it's hard to categorise large numbers of students without doing expensive, time consuming investigations. It's a proven and valid technique used in other sciences too, such as medicine and mechanical engineering.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    12. Re:"Underserved?" by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > Well, think of it like this. Imagine that your ancestors were slaves in the USA. You are the descendant of slaves.

      If you want to fixate on ancient history that isn't really relevant to any body in the here and now, we were all slaves in the past. No particular race or ethnic group is a special snowflake in this regard.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    13. Re:"Underserved?" by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > I get where you are coming from. However, the fact remains that there is a fairly strong correlation between parental educational

      Among my personal acquaintances are a college president, a real estate investor, a computing pioneer that sent his kids to ivy league schools, and a 3rd generation college graduate.

      The idea that "minority" means "ghetto" is racist nonsense.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    14. Re: "Underserved?" by c6gunner · · Score: 1

      Can't comment for him, but yes, I would like to see nlggers and cr4ckers both behave rationally. Wouldn't you?

    15. Re:"Underserved?" by quenda · · Score: 1

      So ... being a minority, by definition, means you are underserved?

      No "minority" here does not mean all minorities. It is a PC euphemism for the races with low academic achievement in the US.
      More intelligent minorities such as Chinese, South Asian immigrants or Jews are explicitly excluded.

      This sort of "words no longer mean anything" crap has completely swamped the entire educational establishment.

      Better to make up a new nonsense word like "underserved", than to pervert an old one like "minority" which had a useful meaning once.

    16. Re: "Underserved?" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Unless you're suggesting that 100% of minorities in America are undeserved.

      A wise man once said: "That's not how statistics work." I suggest you listen to him when crafting your response.

      Or are you suggesting that as a minority you're not statistically likely to be underserved? Do you live in Boston by any chance? I mean they are the most racist up there.

    17. Re:"Underserved?" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      You're racist if you think that statistically minorities are not underserved.

      Or an idiot yourself. It's so hard to tell with stupid people on the internet.

    18. Re:"Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless you're an Asian minority. Then you're considered "white", at least according to the report.

    19. Re:"Underserved?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By my definition, 100% of underserved students have access to only one digital device. Of course my definition of underserved is 'has access to only one digital device'.

      When you get to define a category to make your point, it loses its ability to be significant. If underserved is a collection of "... low income, minority, or first generation in college", it means the researchers probably cherry-picked the groups that happened to show the most deviation.

    20. Re: "Underserved?" by houghi · · Score: 1

      I identify as a . As at least 50% will identify themselves as a different gender and some will identify as the same gender but a different color (or even without color) by definition I am a minority.

      --
      Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
    21. Re:"Underserved?" by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      This is common practice because otherwise it's hard to categorise large numbers of students without doing expensive, time consuming investigations.

      Why are you needing to "categorize" them at all?

      So for you, it's too much trouble to evaluate students based on their actual personal merits, so it's just assume that their skin color is the best indicator of their potential. In other words, you like overt racism because you think laziness is OK.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    22. Re:"Underserved?" by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Is this just because you like making attacks on amimojo, or do you really think that the authors of the study are overt racists?

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    23. Re:"Underserved?" by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      I'm not talking about the authors, and I'm not "attacking" you. I'm clarifying what you just said. Sounds like I got it right, because you're trying to change the subject.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    24. Re:"Underserved?" by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You got it wrong. Completely wrong.

      I noticed you complained about people making unfounded, dubious claims of racism based on specious logic before. Something to ponder.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    25. Re:"Underserved?" by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      You got it wrong. Completely wrong.

      No, not really. You asserted that because it's hard work to "categorize" people through ... actual work, that's it easier to just do so by things like their race. This is all in the context of whether or not they are being "served" by education. So, you plainly stated that it's too much work to actually do the real research, and that it common to instead resort to things like skin color. Doing so is EXACTLY making unfounded, dubious claims based on race rather than individual qualities and circumstances. Something you've already pondered and are obviously OK with, as ugly as it is.

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    26. Re: "Underserved?" by robsku · · Score: 1

      I would like everyone to be rational, but that's not going to happen - the comment I replied to was a great example of that.

      --
      In capitalist USA corporations control the government.
    27. Re:"Underserved?" by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      May I suggest you invest in a mirror?

    28. Re:"Underserved?" by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Clearly there's no need.

  8. Poorly researched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone on any form of public assistance, or with the gall to lie about it, qualifies for a free publuc cellphone w minimal data plan for free. You can get several different phones in the same day, iphone and android just by chatting up the scum at their tents outside of any public welfare office. Acting like poor people can't have whatever they want is a lie.

    1. Re: Poorly researched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are lying.

      You have to verify you are poor, you know with tax returns and shit.

      Also, they aren't handing out iPhones. Also you aren't getting them the same day. Everything you wrote is a lie that's easily debunked. Have a nice day.

    2. Re: Poorly researched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well if youâ(TM)re poor you can get a phone just like you said. So thatâ(TM)s not a lie at all.

    3. Re: Poorly researched by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You dont need to prove jack shit. You show them any form of id and they give you a phone. You are clearly someone who knows nothing about how the system works. Keep pretending our tax dollars aren't being wasted on programs.

