“Most of [Baltimore County] school system’s computers are PCs running Microsoft Windows software, but not in the labs for the graphic and multimedia programs, until now. School system leaders say the move makes sense because it will make it easier to provide technical support and because graphic design software is available for both platforms,” Liz F. Kay reports for The Baltimore Sun. “…the Apple logo has given way to the waving Windows icon in Baltimore County schools’ graphic design and multimedia computer labs…”
Kay reports, “Still, some say future graphic artists should learn using Macs. ‘If people are specifically interested in a career in graphic arts, to not be exposed at all to the Mac is probably a disadvantage,’ said Kevin Keane, president of IAPHC, an international graphic professionals’ network.”
“The Baltimore County Public Schools . . . has embarked on a quality journey, a journey that will take us to our goal of becoming one of the premier school systems in the nation.” – quote from the website of Dr. Joe A. Hairston, Superintendent of Baltimore County Public Schools.
“Students and staff can share information efficiently if everyone uses compatible equipment. ‘All of this can happen only if we’re all on the same operating platform,’ said schools spokeswoman Kara Calder,” Kay reports.
“The debate over Macs versus Windows reaches levels of almost religious fervor, with bloggers and Web sites monitoring every statement made for or against either operating system. Most agree that graphics firms chiefly use Macs because their software was originally designed for that operating system,” Kay reports. “Until recently, up to 90 percent of most printing plants used Macs, said Keane, the president of the graphic professionals’ network. It’s now easier to work in either platform, but he estimated about three-quarters of businesses still use Macs.”
“Jill Schuchart, a student in Eastern Technical High School’s multimedia communications program, said she and other classmates were disappointed when they heard the news. They remembered how the PCs always crashed at the multimedia program at Parkville Middle,” Kay reports. “She recalls thinking, ‘Oh, great. It’s going to be like in eighth grade again, when we couldn’t work on our projects.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, Baltimore County Public Schools’ initial plan — to substitute lead paint chips for sliced turkey in school lunches — was deemed less effective than the above scheme in achieving their ultimate goal of impairing their children’s mental abilities. Someone ought to tell these geniuses in Maryland that Macs can run Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows natively, before they flush any more of the taxpayers’ money down the toilet. It’s not a religious argument; it’s an argument about providing the best you can for your students or shackling them to cheap, limited, mediocre Windows-only PCs due to budgetary concerns or, even worse, due to the type of plain old ignorance evidenced in Baltimore County.
What’s better for education, Mac or PC? Info: http://www.macvspc.info/
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Shouldn’t someone tell them of the Intel Mac’s ability to run Windows and OSX?
This will set the students back a grade…
TOO BAD. FIRST?
Won’t somebody please think of the children?
I thought schools were for children, not to fund technical support companies.
There are a lot of underlining fundamental buisness issues why this sort of thing is occuring.
A lot of it has to do that Apple was so mismanaged and ruled by a defeatist additude ever since Steve Jobs left Apple.
Steve Jobs has admitted long ago that Microsoft has won on the desktop.
What’s important for us Mac users is that Apple remains profitable and develops new products that sell well. There will always be a substancial percentage of people who depend upon reliability and style.
The Macintosh will tag along for the ride and we will get to enjoy the best computing platform for as long as possible. Provided we continue to support Apple.
Apple has still been in buisness for all these years, but PC companies who sell their garbage with virtually no profit will come and go. IBM, Compaq, Gateway and now it’s Dell’s turn to go.
Apple has a bright future, proof of that is with the iPod and new stuff they are dreaming up in Cupertino.
Steve is back and he’s got a plan that’s working!
Well, they deserve all the virus and tech support bills they get.
No sympathy here.
These kids need jobs in the real world, Training them on Windows makes perfect sense.
They will be Dells. Dell has been on a quest to destroy Apple in education by selling it’s cut-rate sh*t at a loss on the intial contract. After you hve made a huge investment in Windoze software they have you.
Let me guess, Dell’s planning to loose a dollar a unit and make it up in volume?
Nope, more likely the school’s looking at the fact that it can buy twice as many PCs for the same money, or the same number of PCs and spend the rest on something else.
“Students and staff can share information efficiently if everyone uses compatible equipment. ‘All of this can happen only if we’re all on the same operating platform,’ said schools spokeswoman Kara Calder,” Kay reports.
Hmm, I wonder what kind of information they have been unable to share up until now.
As a computer service company, we see this all the time.
Apple’s are the “red headed step children” no offense to Red Heads, or
Step Children to IT staffs.
Windows IT people do not like Apple. Why – 2 reasons
1. They are threatened because Macs need less support than Windows
and so they might be out of a job.
2. They are threatend because Macs do not work like Windows and they
feel inferior to their users.
Either way Windows Geeks can not get their minds around Macs.
