The kids are only winners in the short term. If you read the article MS is putting in a sum that is extremely unbalenced even on their standards. "It's also interesting to note by way of comparison that (as the AP reports) the total cash and software contributions made by Microsoft to Massachusetts educational and all other worthy types of organizations combined totaled approximately $40 million over the last five years."
The place where the schools will hurt is in a couple of years. Schools tend to have fixed budgets. Whenever you inject product like this they get a momentary spurt of being current. They are very greatful to be sure but it will really hurt down the road. Once these are in place, then it is assumed by the parents and the board that it will stay at the high standards that have been set. MS will be there the first time but will reap dollars from the school the second time. Now where will that money come from? There is still a fixed amount. What that means is that money that was going to repair the building, buy supplies, bring on new staff to meet the growing need, etc. now needs to funnel to MS. This is how IT departments get a black hole reputation when it comes to funding.
As far as ODF goes in K-12, what you want to teach is the basics of a word processor, spreadsheet, etc. Being fixated on MS is kind of silly. All you are teaching there is to get hooked on a specific interface and a specific version of MS. Guess what? That changes. The basics can be taught on Open Office, MS Office, Apple products or Word Perfect. MS Office is really not that necessary. So, why not think long term? Free with free upgrades would be very useful and allow districts to fill those other equally important needs.
Slashdot Mirror
The kids are only winners in the short term. If you read the article MS is putting in a sum that is extremely unbalenced even on their standards. "It's also interesting to note by way of comparison that (as the AP reports) the total cash and software contributions made by Microsoft to Massachusetts educational and all other worthy types of organizations combined totaled approximately $40 million over the last five years." The place where the schools will hurt is in a couple of years. Schools tend to have fixed budgets. Whenever you inject product like this they get a momentary spurt of being current. They are very greatful to be sure but it will really hurt down the road. Once these are in place, then it is assumed by the parents and the board that it will stay at the high standards that have been set. MS will be there the first time but will reap dollars from the school the second time. Now where will that money come from? There is still a fixed amount. What that means is that money that was going to repair the building, buy supplies, bring on new staff to meet the growing need, etc. now needs to funnel to MS. This is how IT departments get a black hole reputation when it comes to funding. As far as ODF goes in K-12, what you want to teach is the basics of a word processor, spreadsheet, etc. Being fixated on MS is kind of silly. All you are teaching there is to get hooked on a specific interface and a specific version of MS. Guess what? That changes. The basics can be taught on Open Office, MS Office, Apple products or Word Perfect. MS Office is really not that necessary. So, why not think long term? Free with free upgrades would be very useful and allow districts to fill those other equally important needs.