  9. Really? by ebonum · · Score: 1

    Growing up, the men who built the bomb had access to zero digital devices. They were SOOO disadvantaged! It is amazing they could even match their socks. As kids, they must have all thought, "I can't learn anything. I don't have the iPad XXX."

    1. Re:Really? by fyzikapan · · Score: 1

      They certainly had access to the tools available at the time. It's not like they were stuck there with an abacus, a quill, and candlelight.

      The simple fact is that if you don't have a laptop or at least an iPad or something, you're at a serious disadvantage. Doing research on a phone is possible, yes, but it's a gigantic pain in the ass. Yes, you can write a paper on your smartphone, but it'll be frustrating and take longer. It's a shame that some people's attainment will be hobbled not by their motivation or ability, but by their lack of money to afford technology.

      Fortunately there are super-cheap Chromebooks and such now that will get the job done.

    2. Re: Really? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You sir, are a fucking idiot.

    3. Re:Really? by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Huh, I didn't have an iPad or any tablet until this year. I was not disadvantaged. I do not have my own laptop, I have one for work that I keep at work. Laptops used to be a luxury device as they could cost 2 to 4 times more than a comparable desktop. You can achieve any job you want to without access to this stuff as a child. Sure, it's nice to have these things, but they are not necessities. I think parents would do better by limiting their children's access to 'smart' devices.

      Yes, it's great if you can find a lot of stuff online that's not available in the local or school library, but people are not using these devices for the most part to get ahead or learn stuff, they used almost totally for games and social media and communication. They are very often a distraction rather than a help.

    4. Re:Really? by ebonum · · Score: 1

      I grew up without a computer. In college, computers were mostly for word processing. Spell check ensured that, to this day, I have never learned to spell. After college, I learned to code. I read a lot of books such as Scott Meyers, Aho, Abelson and Sussman, etc. Programmed in NYC at major banks. After a very rough first year, I was good to go. You can learn things such as linear algebra, group theory, context-free grammars, etc. without ever looking at a computer.

      There is ZERO need to have a digital device to learn everything you need.

    5. Re:Really? by omnichad · · Score: 1

      If you wait until college to learn to spell, that's a lot to take in with your other coursework and all.

    6. Re:Really? by sourcerror · · Score: 1

      Yeah, von Neumann totally didn't have access to computers.

    7. Re:Really? by fyzikapan · · Score: 1

      We're not talking about people who can just go home and use their desktop. They don't have that either. They're stuck trying to do research and write papers on a smartphone (that's probably under-powered and running old software).

  10. Here is an idea... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Introduce a system called "TrumpPhones", where people who earn less than a certain amount get access to free phones, txt messaging, and data.

    And then offer them "TrumpPuters", which are basically $100 'puters that allow people to access the internet.

    And after THAT, you could offer them "TrumpNet", which is like $5 a month for unlimited internet access at a constant 2 megabits per second transfer rate. 2,000,000 bits! 2 mILLLION Bits!

    Or I suppose the poors and people of color could just get ObamaPhones. Millionaires and people aspiring to be millionaires go with Trump, and Trump sponsored products. Trump is also known to be one of the most powerful men in the USA. Obama can't say that anymore. Obama is a lame duck. Quack.

  11. How they do it by MikeRT · · Score: 3, Insightful

    * Lump all black socio economic groups together as simply "African-American."
    * Break whites down, somewhat, by socio-economic group.

    That's how they skew the results and make it look like being a minority is intrinsically a doomed position. It is guaranteed to drown out the story of the black middle class.

    1. Re:How they do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Also never note the fact that Asian and Indian Americans have higher household earnings than whites.

      Got to keep that narrative going.

    2. Re:How they do it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So either you switched the order of the words in "Indian American", or India isn't in Asia?

  12. The problem and solution is simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When they steal these phones from their rightful owner, the owner will immediately deactivate the phone. After authorities are notified, the phone becomes "bricked" so to speak, and useless to the perp.

    The solution is for phone owners to conceal carry and shoot the perp during the robbery. Simple. No more need for the perp to worry about possessing only one digital device. All the perp's worries are over.

    1. Re:The problem and solution is simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Grand theft is defined as theft of an item valued in excess of $500. Now that iPhones cost over $1k each, any attempt by a person of color to steal one should result in an n-word getting shot and receiving their batwings.

      And just to prove I'm not racist, I think that even white n-words should get shot for acting like n-words.

  13. Title is wrong, should be 19% by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

    If you read TFA, the percentage of "underserved" kids with access to only one device is 19% (compared to 6% for "served" kids). Nowhere near as alarming as 85%.

    Of the students who have access to only one computing device, 85% are "underserved", 15% are not. That's where the 85% figure comes from. I'd cut and paste the relevant quotes, but the PDF has the stupid no-copy flag.

    1. Re:Title is wrong, should be 19% by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I'd cut and paste the relevant quotes, but the PDF has the stupid no-copy flag.

      ...and you're letting some no-copy flag stop you?

