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Frist

these lost out big time

What's great is that after the first week of operation, when all the computers have viruses and porn ad on them and after the first year, when tech support has been living at the school fixing the dells, the parents in the school district and the rest of world won't hear a single peep from the school board about how bad a decision they made.

"Okay kids, time to scan our hard drives for spyware..."

jeez, how much is support going to cost?? and what about liscensing for windows server? or maybe they didn't run a server before, and just used laptops to internet...either way, totally sucks

and they did this all because of a $55 price difference.
idiots!

The point about needing microsoft office is completely valid. All dells will come with it.

er...make that a $255 price difference. sorry, i was using a Dell.

Typical union speak.
Vote for vouchers and get this lousy layabout loser union out of our once great education system. Just read some of these comments and the spelling in the same. I would venture a guess that one or two of the posers-sorry- posters, even went to college.

Now watch that price difference slowly, or perhaps quickly, melt away with support cost overhead. So much for educators being visionaries...

School officials said "The logo will change, but the tool is the same."

Ever wonder why home school kids get the top spots in educational contests, could it be the ignorance of school officials?

Guys, this is the school distric's web site. It has a link to why they switched to the Dell's. Man, this is a funny read! They are that stupid!

http://www.henrico.k12.va.us/

HENRICO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
P.O. BOX 23120
RICHMOND, VA 23223-0420

JOBLINE: (804) 501-5480 We need 200 IT people right away.

FAX: (804) 652-3763 Don't use this. We're not sure how to use it yet.

PHONE: (804) 652-3664

TDD: (804) 652-3932 What's TDD????

Give them a buzz.

Yup, Vincent, very funny read indeed. Here's the Director of Technology:

"Lloyd Brown, director of technology for Henrico schools, explained the features of the new Dell Inspiron 600M laptop. The screen is 14 inches compared to the iBook’s 12-inch screen. It has two USB ports and a track pad for moving the mouse. The Dells will utilize a Windows XP operating system.

Brown also addressed the question of security — how to prevent students from accessing inappropriate web sites. First of all, he said, “The type of laptop does not have anything to do with security — it’s your filters. Therefore, security will be a challenge with any product.”


Strange, and the iBooks don't have two USB ports and a track pad? The Dell would utilize outdated technology like Windows XP. They could have had TIGER! But most of all, the type of laptop does not have anything to do with security, just filters! Filters, that's all Windows users needed all this time. Who'd a thunk it?

This dork doesn't know the difference between web content blockers and anti-virus/worm software! Sad. Sad.

"The logo will change, but the tool is the same..." They're about to find out what 'tools' they are.

Too bad about the kids. Don't have much sympathy for the teachers or parents: as adults in this topsy turvy world, they need to be better informed and engaged in the shit that affects their kids and their money.

Come on office .... pay too much for what you can gaet for free neooffice is sweet ... even appleworks is better than that junk , i think iWork is almost perfect .... i doubt that those students whill use excell that much ....

Sorry bad english .. I'm brazilian ....

I like this quote:

"The type of laptop does not have anything to do with security."

Wow, and all along I thought Macs were more secure. I guess I was wrong.

"What's TDD?"

A Telecommunication Device for the Deaf allows a person to transmit typed messages over the phone lines to another person with a TDD. Most TDD's include a keyboard for typing messages to send and a display and/or printer to receive messages.

This might not be such a bad thing. There are apparently some Apple fans in Henrico, ones that will keep a close eye on the Dell program. At the end of a certain term, I'm sure an analysis will surface- hopefully unbiased (thanks to the Apple fans in Henrico). This will be a perfect opportunity to compare total outcomes between the two programs. This could be good for Apple (even if they "lose" in the analysis- they would be given an opportunity to learn from mistakes), or it could be GREAT for Apple- they could win in the analysis, and stick a big, fat Cupertino tongue at the naysayers, and at Dell. Personally, I think Apple will win big.

There are plenty of other pilot programs across the country, and Apple is leading the way in many of them. The Henrico Experiment will only enrich Apple's devotion to such programs.

About the above article, I gotta feel for poor, clueless Adam Hall. To say that XP is better than Panther is, at the very least, a stretch of the imagination (a debate in this is beyond the scope of my note). But compared to Tiger, XP really doesn't stand a chance. He's obviously a victim of the Redmond FUD engine....

this was about money, plain and simple. the it guy now has job security. just wait till all their dell get hit by a virus and all the elementary and middle school kid's ibooks keep chugging along. someone will eat crow.

macvspc.info. Enough said.

ron: Interesting information you've provided. To answer your question about TDD, that is a telephone device for the deaf. It allows the deaf to communicate to a person on the other end via live text messaging. In the years before, they used a TTY.

