“Voting on a new technology lease will highlight Wednesday’s regular meeting of Hays USD 489 Board of Education,” Diane Gasper-O’Brien reports for The Hays Daily News [Hays, Kansas]. “The meeting is set for 7 p.m.”
“Mary Woods and Loren VonLintel, technology directors for the district, will give a recommendation to the board for a proposal for the next technology lease for the district,” Gasper-O’Brien reports. “They plan to have their recommendation ready for Superintendent Fred Kaufman today. Kaufman and the three assistant superintendents are to meet and go over the summaries, then reconvene with Woods and VonLintel to finalize the recommendation for the board. The Hays district, which leases 1,800 computers yearly, including 1,450 laptops — 1,100 at Hays High School alone — is its final year of a three-year lease with Apple Inc.”
Gasper-O’Brien reports, “There has been speculation the district might go with the PC platform rather than Apple this time around.”
“VonLintel said the finance proposal deadline was pushed back to just a couple of weeks ago in order to get the most up-to-date interest rates. ‘There are a lot of things that will weigh into this (decision),’ Woods said. ‘Such as durability, total cost of ownership, financing, advantages of staying with a known entity,’ she added, naming a few,” Gasper-O’Brien reports. “A long project is nearing an end for Woods and VonLintel, who have been gathering information for nearly two years.”
“Part of their research involved consulting administrators in Henrico County, Va., the same school district they visited when Hays first went to the one-to-one laptop initiative at Hays High in 2004,” Gasper-O’Brien reports.
Gasper-O’Brien reports, “Henrico County had started its laptop initiative with Apple, then went with Dell for the high school when that lease was up but decided to stay with Apple for the middle-school students. ‘They are equally satisfied with both,’ Woods said.”
Gasper-O’Brien reports, “VonLintel said he thinks that Hays could be, too. ‘I have the utmost confidence in our staff that we can use any of them to teach in either (platform),’ VonLintel said. ‘I use both the same, and I don’t even notice much difference when I go from a Mac to a PC.’ Woods agreed. ‘I really have no preference,’ Woods said. ‘I’ve been happy with Apple. I’m very confident we would do just as well with Dell. We feel we can’t go wrong with either one.'”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: You’ve got to be some special “technology director” if you don’t understand the difference between Macs and Windows PCs. Security. Total Cost of Ownership. Cost of Anti-Virus software (dollars and processor cycles). Ease of Use. iLife. Unlimited OS capability. Ability to run the largest selection of software. The list goes on and on – every item is in Apple Mac’s favor; often glaringly so. The only type of hardware that school systems should be considering today are Apple’s OS-unlimited Macs. If any school system is considering spending money on OS-limited PCs from HP, Dell, Gateway, or any other PC box assembler, taxpayers should complain loudly because their money would be slated to be wasted foolishly. Only Apple Macs can run the world’s most advanced operating system and, if need be, Linux variants and Microsoft’s porous Windows.