      Here ya go:

      Overall, just under one in five (19%) students from “underserved” backgrounds report having access to only one device at home—more than three times higher than the percent of students not qualifying as underserved who reported this(Figure 2)

    2. Re:Title is wrong, should be 19% by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      What PDF reader are you using that enforces the no copy flag? I've got The official Adobe one on Android and can copy the text.

      "Looked at conversely, 85% of the students who had access to only one
      device were classified as underserved. These data, of course, might also suggest that students whose families are wealthier or whose parents are more highly educated tend to have access to a higher number of devices."

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  14. "underserved" by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    From what I can remember of my college years, I didn't have any digital devices, but I was overserved on many occasions.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
    1. Re:"underserved" by dissy · · Score: 1

      From what I can remember of my college years, I didn't have any digital devices, but I was overserved on many occasions

      For us, overserved was when you had three cups of noodles to throw together in a pot for a single meal.
      Those were always great days to look forward to :D

    2. Re:"underserved" by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      For us, overserved was when you had three cups of noodles to throw together in a pot for a single meal.
      Those were always great days to look forward to :D

      I may be a bit older than you When I started college, the only instant noodle you could buy in the US was Cup-o-Noodle, and you wouldn't find them in most stores yet. I don't remember seeing them regularly until I was in grad school, when they became a staple of my diet.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  15. It should not be a problem, no by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wasn't the whole education thing about knowledge, not digital devices?

    Maybe stick to teaching instead of making college all about who's got the most computing gadgets with the latest features. In fact, the late E.W. Dijkstra taught an introductory semester programming in which the students weren't supposed to touch a computer at all before finishing the course, for a reason. The book can still be had from the online Dijkstra archives at UTexas.

  16. Racist left-wingers at it again. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    How can those racists make a claim like this? "American Indian/Alaskan, Hispanic/Latino, and African American students had the least access. White and Asian students ..."

    Gee. I wonder how many remote villages in Alaska have Internet let alone cell phone towers? This is not an issue of poor versus well off but reality. Indian reservations don't have cell phone cover over the thousands of miles. Nor, do they install internet in such lowly populated places such as Alaska, Montana, and reservations.

    But with Indian reservations blame the problem on the funding as the tribal leaders want to build casinos instead of education.

    As for blacks, they're just thrown in their for the usual racial hate mongers to reinforce the big lie.

  17. You can already program on an iPhone by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I'd be interested to see how you solve the problems of 1. adapting an IDE to a 5 inch touch screen and 2. getting it approved by Apple

    I don't see any issues at all with re-building something like Xcode to work on a very small screen. Much of what I do in Xcode is still typing code, and Swift Playgrounds on the iPad shows you can absolutely re-work the keyboard to make that very practical. Even using IB could almost just as well be done on a small screen as I zoom in and out of UI layout a lot anyway, and you could easily have some way to flip between UI layout and code related to elements you were focused on.

    However why do you have to go that far? There are already many scripting language apps (like Python) for the iPhone. Or other ways to learn programming as well - why do you think Apple would have any issues? Hell if you rewrote Xcode for the iPhone Apple would probably buy you out (and not in the Simpsons sense).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:You can already program on an iPhone by tepples · · Score: 1

      I'm interested to see how one might adapt an iPad programming application like Pythonista or Swift Playgrounds to iPhone. Does Apple allow applications that are impractical to use without an external keyboard?

  18. US History by DogDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It has to do with history. Low Income people, minorities, and people who are the first of their families in college have historically had a very hard time getting ahead in the US. It's a fact. Sorry that upsets you so much, snowflake.

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
    1. Re:US History by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What parent meant to say is: when you see "underserved" in this context, it means "historically underserved."
      Someone was just lazy and [sic] a word in the article.

    2. Re:US History by DogDude · · Score: 1

      That's right. What I said, but without the snark.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    3. Re:US History by jpaine619 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You are a fucking LIAR.

      There are only 3 steps you need to have a 97% chance of ending up in the middle class.

      1. Graduate High School. (not college, just high school)
      2. Stay out of prison. (don't commit felonies)
      3. Don't have a child out of wedlock (use a rubber or learn to like blowjobs)

      That's it....

      You do those three things and the odds are very much in your favor that you'll do just fine in this country. Nobody out there is trying to "keep you down", asshole.
      Most people end up where they are because of the choices that they have made. When you make bad choices, you have to pay the piper... Well, unless you subscribe to the liberal mindset, in which case nothing is ever your fault..

      Do you all sit around all day imagining that rich people are gathered in dimly lit rooms, smoking cigars, and drinking single malt whiskey, while planning on how to keep poor people "in their place"?

      For fuck's sake...

      Yeah, those 3%, they'll do all the right stuff and luck or the system will shit on them, and that sucks... But most people will do just fine.

    4. Re:US History by DogDude · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Kid, you have spent too much time reading Ayn Rand. As you get older, if you're smart and open to ideas, you'll learn that it ain't as simple as you describe.

      There are a LOT of other factors that go into whether or not a person is successful in the US other than the few you describe.

      I won't call you a "fucking LIAR", but I will call you ignorant. Luckily, that IS something you can remedy on your own. Best of luck, snowflake.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    5. Re:US History by magzteel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Kid, you have spent too much time reading Ayn Rand. As you get older, if you're smart and open to ideas, you'll learn that it ain't as simple as you describe.