I don't know if the annotation after the jobline number is a real request or your comment. Assuming that it is a real request, the cost of 200 additional IT people should hover around $6 million annually. That will digest the entire $4 million savings in one year alone. The school district claims to have overshot the budget by $250,000 to get the Dells - wait until they see the IT costs to come. Furthermore, 200 additional people will be sorely insufficient for the needs that will soon clobber that school district. I suppose they figure that the teachers will gladly fill in for needed extra IT personnel.

Unfortunately, this being a public body means that no-one is ever likely to admit a mistake. If the systems end up as 15,800 doorstops, they will harp on about the $4m saving rather than the extra $17.9m it will cost to replace them.

I'm typing this on an iMac DV 400, purchased just after they came out in 1999. It's running Tiger beautifully at nearly six years old. Do you think those Dells will be still useful at that age?

Rhetorical question. Don't bother answering.

Obviously the price difference is the cost of Office for Mac versus the free OS and Office from Microsoft to help Dell get the contract. When Dell asks for a bigger maintenance contract in 6 months because they are losing their shirts on the existing one no one will ever hear about it.

Jdoc has posted my exact view. This could be very good news for Apple.
DULL must have nearly burnt themselves to clinch the deal.

If the DULL computers prove to be a virus infested pain it won't take long to find out. The true cost of ownership will then be exposed.

If Apple prove to be better then the next run off won't force Apple to burn themselves to clinch the deal. My experience is that long after you've forgotten the ticker price saving you will experience the true value of the deal if reliability and useability are proven to be better.

How did they arrive at the figure of $1,386 per iBook? A 12 inch with Combo bases at $949 with the educational discount. And they obviously would get them cheaper than that.

So, an extra $400 in maintenance and software? I doubt that students need the $400 Professional version of Office.

HENRICO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT
P.O. BOX 23120
RICHMOND, VA 23223-0420

JOBLINE: (804) 501-5480 We need 200 IT people right away.

FAX: (804) 652-3763 Don't use this. We're not sure how to use it yet.

PHONE: (804) 652-3664

TDD: (804) 652-3932 What's TDD????


Sorry that I didn't spell it out for some of you slow guys----all of the comments after the numbers were my attempt at humor. The comments were supposed to be the School Board asking the questions.
Excuse the attempt. Go back to sleep. Long live Rush. That'll stir it up.

Maybe they can get the extra 200 IT people when King Bill gets rid of the H1-B visa cap...

Wonder what they are going to do with all the iBooks they currently have????

"Lloyd Brown, director of technology for Henrico schools, explained the features of the new Dell Inspiron 600M laptop. The screen is 14 inches compared to the iBook’s 12-inch screen. It has two USB ports and a track pad for moving the mouse. The Dells will utilize a Windows XP operating system.

A lot of the bad things that I have heard about a Mac relate to most peoples greater familiarity with PCs and XP rather than the that fact that the particular task "cant" be done on Apple. I work in pre-press/print production and graphic design. We have a mostly Apple user base at work although a number of those people are from a PC back ground. The PC users at work whoi dont know how to do something on a Mac think it cant be done when there is no one else who can show them what they need to do.

I think this is also a mentality with a lot of people out there when they have their first Apple experience.

Why do schoolkids need laptops anyway? From ANY company, even Apple. A total waste of taxpayer money. The need current textbooks and good teachers.

But when you have current textbooks and good teachers, laptops can add a lot. It makes things more interactive, which will keep the kids interested in learning instead of dreading school.

'...Lloyd Brown, director of technology for Henrico schools, explained the features of the new Dell Inspiron 600M laptop (compared to apple ibook)....It has two USB ports and a track pad for moving the mouse....


what the f*ck???

are these people on crack?!

Apple needs its own Office

I hope the news covers the story when the next big virus comes along and brings their network to its knees.

Did the IT director actually say, "track pad for moving the MOUSE"? Hey Lloyd, a track pad moves the cursor. So does a mouse. But one doesn't move the other.

If their IT people understand neither hardware nor software (see that antivirus vs. content blocker gaffe), they're getting what they deserve. Let them eat cake.

"I'm typing this on an iMac DV 400, purchased just after they came out in 1999. It's running Tiger beautifully at nearly six years old. Do you think those Dells will be still useful at that age?"

Beautifully? Really? I highly doubt that. We installed Tiger on an eMac 700 (3 years old) last night and it was quite painstankingly slow.