More info: http://macvspc.info/
Contact info:
• Board of Education, USD 489 Board Members, boe@hays489.k12.ks.us
• Fred Kaufman, USD 489 Superintendent, fkaufman@hays489.k12.ks.us
• Mary Woods, Technology Specialist, mwoods@hays489.k12.ks.us
• Loren VonLintel, Technology Specialist, lvonlintel@hays489.k12.ks.us
Related articles:
After dropping Macs, Henrico officials work to protect students’ new Dells from viruses – August 29, 2005
Kansas City schools plan calls for 6,000 Apple Macs – April 12, 2007
Chicago area school district tech director wants to phase out Macs for ‘more appropriate technology’ – December 18, 2006
Harvard Medical School CIO picks Mac OS X over Linux and Windows – November 30, 2006
4,800 students in Microsoft’s backyard receive Apple Mac notebooks – September 10, 2006
Michigan middle school students get 350 Apple iBooks – August 30, 2006
Nebraska high school provides nearly 200 Apple iBooks to all students – August 28, 2006
The Seattle Times: Apple Macbook is best computer for school – August 26, 2006
BusinessWeek’s Stephen Wildstrom recommends students pick Mac over Windows for first time – June 15, 2006
State of Maine awards middle school contract to Apple Computer for 34,000 iBooks – March 21, 2006
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Ireland to roll out Apple Mac solutions in 3,500 primary schools – March 17, 2006
Apple beats Dell: lands deal to supply 12,675 iBooks to Henrico County Middle Schools – February 09, 2006
Group questions wisdom of dumping Macs in favor of HP Windows PCs in Boulder, CO schools – February 06, 2006
Students and teachers: going Mac could save you money on software – August 23, 2005
The Seattle Times: Apple iBook ‘a great laptop for students’ (with no viruses or spyware) – August 22, 2005
Chatham County (NC) rolls out 1,000 of eventual 7,400 Apple iBooks for students and teachers – August 17, 2005
Let them go the same route as the idiots in Henrico County. In 2 or 3 years they’ll come crawling back…
The challenge of education… even supposedly “smart” people just don’t get it.
It sounds to me like these guys want to be sure they get the best deal – they are saying to Apple and Dell “there is nothing to choose between your products – it will come down to price.”
I wonder if they have asked the students?
unbelievable.
oh wait, it’s kansas.
Hey macdailynews, really? what do you want trying to all the world use mac????
Iam sick of your kind of news… LIKE:
SWITCHERS ARE HAPPY! THEY CAN DEAD NOW HAPPY!!!!!!! BEACUSE THEY USE MAC!!!!!!
BILL GATES USE MAC!!!!!!
ALL THE SCHOOLS OF THE COUNTRY BUY 10 MACS BY DAY!
BUSH WANT THAT COUNTRY USE JUST MAC!!!
BULLSHIT…
Keep mac like always has know, some perfect and exclusive, we dont want that all the fscking planet use mac!!!!!! more people use mac !!!!!! more shit coming!!!! Let that rest of the planet use the shit of Vista and wherever… the design and art people and people that think diferent use mac… ok?????
This is exactly the type of mind sets that made me stop working with schools/government.
There is a reason these people are not working in the corporate world.
They couldn’t make the cut, so lower your expectations and work in the government.
It’s so sad.
Another brilliant example of how the education system is failing the children of America.
From a school district’s point of view, there is very little difference. A Mac is a computer. A PC is a computer. Some people are religous about the Mac, but bottom line, it’s just a computer.
So when you need one thousand eight hundred computers, it isn’t about which is better, it’s about which looks cheaper on the bottom line.
Apple has to step up and sweeten the deal with software and services. If they’ve already done so that have to do it again.
If I were the head of technology, in the same situation, I’d do the same thing. I’d tell both vendors, I don’t see much difference in your product and theirs. It will cause both to go back find present better deals.
This is not paltform politics. This is bottom line accounting, pure and simple.
Steve, wtf did you say?
Hahaha… I read that article and thought “wow, those people have it coming… someond should yell at them and tell them the truth.”
However, now that I see that MDN pasted their e-mails online, I feel sorry for them! They are going to get so bombarded with e-mails it isn’t even funny!
Hahahah, nevermind… it is hilarious!
Steve (above) is obviously a product of Hays, KS public schools.
<b>Hayseeds and bumpkins.</a> That is what they will be if they blow this for their students and teachers and don’t choose Macs.
Look to the “Big City,” hicks, and see what they’ve done:
Kansas City schools plan calls for 6,000 Apple Macs – April 12, 2007
Just follow their lead, they seem to know a hell of a lot more than you rubes.
Don’t go sending these people e-mails. You’ll just piss them off and probably push the deal toward Windows.
There is nothing anyone reading this website can tell them they don’t already know. They already know there are security problems with Windows that don’t exist on the Mac. They already know that OS X is a great OS and is typically judged to be better than Windows.