      There are a LOT of other factors that go into whether or not a person is successful in the US other than the few you describe.

      I won't call you a "fucking LIAR", but I will call you ignorant. Luckily, that IS something you can remedy on your own. Best of luck, snowflake.

      How about these this study from the Brookings institute
      https://www.brookings.edu/opin...

      Or this one, from Britain
      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/ne...

      It's not a guarantee of success, any more than using condoms guarantees no pregnancies or STD's.
      But you wouldn't argue against condom use just because sometimes people who use them still create babies.

      Is there really anything in the advice given that you would argue against? I've given my kids more or less the same advice. Their future is an open book filled with promise, as long as they don't do anything fatally stupid like creating a baby, getting a record, dropping out of high school, getting drug addicted, etc. Do you advise your kids otherwise?

    6. Re:US History by DogDude · · Score: 1

      But, it's not that simple... Saying, "don't have kids at a young age" is helpful, sure, but it's only helpful if the person you're telling it to has the education to know what it takes to get pregnant, access to contraceptives, or even the cultural norms to prevent it. Saying "don't drop out of high school" is really great if your kids can afford *not* to drop out of high school. Poor kids may NEED to work for money (to eat) when other kids are going to high school. They may be going to a school where it's physically dangerous to attend. They may not have effective teachers. Maybe they have no way to get to school.

      So yes, telling kids these things is all great, but there are a LOT of other factors the influence how and why people make decisions that they do, and more than that, but what happens to people even outside of their decisions. Your children are obviously privileged that they're growing up in a nurturing, supportive environment, where they have the luxury of making good decisions. That's great. But for so many other people, that's not realistic or practical.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    7. Re:US History by magzteel · · Score: 1

      But, it's not that simple... Saying, "don't have kids at a young age" is helpful, sure, but it's only helpful if the person you're telling it to has the education to know what it takes to get pregnant, access to contraceptives, or even the cultural norms to prevent it. Saying "don't drop out of high school" is really great if your kids can afford *not* to drop out of high school. Poor kids may NEED to work for money (to eat) when other kids are going to high school. They may be going to a school where it's physically dangerous to attend. They may not have effective teachers. Maybe they have no way to get to school.

      So yes, telling kids these things is all great, but there are a LOT of other factors the influence how and why people make decisions that they do, and more than that, but what happens to people even outside of their decisions. Your children are obviously privileged that they're growing up in a nurturing, supportive environment, where they have the luxury of making good decisions. That's great. But for so many other people, that's not realistic or practical.

      My wife came from a housing project in the south Bronx. The people who live there have no end of problems but they still know what they have to do to succeed. Her brother went to Catholic school "because he needed the discipline", she went to public school.
      He had his first kid at 19, went to jail for drugs the first time at 21, has been struggling ever since (while having 3 more kids with 3 different women).
      She studied and got out.

      If you asked him he would tell you flat out how his bad choices messed up his life and the lives of his kids. Don't make excuses for him, it pisses off his kids.

    8. Re:US History by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > Kid, you have spent too much time reading Ayn Rand.

      It could also be a matter of personal first hand experience. A couple of my own cousins are welfare mothers. Those of us that avoided that pattern have done decently for ourselves. Some of us have even done VERY well.

      Liberals these days just want an excuse to hand more and more power to the government. In order to do that, they have to destroy the idea of the individual. Upward mobility must become a myth. Personal responsibility must be a taboo idea. Can't have the proles fending for themselves. They won't clamor for a nanny state.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    9. Re:US History by DogDude · · Score: 1

      Wow. I'm a liberal. I'm trying to look out for those who need help. It has nothing to do with that weird government power/anti-individual fetish story you've got going on. Jesus, that's fucked up, dude. You need some help.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
    10. Re:US History by quenda · · Score: 1

      1. Graduate High School. (not college, just high school)
      2. Stay out of prison. (don't commit felonies)
      3. Don't have a child out of wedlock (use a rubber or learn to like blowjobs)

      Sorry, but correlation is not cause. All three of those are highly correlated to IQ (at least in the USA).
      All that correlates to health, family support levels, and numerous other factors.

      Those three are good advice, but will not make you smarter.
      If a person is destined to fail those criteria, and you
      - pay them to finish school
      - give them a good lawyer and support to stay out of prison
      - give them a contraceptive implant.
      there is no evidence you will change their long-term outcome.
      And that sort of thing has been tried many times, since the 1960s with programs like Headstart.

    11. Re:US History by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Do you all sit around all day imagining that rich people are gathered in dimly lit rooms, smoking cigars, and drinking single malt whiskey, while planning on how to keep poor people "in their place"?"

      No, I picture them on golf courses.

    12. Re:US History by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      hmmmm, could you describe the difference between "Middle class" and "Working class"?

      A lot of people in the working class are "doing just fine." Although, of course, they could be doing better. And if you want to talk about choices, the most comment reason middle class people go bust is medical bills. Most people can't simply choose not to get sick. But you're not entirely wrong. Plenty of people were dumb and deserve a low-class life.

    13. Re:US History by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

      Name me someone who "got ahead" in the USA without having "a hard time".