And if this means anything we have a Dell Optiplex at work (550 P3) that is around 6 years old and it runs XP quite well.

Dell fineprint:
Please note that our advertised price does not include delivery or state taxes - $100 extra. Monitor not included - $100 extra. Windows XP Home edition is shown for display purposes only - Dell recommends Windows XP Professional for $150 extra. Dell 3 year warranty excludes educational purchases. Thank you for purchasing Dell.


[This is a joke]

These guys spout so many made up "facts" and distorted half-truths. I smell a rat. None of their justifications demonstrate any objectivity.

At the bare minimum, someone influential on the committee has a bias to WinDells. At worst... someone(s) are getting a kickback.

The parents should be calling for an investigation.

"they hope for a smooth transition next year"

Hope, is most often posponed dissapointment.

chrish:

did you forget that you and all the other mac users only make up 2% of the market, or in your delusional world does everyone use a mac and those who don't are outside the norm? since when was making a decision because it costs less a bad one, ESPECIALLY when most of our governments are running gigantic deficits. is it just all of you idiots, or has the whole economy thrown out simple economics?

and those of you who claim that people who use PCs spend their whole lives dealing with viruses are simply put, IDIOTS! Like there is no word to describe how big of an idiot you are. If you dont' spend your whole lives downloading internet porn like most of you probably do, or even if you do, and you AREN'T an idiot, then YOU DON'T GET VIRUSES.

oh and another pet peeve: stop blaming all your idiocy on using a dell. every time you make a simple mental math error, like John did earlier, don't blame it on your computer. even if it was the computer's fault, and it somehow sabotaged your decision to type 255 by replacing it with 55, any person who was NOT an idiot would realize that before submitting and change it.

The day the mac community returns to reality will be the day the sky falls.

It was about the money, they didn't allocate enough funds to buy decent kit.. Not that it was all rosy with the iBooks, don't forget Henrico got plenty of iBooks with duff motherboards. Do Dell laptops last for four years?

They probably paid for Apple for Virex in the iBook program (doesn't every govt-linked tech person say best be safe) and think that's what saved them - Dells have anti-virus software too, and more variety.

The unnamed writer of the article doesn't seem very tech savvy and may well have misconstrued meanings and responses. Sure sounds like Apple suggested save money by not licensing Office and they didn't like that, it is office that created MS's monopoly, not Windows.

"They hope for a smooth transition…"

And I hope that I'll wake up tomorrow and look like George Clooney!

The difference is that I know that I'll be disappointed.

bisabuelo:
Do you think that blanket market numbers equal installed user base numbers? Is this part of your "simple economics"?

I used to do education sales and I would bet the RFP included Office to give dull the advantage. I've helped write RFPs to guide the selection process.

biggieG said "Beautifully? Really? I highly doubt that. We installed Tiger on an eMac 700 (3 years old) last night and it was quite painstankingly slow. "

How much memory does your eMac have?

"Adam Hall, a sophomore at Hermitage High School, said he is pleased with the planned switch to Dell, because it has a better operating system.

'They're better than what we have now,' he said."


Translation from teen speak: Hacking at Windows allows me and my friends to get at porn sites which we can’t do on Apple computers. The bigger screen size allows us to see porn better. Plus there are more games for Windows. Thank goodness the school board is clueless about technology.

I thought Paul Thurrott was the last person in the world who thought Windows was better than Mac OS. And even he's starting to waver.

Those poor kids ain't gonna know what they're missing with Tiger. And all because of the prejudices of one or a few persons ...

What are the hardware requirements going to be for "LongWait"?

You can thank the union movement to the end of (in western nations anyway) child labour, unsafe working conditions, a living wage, holiday leave, sick leave, compassionate leave, penalty rates for overtime and public holidays, protection from unfair dismissal, etc, etc, etc....

That's not to say they don't stuff up from time to time, or get silly ideas in their collective heads, but on the whole they do their best to protect the interests ordinary workers from the excesses of capitalism and intrusive government.

Proudly a union member ( http://www.RTBU.com.au ).

Artisiculated:

If not, what is the user base then, since you seem to be omniscient? Until shows me some data otherwise, that's what I have to go off of. The other figure I've heard is 1 of every 33 computer users. Is that better?

BB: "If you dont' spend your whole lives downloading internet porn like most of you probably do, or even if you do, and you AREN'T an idiot, then YOU DON'T GET VIRUSES."

If you think that is the only way to get a virus, YOU are an idiot. Wake the f up.