This is not the basis for their decision.
Their decision is based on the fact that they have X dollars for this deal and if they can do it for X-y where y = real and perceived cost savings, they will do so because the dealta can be applied to other areas where the school district needs money.
Keep your religion to yourself. Stay away from the e-mail send button. Stop making Mac users look like idiots.
wow, STEVE,
single best butchering of the english language of all time.
next to “All your base are belong to us.”
Just two thoughts come to mind from this post:
1) I wonder what the kids and overall teaching staff think?
2) I’ve advoacted for and gotten dual platform environments in the past. Its great to be able to offer the end user what they think they want and are going to be comfortable with.
It didn’t take long for the anti-rural bigotry to show up, did it? And you call yourself an evolved, enlightened person, no doubt. It just shows how far we haven’t come.
And the next voice of sanity chimes in with the assumption that emailing the KS decision-makers is the province of the unhinged, the idiotic, and the fanatic. Overgeneralize much?
I’ll never stop being amazed that the muddleheaded post on a site which regularly lampoons muddleheaded thinking.
Dude… Steve…
Take your Ritalin and STFU!
Here is someone without a clue about computers. What does this guy use the computer for to play solitare.
There’s a big difference between a Dell and a Mac. The Dell gets viruses and spyware and a Mac doesn’t would be just one difference and many more.
“I’ll never stop being amazed that the muddleheaded post on a site which regularly lampoons muddleheaded thinking.”
Err, yeah. Wait, what does that even mean?
Can someone please interpret what steve said????
It makes my head hurt to understand him.
With all due respect to the MDN take, to run ALL the software possible on the Mac the school district would need to purchase separate Windows OS licenses (virtually free with Dell purchases) to allow Bootcamp or Parallels use on the Mac. This would make the Mac route easily more expensive to the district. I suspect that all the software school students need is available as native Mac software, so I don’t think the addition of Window is necessary. I just don’t think the MDN arguement of “Unlimited OS capability. Ability to run the largest selection of software.” is pertenant to their decision making. Stick with TCO and security issues.
We finally have a school technology expert that knows what he is talking about. Why waste a mountain of money on over-priced hardware when you can run more applications on the industry standard Windows PC. It is well known that there is almost no software for the macintosh (look at their pathetic stores to see the lack of software). No company or school should seriously look to purchase macintosh computers as they are just in fancy boxes. There is a reason businesses purchase computers from HP, IBM (now Lenovo) or Dell, and that is because they produce a top notch product for a low price and have excellent technical support to back you up.
I’ve talked to several so called “Genius” at Apple stores and found them to be the most ill-informed and stupid people on the planet. I am amazed that they don’t electricute themselves turning off their alarm clock every morning. Now is the time for everyone to wake up to the fact that Apple produces a very expensive piece of crap that is overpriced. If you want your moneys worth then purchase a PC with Windows installed. You are guaranteed that every application you should ever need runs on it.
Try finding descent business plan software – nothing exists. The list goes on for miles. Save your money and time and buy a real computer with a real Microsoft operating system installed and ready to go.
Or you could just light your money on fire and make Steve Jobs even richer for making a slick looking computer that is not up to par with anyone else but is way over priced.
Macintosh users are just suckers that don’t understand technology.
neven… it means that you should learn to comprehend sentences which contain more than 3 words
iLife? Big whoop.
Hunk of Junk.
Give them OpenOffice, get rid of garageband and scale down iPhoto, they should be working, not playing.
…Microsoft’s porous Windows.
Hilarious!!
“I’ve talked to several so called “Genius” at Apple stores and found them to be the most ill-informed and stupid people on the planet. I am amazed that they don’t electricute themselves turning off their alarm clock every morning…..
…Try finding descent business plan software – nothing exists.”
Anyone else see the irony in this?
Descent… i loved that game.
Dude! And “All Your Base” reference. I haven’t heard one of those for years.