      Most CEO positions are pretty damn cut-throat. I have a college degree. It wasn't easy. And realize that you moved the goalpost a little; "underserved" is now "having a hard time"? Because Oprah had a pretty god damn hard time, but I would not call her "underserved". She has literal servants now. Just because she's black doesn't mean she should be grouped with the poor. It's a bullshit definition and frankly it's racist. Seriously, imagine someone trying to argue that "All black people are poor". Just because you've come up with a new term, "underserved" doesn't mean it won't mean exactly the same thing after a little bit of use. Welcome to the treadmill. "mentally challenged" - "special" - "retarded" - "slow" - "idiot" - "nice". All of these, at different times, meant the exact same thing. No matter what term you use it WILL become an insult and eventually be socially unacceptable. (And given time forgotten).

      Try to use words that have meaning. Because gobblygook definitions that are meaningless for sociology don't help us learn about the world.

      Minorities often have low income due to historical reasons. "underserved" means a low-income. It's another term for "poor". Sorry if that upsets you snowflake.

    14. Re:US History by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      Typical tactic of leftist cunts..

      #1. I'm in my 40's.. Not a kid, asshole.

      And no.. there aren't many factors to being successful.. Successful just means pulling you own weight... It doesn't mean rich... But to leftists, who possess more jealousy than any other people I've ever met, I can see where you'd not get that..

      All you have to do is a few simple things and LOTS OF WORK.. Yeah, you gotta put in the sweat equity and have a set of balls.. Be a man. Quit blaming everyone else for your lot in life.. Nobody out there is trying to keep you down.. Sorry, but you just aren't important enough to waste the energy on..

      Try as you might, you aren't gonna turn the snowflake term around.. It's not Yankee Doodle. Liberals are snowflakes because you think you're special.. You aren't. You're just another human.. And if you can't even pull your own weight, you're not even a good human..

      Your system sucks.. it has always sucked, and it will always fail because it relies on others to do for you.. Well, there won't always be others to do for you... Learn to do for yourself or fuck off and make room for someone who will..

    15. Re:US History by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      But you wouldn't argue against condom use just because sometimes people who use them still create babies.

      Is there really anything in the advice given that you would argue against? I've given my kids more or less the same advice. Their future is an open book filled with promise, as long as they don't do anything fatally stupid like creating a baby, getting a record, dropping out of high school, getting drug addicted, etc. Do you advise your kids otherwise?

      I like your analogy. You're absolutely correct of course.. Condoms are about 93%-97% effective.. We feel sorry for the 3% to 7% who made the effort, used them, and had bad results... But we don't feel sorry for the assholes who didn't even bother to use them...

    16. Re:US History by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what you are saying is poor people are dumb & that the nanny state has to take care of them? Is that really the excuse you want to build your liberal Utopia around? Given that poverty in the US also highly correlates with color/race (black & non-white Hispanics being over represented in the class of the impoverished) are you really going to promote that this is because their 'dump' (e.g. of low IQ/not 'smart enough')?

      Frankly, I kind of thought this was what 'liberals' actually believed, after all Michele Obama thinks the populace is a bunch of children her husband had to take care of....but I hadn't actually seen anyone be so racist to claim it out right like this.

    17. Re:US History by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're a piece of shit.

    18. Re:US History by quenda · · Score: 1

      poor people are dumb & that the nanny state has to take care of them?

      Errr ... no. I said they are correlated. No "nanny state" needed for the majority if unskilled and semi-skilled workers are paid a decent wage, and can access childcare and health insurance. The state does need to intervene to protect the weak from being exploited.

      There will be some people (maybe as much as 10% of the population, going by Jordan Peterson, though I'm not completely convinced), who lack the ability to contribute meaningfully to a complex modern society, and I worry that increased automation and workplace complexity is increasing this number.

    19. Re:US History by quenda · · Score: 1

      you want to build your liberal Utopia around? Given that poverty in the US also highly correlates with color/race (black & non-white Hispanics being over represented

      I'm not a part of your liberal vs conservative American partisanship. The facts as I see them do not make either "side" happy.
      - US conservatives think anybody can get a good job "if they just get off theirs lazy asses".
      - US liberals think everybody is equally capable "if they just have the opportunities given to them".

      Both hypotheses seem to be thoroughly disproved.

    20. Re:US History by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

      A lot of what you say might be true for any given individual.. Or it might not.. When life hands you a bum hand you have to work extra hard to deal with it..

      You aren't gonna win me over to the whole "oh those poor people, they have it so tough". We all have our own personal hardships.. Every single person has some burden of some type.. Some have burdens that are harder, some less so... Good decisions are always practical.. Those three steps.. I'll hand you the High School one and say... yeah.. that one might be tough if you have to work to support your family, BUT you can always go back and finish... The list doesn't say you have to graduate HS _today_. The rest.. If you are gonna make excuses for them, you can piss off.. Nobody needs to get pregnant and having a tough life isn't an excuse for leading a criminal life.. If you just absolutely have to have sex and you can't afford a condom, then you'll just have to be happy with one of the other two holes.. There is no excuse.