My company has 2 camps to eliminate this problem. The Mac camp
of which I am one and the Windows camp which supplies 80% of our
service business. Viruses/Spyware are the number one problem for
our clients today followed closely by operating system patches.
Hopefully, with Intel Macs, Apple will pick up the naysayers like this
school.
Mike
http://www.tektaxi.com
….strange that education officials are making a hugely stupid mistake. they’ll only f**k themselves over in the long run
Jobs,
If you want to use that failed argument — platforms change too rapidly to try to teach specifics, you should teach concepts on as wide a range of platforms possible — then Macs are used in 75+% of graphics-related businesses. So, training them on Windows makes absolutely no sense.
Teach concepts, not specifics: if you taught a 7th grader “Windows” a dozen years ago, it’d be meaningless. Nobody uses Windows 3.1 anymore.
Students who know Macs are the people I hire because they understand computing, not just Windows.
They also tend to be more creative thinkers.
Windows-only people are generally close-minded, rigid, and cannot react to change as readily as those who use Macs, I’ve found. It’s a standard question I use to weed out prospective employees.
MDN MW: “door” – If all you know is Windows, don’t let the “door” hit your ass on the way out.
There quality journey is in for a major crash! In a month or two of working with there new PC’s there going to find out the ugly truth. Viruses, spyware, trojans are going to take there journey down a dark miserable path to non-functionality of there systems which will be in the I.T.’s hands more than the students hands.
M.X.N.T.4.1: I thought schools were for children, not to fund technical support companies.
Not even close. Here’s an article that explains it better than I can:
Education Not For The Kids
What did you expect? These public school administrators have destroyed all other aspects of our children’s education, so why should they not pick the biggest POS for their computer labs? They are just being consistent.
“Shouldn’t someone tell them of the Intel Mac’s ability to run Windows and OSX?”
The point is they want everyone to run Windows. It would defeat the purpose to have people dual booting. And don’t tell me you’re going to convince them to pay another $50-$80 per system to buy Parallels.
Bullseye mike. IT people who wear M$ blinders are no more than a drag on society.
I teach (among other things) computer lab for 3rd graders.
If we are still locked into Office 15 years from now when these kids are entering the workplace, I will shoot myself in the face with a bazooka.
Technology curriculum, if it done right, is platform independent. Unless the state adoption comittees are getting kickbacks.
Teaching PowerPoint to eight-year olds!! Gack!!!
This isn’t just limited to Baltimore.
In Valparaiso, Indiana (where I went to high school), they plan on replacing the old G3 iMacs in the Graphic Design lab aty the high school with new Dells this summer, as Dell continues to bribe the district with stuff like a free projector or plasma TV when they buy OptiPlex and Latitude systems by the hundreds.
Granted, they did buy one Core Duo iMac for a photo studio, but basically, they’ve just eliminated almost every remaining Mac in the district in one quick swoop.
MDN MW: “self”; as in the self-destruction of children’s minds when using Windows
Dr. Hairston has clearly been misinformed. Sadly, even people with advanced degrees are sometimes intimdated or unclear about computers and how they fit into both educational and business settings. If Dr. Hairston had really done his research he would have found that Macs last longer, can run more software, require less technical support, and are generally easier to use, especially for novices. In short they are as close to the perfect educational tool yet devised. This shortsighted decision will not serve either the people of Baltimore or their children well. I want to see the test scores and achievement rankings one year from now. My guess is that this decision will have exactly the opposite effect from what was intended.
A really astounding decision and one that they will look back on…and rue.
Pity the missed opportunity for the kids.
Yet another paid off education employee looking to waste the schools funds on tech support.
VERY bad decision…
The illiterate children at your school will be forever grateful in fscking up their education.
I just want to say:
That is the end-all of all Mac vs. PC websites.
The link provided by MDN is super.
I wish I found it earlier – it is a wealth of info!
if someone comes to me and says they have never worked on a mac, unless they have absolutely fantastic talent, I will not hire them.
I find people who use macs far more creative, and more lateral in their thinking than people that use pcs.
if people are happy using windows, i’d show them the door.
this is a tradgedy for all the students that are going to have to run windows, i feel sorry for them, because its not the students fault, but theyre the ones who are going to pay.
people who only look at the bottom line, never see the big picture.
Yes, these kids shouldn’t be given a false hope of future success. They need to be on Windows.
Ingteresting Employer, the candidates I’ve hired for graphic design jobs have worked just as well with PC versions of the same software as Mac ones.
You’re right, it doesn’t matter any more whether you run Photoshop on a PC or a Mac so the school’s better off making the best use of it’s money.
i heart macdude:
“I will shoot myself in the face with a bazooka.”
If the thought of using Microsoft Office makes you mentally unstable and suicidal, I’d suggest you either get counselling, or at the very least stay away from those kids. They don’t need to be taught by wackos.