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DB -

Try connecting your alleged "Mac" to the Internet first. Mine posts just fine.

I too think it's great that the parents cared enough to get involved. I think that was a very un-hicklike motion they made.

I will say though that right now as we speak my kids are watching a DVD on their lime green iMac DV 400mhz that's running Tiger 10.4.2. They're both listening via headphones because Apple was smart enough to put two..TWO friggin headphone jacks on the front of the computer. That was insanely smart, especially when you consider classroom use. 2 kids share computers quite often, especially in a situation like we have in this story. I'm sure someone could have donated 60 iMac DV's like mine to the school system and then all they would have needed to purchase would have been Tiger..which they most certainly would have gotten a great deal from Apple on. I wish we could do something about this.

DB Quote:
"lol, here's a follow up to my last:

Hah, couldn't even post these from my Mac, had to switch over to a PC to get the posts to work"

That should tell us something about your level of knowledge when it comes to Macs. I'm posting this from my Mac G5, and probably 90% of the other people here are using Macs. So what's your problem? Are you computer illiterate because you "learned on PCs", or are you just stupid?

This really is a never ending story, apart from the name calling and back stabbing the reality is mac users have tried both and made a decision pc users are blinkered the solution i believe would be to provide both platforms so the kids could decide for themselves and become proficient in both .Ps ill bet my bottom dollar which will be more popular !

http://www.germantown.k12.wi.us/macarthur/PTA.html

Tell them how you feel. Emails and phone numbers are on that page.

Sucks when this happens.
My local district is fazing out the Macs here in Highland Indiana. It used to be a very pro-mac district in the past. But new school board, new IT guy and things change overnight. They used the old computer (25 percent of the macs were 10 years old) bit too. Although I don't know how they are going to explain it when they have old pcs too (the budget is not increasing so they will have to keep old computers) no matter what. I sent them a letter when it was told to the community, but they had started the changeover already and didn't want any community input (at least he was polite) because they were doing it already.

"No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby."

"The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."

DB: what a dolt. You even had to post twice the same (but edited) message on your PC because you are even unable to tell your PC is posting anything.

"Hey Bubba, do it twice, we don't know when this Piece-of-Crap does anything anywa"

IUHIHUIHOHOHHAHAHEHEHAHAHAHEHEHAHEHAEHEHEHHAHAHAHAHA

I know I'll severely shock a lot of you but fact is, what does education matter in the states, especially computer education, when these poor children are only cannon fodder to these criminals their very parents have voted into office. That the local PTA decides to dump the Mac for dead end PC's only serves to confirm these people's total lack of common sense and the decisions this kind of breeder "parent" makes throughout their lives. As for the same thing in the province of Ontario they have become in the last 20 years American wanna-be's.

Fine. Do it the hard way.

This is really a sad story...I can imagine the pro-windows red-necks dads arguing about this, shouting and whining at the parent meetings.

It's almost sure that those 7 years old Macs are running either Mac OS 8 or 9...with very old and fragmented HD's, not enough RAM etc... The classic Mac OS had it's rough edges, and could get very crashy on some configuration, more so when it ran short of RAM.

Actually the positive thing in all this is that they did stop using those, they were bad advertising for Apple. I can't recall how many times I read or heard someone saying "I used Macs at school and they suck, they are slow and crash all the time!", and each time you dig a little more you'll see that these are very old Macs running a classic Mac OS.

Anyway this school may find out the supporting their brand new XP boxes is as costly as supporting a 7 year old Mac...

Remember the Windows 95= Mac OS 1984 ads?

Wise words from my father: "The bitterness of poor quality lingers looooonnnnng after the sweetness of low price is forgotten!"

I work in one of the top ten largest school districts in the US, and part of that district is being forced to switch our computer labs to PCs when we are due for our next refresh, which is this Fall. All because some administrator thinks they are better! I am so furious, I could scream. I have spent years developing my curriculum to teach web design based on macs and using Apple software such as iMovie. I also use remote desktop a lot to "keep an eye" on what my students are doing. Due to space restrictions with the PCs, we won't even be able to create movies as we have no space large enough to save them. It is so very frustrating when these decisions are made without consulting the teachers who are affected daily. I wish I could either quit or retire, but only being half way (16 years) to retirement, that makes either option impossible. I am dreading next school year as are the other three computer teachers at my school. Thanks for letting me vent. =)

I'm from Wisconsin (not Milwaukee) and I couldn't help but notice all those "Wisconsin" comments.

The problem isn't the state, it's that most families use Windows. I'm still using Windows until my next purchase, which will definitely be a Mac. I use Windows because everywhere I worked used them and because the price was cheap. Until about the 100th virus and crippling spamware, I had never been exposed to Apple so I didn't know the difference.

However, our schools use Macs. I am on the PTO. Last year, when the principal was discussing the purchase of new computers, some parents also wanted to make the Windows switch. Fortunately we have an excellent Principal. She knows that she is the one responsible for educating our children as long as they are in her school, and she wouldn't even entertain discussion.

I have been in the school, watching my daughter use her Mac, and am thoroughly impressed. The projects they do are incredible. Her teachers are innovative and use iLife in incredible ways, doing things that wouldn't be feasible on Windows.

I write for AppleMatters.com once each week (on Tuesdays). I am following up the next couple of weeks on the latest things her school is doing (which is how I found this article.) Drop in by. I'm writing a general article this week, but the following week there will be an article on the latest innovations from her school. I am hoping any educators and any parents seeking to show their schools what can be done with Macs will check it out. It is an incredible project, one that will be leaving the entire city a gift.

If anybody knows a forum where we can reach out to more educators (or PTO members) I'd love to hear about it. It saddens me that other kids won't have some of the opportunitites that come so easily with Macs.

One last comment before I go: my daughter takes her flash drive to school and transfers homework from Mac to Windows and back every day...not a problem.

Oops, just re-read what I wrote about spamware..sorry, I meant spyware.