      If, by some chance, there is some ultra small percentage of the population that is just absolutely fucked over by life, well we deal with those people individually, but you don't start changing a system that works for the vast majority of people to accommodate a tiny minority.

      maybe not the best analogy.. but... if you had cancer on your fingertip, I'm pretty damn sure the doctor wouldn't suggest chemotherapy... You deal with the fingertip... You don't subject the whole body to some invasive and destructive procedure..

      I don't generally like the HuffingtonPost but.. for this one time.. According to that liberal rag... 14.8% of Americans live below the poverty line... That means that over 85% DO NOT. i.e. The system is working pretty good.. Of the 14.8%, some percentage is criminals or drug addicts.. some are single mothers... and yeah, some have just been shit on by life.. But it's not 14.8% who've been shit on... So quit it with the "our society fucks people over"..

    21. Re:US History by DogDude · · Score: 1

      You sounds really pissed off because somebody hasbn't give you the lollipop you think you deserve. Sucks to be you. I'm quite successful and happy, thanks, and there's room for plenty more people like me.

      --
      I don't respond to AC's.
  19. Oh yeah?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Well the world needs ditch diggers too!"

    --Judge Smails

  20. Invalid Metaphor by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    And you can cut a lawn with a pair of scissors.

    At this point programming on the IPhone is way more like using a push mover vs. a powered mower. Yeah it's not as easy, but again we are talking about learning to program here - not churn out code 24x7 for some corporate master. Honestly for years now many iOS developers have been chomping at the bit for Apple to bring Xcode to the iPad, I feel like it could be more interactive developing in that way. Swift helps by going from the worlds second most verbose language (Objective C) to the second most capably terse languages (Swift).

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Invalid Metaphor by WorBlux · · Score: 1

      To get the iOS dev kit, it's $99/year, the SDK runs only on iMac hardware, and you can only load the resulting software on phones you own unless you get approval to load it on the app store. It's totally ridiculous and crippled even compared to a cheap single-board computer running debian.

  21. Meanwhile the Tech Elites... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are reducing their kids access to digital devices.

  22. And even more don't have PROTECTIVE GLOVES by itsme1234 · · Score: 1

    Imagine that, the horror, poor students!

    NO. Guess what, they don't have because they don't need and don't want. Either a computer or protective gloves or a carpet with a unicorn. But not because you're so poor that you can't afford it, not in the USA. Having a place to stay, paying the bills, yea, that can be tricky. A computer you can get for free (sometimes directly from the trash) or for very, very cheap.

    1. Re:And even more don't have PROTECTIVE GLOVES by Antique+Geekmeister · · Score: 1

      Many grade schools and high schools are now assigning homework via website, with papers uploaded rather than handwritten or typed out. A decent computer with enough screen size to see the whole page can make a real difference to composing longer text: I've helped several students in the last year turn their monitors to make the long dimension vertical, but that's impossible to do with just a laptop and no separate keyboard or monitor.

    2. Re:And even more don't have PROTECTIVE GLOVES by itsme1234 · · Score: 1

      We are getting bogged down in details. Now it's the poor students that only have a wide-screen laptop and not enough vertical resolution (note that this can be even a brand new Macbook Air STARTING from $999, with a resolution that was pathetic for a good phone from 3 generations ago). What I'm trying to say is that while they might be lacking enough vertical resolution or a certain type of video output or by now probably many are missing the capability to read CD/DVDs and some don't have any place to plug even a normal USB stick ... is not because because the hardware is too expensive or too exotic or dangerous or banned or whatever. It is just because they didn't feel the need to have whatever we say they're missing.

  23. So? by p51d007 · · Score: 1

    This might sound harsh, but the faster the entire world figures this out, the better. STOP BREEDING LIKE RABBITS! In the USA, the "welfare" system has created generation after generation of "welfare humans". People that have NEVER worked, NEVER been educated, continuing the cycle! They have "baby mama" baby daddy" children who have NO IDEA who their parent(s) are, grow up to imitative their parents so called lifestyle of drugs, crime, unwed mothers etc. Before the 64 signing of the welfare system, they WERE progressing into earning their way out of the stranglehold of the "jim crow" era, but then the government said, don't worry about it, we'll take care of you (they should have asked the Indians (native americans) what they thought. Plus, you had a lot of people in the democratic party, like LBJ, saying "we'll have those n****s voting democrat for 200 years". Some, are JUST NOW seeing the problem, and are now voting OUT their democratic slave masters, which is why you see the democrats pushing to make ILLEGAL aliens, voters. They need a NEW block of people, they can hoodwink!

    1. Re:So? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      People that have NEVER worked, NEVER been educated, continuing the cycle!

      They gave those people substandard education and gee, they made a bunch more people. How shocking.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  24. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seriously, so what? I grew up without devices at all and then had a full career in IT. Having devices at home growing up or not is meaningless.

  25. This jumps to conclude more than one is a benefit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This jumps to conclude more than one is a benefit that somehow advances oneself out of poverty. I'm sorry- but I'm just not convinced. Computers can be academic advances, but the majority of devices kids have today are not academically useful or result in improved well being later in life. Having a computer could potentially be very useful in picking up skills like programming or in relation to business skills and other commercial activities. Learning about merchant accounts, credit card payment systems, regulations, and so on are all highly useful, but having more than one device that can do this not so much. A typical locked down smart phone though isn't going to be near as useful as an actual computer running free software.

