Well, the university I attend in Iowa has had all of these things (big chairs, cafe, laptops for checkout, etc.) for YEARS... and we didn't sacrifice one book to do it. Looks like Texas is just finally catching up with everyone else at the sacrifice of education. Simply taking out the books and putting in comfy chairs doesn't "improve" a place any more than moving Dell Tech Support centers to India helps to rid that country of its economic woes.
Sidestepping or leapfrogging natural steps in the development of any system, from an educational program to a national economy may be beneficial in the short-term, but in the long-term, it can only spell disaster in the form of unforseen consequences.
How I long for the days when a premiere operating system cost just $90... thank goodness for Linux. As more distributions of Linux appear and competition against Microsoft from the "free" camp grows, you would think they would cut the prices on their own software to compete. Unfortunately, as with most things, Microsoft is being backwards with their pricing scheme too.
It's great that the software is free - but the devices certainly aren't and neither is the intellectual material being displayed on them. Additionally, I don't know of a single book that when you drop it on the ground, it costs $200+ to replace. It's a nice idea, but there's a reason people still prefer to read books on paper, even in the USA where such devices in schools could be commonplace. You never get a system error with a book or run out of batteries reading a book on a plane or bus. As long as there is light to read it, a book can enlighten a mind.
It's funny that Microsoft is getting sued by Vista.com, a tiny company that makes e-commerce tools, website designs, and site promotion and advertising tools, and everyone seems to be encouraging Vista.com's win.
Yet Apple releases Tiger - the OS X update, and TigerDirect, a computer retailer, sues them, and people say TigerDirect is just being foolish and over-protective. Make up your minds. Neither of these companies pursuing lawsuits have more of a foundation than the other in my opinion. TigerDirect's lawsuit failed, and so will this one.
Nice attempt on Vista.com's part to capitalize on the hard work of others, though - perhaps they are more like Microsoft than it first appears.
And here, I was going to say that you could just walk into the average Best Buy or CompUSA with a complex computer problem, write down everything the technician there does (interactions, attempted fixes, plan of attack, etc.)
The exact opposite of everything you wrote down is exactly what customers would really like.
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Well, the university I attend in Iowa has had all of these things (big chairs, cafe, laptops for checkout, etc.) for YEARS... and we didn't sacrifice one book to do it. Looks like Texas is just finally catching up with everyone else at the sacrifice of education. Simply taking out the books and putting in comfy chairs doesn't "improve" a place any more than moving Dell Tech Support centers to India helps to rid that country of its economic woes. Sidestepping or leapfrogging natural steps in the development of any system, from an educational program to a national economy may be beneficial in the short-term, but in the long-term, it can only spell disaster in the form of unforseen consequences.
How I long for the days when a premiere operating system cost just $90... thank goodness for Linux. As more distributions of Linux appear and competition against Microsoft from the "free" camp grows, you would think they would cut the prices on their own software to compete. Unfortunately, as with most things, Microsoft is being backwards with their pricing scheme too.
It's great that the software is free - but the devices certainly aren't and neither is the intellectual material being displayed on them. Additionally, I don't know of a single book that when you drop it on the ground, it costs $200+ to replace. It's a nice idea, but there's a reason people still prefer to read books on paper, even in the USA where such devices in schools could be commonplace. You never get a system error with a book or run out of batteries reading a book on a plane or bus. As long as there is light to read it, a book can enlighten a mind.
It's funny that Microsoft is getting sued by Vista.com, a tiny company that makes e-commerce tools, website designs, and site promotion and advertising tools, and everyone seems to be encouraging Vista.com's win.
Yet Apple releases Tiger - the OS X update, and TigerDirect, a computer retailer, sues them, and people say TigerDirect is just being foolish and over-protective. Make up your minds. Neither of these companies pursuing lawsuits have more of a foundation than the other in my opinion. TigerDirect's lawsuit failed, and so will this one.
Nice attempt on Vista.com's part to capitalize on the hard work of others, though - perhaps they are more like Microsoft than it first appears.
And here, I was going to say that you could just walk into the average Best Buy or CompUSA with a complex computer problem, write down everything the technician there does (interactions, attempted fixes, plan of attack, etc.)
The exact opposite of everything you wrote down is exactly what customers would really like.
I can hear the manager guy from Dilbert chuckling in a sinister way as he read this, saying to himself "Finally, someone to defend my existence."