  26. Library? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Go to it.... You will find many computers at a public library. Welcome to 1998 son

  27. Cue the liberals.... by jpaine619 · · Score: 1

    Can't wait to hear from all the liberals about how multiple internet devices (and free access) are now a human right.... THE RICH MUST PAY THEIR SHARE...

  28. Price of Home by JimSadler · · Score: 1

    Although there are some wonderful exceptions the price of the home determines the quality of the student. The kid from the 600K home is usually a better student than the kid from a 200K home. Economic freedom does not exist in the US and many innocents are deprived of what they need to turn into top scholars. In a way it is the same type of problem that we see in the courts. If you can afford large lawyer and trial expenses you will be found not guilty, get a short sentence or sent to a nice and easy prison.

    1. Re:Price of Home by BrianMarshall · · Score: 1

      Maybe the parents of a failing student could get some friends to make $1M offers for their house. Ooh! This is even better...

      They could get their neighbours to pair up and each offer the other $10M for their homes. THAT would get those grades up!

      --
      "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -- HST
  29. Chromebook and a cheap Android by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the ideal of inexpensive devices are available but people everywhere see these more expensive devices they want not need and so the tech budget goes to one device. People should spend wiser and top falling for marketing which makes you think you have to spend a lot to do a lot.

  30. WHOOSH by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    To get the iOS dev kit

    But that's my point, we are not talking about needing the whole iOS dev kit. We are talking about kids learning to code, they don't need the whole dev kit. They need some way to write and run programs, full stop. That need is taken care of by a number of apps that already exist.

    That said I think eventually we will see the whole iOS dev kit on IOS. But even without it today, kids can absolutely learn to code on nothing but a smart phone.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:WHOOSH by WorBlux · · Score: 1

      The apps like Scratch with visual blocks, animations and hand holding, will introduce basic concepts, but it doesn't let you affect anything outside the app, which is boring at a certain point. And we're not taking kids, we're talking students, which could be 16,17,18 and potentially quite capable of going beyond the basics.

  31. What Is by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    a device exactly?

  32. Benjamin Franklin did not have... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...internet or digital devices, and he turned out OK.

  33. Only one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's what we're whining about in this article? They only have access to ONE device? Seriously? How many devices do they need?

  34. The past vs having a networked computer by AHuxley · · Score: 1

    Had paper and a pen.
    A typewriter.
    People had at walk to a library at set times. Find books and read from them in their own time. Take their own written notes.
    People got accepted on the G.I. Bill and had to study within that system of support.
    They studied a lot and where thankful just to be able to get an opportunity learn.

    Todays generation have one device? A modern OS on a networked laptop.
    That can format a document. Has spelling and full internet support. Can allow the student to work with others on a network.
    Can get information from network any time of the day.
    That one "computer" is looking like a powerful device able fully support most study.

    --
    Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  35. Pythonista already on the iPhone by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I don't even think that it would be impractical to use without an external keyboard. Just look at screenshots from the iPhone version of Pythonista - that includes shots of editing code with the keyboard up, a UI editor, and showing graphical apps running. The fundamentals are all in place showing how you could use the same approach for any language, or system, and build working apps. Now the iPad simulator might be a might tiny on the iPhone but drawing apps have figured out lots of approaches to stuff like that.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  36. This just in: water is wet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yay for useless studies.

  37. This... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It shocks me how many college graduates we hire are incapable of even the most basic research. If they can't type a simple phrase into Google and get back exactly what they need, they're stuck. Even the idea of trying synonyms or grouping words to coax Google into giving back what they need is foreign to them. One of the first things I have to show a lot of new developers is to limit your Google queries to one year because often times things from 2002 aren't relevant (not always the case but start focus and expand only if you need to).

    Back in the day when I had to walk two miles in the snow up hill both ways just to get to card catalog you learned to organize your thoughts/ideas and that sometimes you had to dig a little to get what you actually needed. Now if it's not served up on a silver platter, the answer obviously doesn't exist. I think it also has a detrimental effect on evaluating information, they tend to take the first results they get back as the correct answer and never question it. You see this on stack overflow where often the simple but partially correct or even brain dead answer is voted up and the better one that has more detail, corner cases, etc. is buried below it.

    And don't get me wrong, I think it's great we have this much information freely and quickly available... but we're giving kids the firehose without ever teaching them how to control it. That's not good for them in the long run and not good for us as a whole.

    Now... get off my lawn... I need to yell at that cloud over there.

  38. Having one is NOT underserved by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    The majority of people have only one sexual partner. The majority of people have only one home. The majority of people have only one car.

    None of these people are "underserved". If you have only one of something that often means that one item is a really GOOD item and fulfills all of that particular need.

    The idea that 'one is not enough' is simply an artifact of the keeping up with the jones/greed.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
  39. Buyers of the first iPhone were surprising by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A factoid FWIW:
    When the iPhone first rolled out, I was surprised that the first ones I saw in the wild -- in Manhattan, NYC -- were owned by, to put it diplomatically, the opposite of the cliche fantasy image of the typical Apple customer. While contrary to the press' cartoon image, it made perfect sense. Of course people with limited means would buy an iPhone -- because while expensive for a phone, it was cheap for what they really couldn't afford: a laptop. So the first iPhone covered them by doing laptop basics -- email, web access -- as well as what was also needed, a phone. (Also FWIW: My initially witticism about the phone was that it wasn't a phone but a wee computer with telephony.)

  40. first by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    First, can they read?
    Second, can they write?
    Third, can they at least make change in Base10?

    Computers are complete bullshit without the above

  41. A smartphone will do a lot by scourfish · · Score: 2

    I use a cheap, secondhand smartphone for almost all of my daily web activity, and for personal enrichment. I've applied for jobs on it, tailored my resume on it, am learning a second language with it, and any technical manual I need is always available. A poor person using only a cheap, internet connected smartphone is a good choice in frugality, and still gives them infinite ways to enrich themselves.

  42. Big deal.. it's not a problem. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    One Device is plenty. Isn't this what the Rasberry PI was supposed to address ? A Rasberry PI computer is cheap enough to build.
    Socialism sucks!

  43. This is a problem? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    This will probably increase productivity. Not kidding.

    You think there are geniuses out there who have been stunted by lack of digital devices?

    They're mostly time sinks

  44. Oh the horror! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When I was a young whippersnapper we had to walk to school uphill, both ways, AND we didn't have access to ANY digital devices.

  45. Stop growing the Plantation Mindset! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Nearly a quarter of students who reported that family income was less that $36,000 a year had access to only a single device at home, a 19% gap compared to students whose family income was more than $100,000"

    And water is wet so what?
    You can barely afford to live at 36k a Year so I'm actually surprised you'd bother with a cellphone.
    But I know most of them got their cellphone from programs already.
    Are you planning more free giveaways Comrade?
    Let them work up the chain like the rest of us, you don't get a better life from whining and sitting on your ass.

  46. What's a computer? Eat yourself fitter! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Affluent households may have access to a plethora of devices:
    - wall clock
    - wrist watch
    - alarm clock
    - scale
    - kitchen scale
    - TV
    - radio
    - phonograph
    - video recorder
    - washing machine
    - dish washer
    - microwave oven
    - refrigerator
    - stove
    - heating
    - air conditioner
    - fan
    - vacuum cleaner
    - iron for laundry
    - lights
    - lawn mower
    - telephone
    - thermometer
    - cigarette lighter
    - automobile
    - picture frame

    The list goes on and on.... (poorer families barely own 1 lightbulb) any number of the above could be digital in 2018, but what is the impact on your educational career?

  47. What's with the negative spin? by HeckRuler · · Score: 1

    HURZAAAH! 85% of underserved students have access to a digital device. Possibly more. The remaining 15% might have more than one device. What I'd be concerned with is the group that has access to ZERO devices. Because learning how to use computers is one of those basic life skills at this point, like diving a car and managing money.

    This is actually a thing in some RPGs. The "driving" skill is for speeding around and dodging cops, but everyone knows how to drive. I was playing with kid who was literally getting their permit at the time and they quite understandably thought that they had to buy ranks in it. Like, HA, no kid, everyone is just expected to do this. And then there's the barbarian who can't dial a phone....

  48. Undeserved? by Doctrinsograce · · Score: 1

    What a euphemism. Why not be sure that deserving students have what they need? Undeserving students will receive what they deserve. Sheesh. PC sometimes is utter nonsense.

  49. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  50. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  51. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  52. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  53. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  54. c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down, lol... apk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    c6gunner SHOOTS HIMSELF down as your FAKEname's on a post impersonating me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... & worse is you altering /. user's words there.

    All because I challenged you to show you do better work and you can't TALKER after you tried to mock me https://linux.slashdot.org/com... .

    SEEING YOU DEMAND PROOF OF OTHERS "I've yet to see you provide any evidence of that." by c6gunner on Monday March 15, 2010 @10:02PM (#31490942) I DEMANDED IT OF YOU & YOU FAILED BIGMOUTH, lol!

    * You're online FAKENAME trash c6gunner & a childish dishonest punk + a DO-NOTHING "ne'er-do-well" CHATTERING dolt w/ ZERO to show for yourself other than your BLOWHARD bullshit, lol - you LOSE!

    APK

    P.S.=> You say hosts are shit here https://slashdot.org/comments.... ?

    50++ /.ers & security pros + RESULTS SAY DIFFERENTLY loser:

    Proof's here from /.ers https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... https://slashdot.org/comments.... from SECURITY PROS https://slashdot.org/comments.... & REAL RESULTS w/ hosts working vs. threats https://slashdot.org/comments.... so EAT YOUR WORDS & CHOKE on them... apk

  55. No excuse for laziness by Not-a-Neg · · Score: 1

    Every programming course I took, I completed using the lab computers. We were forced to pay for the lab access so I figured I might as well get my monies worth. For all of the general education courses I simply used the computers in the library. The library had just gotten the 1st generation iMacs and I was eager to see just how awful the puck mouse really was (it is to date the worst mouse I have ever used.)

    --
    -==- Buy a Mac and leave me alone!