This is coming from Kansas, where they are still grappling with the theory of evolution. Remember, the Earth is only 5,000 years old according to their thinking.
Thoze crazie Kansans. Their stupider thin us suthurnurs. Evin we kin tel the diffurunce.
MW: had a brain…
once
Mac products don’t have the enterprise management options the Windows platform has and the options that are out there tend to think smaller scale ie 1 subnet, LAN etc. Case in point. OS X workgroup manager essentially requires 1 server per LAN or group of managed users/computers to keep an administrator at one school from overwriting the changes made by another administrator at another location because users/computers cannot be grouped into Organizational Units. This causes extra expense for the school district, instead of needing a couple of servers to administer workstations now every location needs a server. Talk about TOC. Under windows Active directory or Novell eDirectory all users and workstations can exists in a single directory and then admin permissions can be delegated to the local admin without the worry of interference from other site’s admins. Another example is Netboot which only works on the local subnet. Again, small scale, non-enterprise, solution thinking.
Don’t get me wrong OSX many advantages, is doesn’t have the enterprise tools to support thousands of workstations at multiple locations though. Apple needs to “think different” and come up with some scalable enterprise solutions.
I wish people would slow the hell down when they type. Half of the comments on here are unreadable.
Case in Point: FormerEdTech
Macrealist is up to his windows trolling nonsense again.
Only this time he forgot his dictionary.
“the most ill-informed and stupid people on the planet”
takes one to know one matey…
Steve…
Somebody set up us the bomb!
Over and out.
Well, well, well…the anti-Apple/Mac crowd is certainlyout in full force today…and with all the same old, tired FUD they’ve been spouting since…well pretty much since I started using a Mac.
About 1986.
Get a clue, people.
Steve and ZuneTang sitting in a tree….
oh nevermind….
Any stupid rhyme I could come up couldn’t possibly be more
embarrassing than their own posts…
As for those people in Kansas..MDN is right. The total cost of ownership and sheer flexibility of the modern mac platform make it the obvious choice for both an educational environment and now for business. I’m personally quite glad they delayed Leopard a bit. When it hits it will probably SHOCK people. I fully expect Leopard to have far more impact than Tiger since it will incorporate full compatibility with Multi-Touch which for mobile computing and tablet systems is a true game changer…again…not just touch sensitive but SMART touch sensitive…built into Leopard…
Um, I speak Steve:
Greetings MDN, do you really want everyone in the world to pursue ownership of an Apple Macinstosh computer?
I am less than satisfied with your repetitious opinions.
For example, you seem to assert that people that switch to an Apple Macintosh computer will instantly achieve a state of all-knowing bliss making the inevitability of death less painful.
Also, your assertions lead me to believe that William Henry Gates III is a well-known Mac aficionado and relishes using the Apple Macintosh personal computer.
Furthermore, I would be led to believe by your consistent diatribes that every educational institution nationwide procures at least ten Apple Macintosh computers on a recurring basis determined by the time period of earth’s completed rotational units.
Also, you seem to assert that the chief executive and leader of the executive branch of the United States government would be insistent on a policy of Apple Macintosh computer ownership for all of his constituents.
These opinions resonate like falsehoods as if they had been generated as a natural, organic by-product of an adult male of various large animal species including elk, moose, bovines (esp. cattle), elephants, whales, seals, and sea lions.
We would appreciate keeping the group of Apple Macintosh owners as a small, close-knit clan rather than a worldwide, uncontrolled population of hooligans.
To have the numbers of the Macintosh users community explode into the majority of the installed base of personal computer users would lead to major, disconcerting consequences. There could possibly be mass protests resulting in defecation if this should occur.
Please relegate to the unwashed masses the distinction of the use of the obviously inferior Microsoft Windows Vista operation system for personal computers.
Remember, the Apple Macintosh best suits the professionals who choose to freely explore and express their imaginations as summed up by the Apple Inc. advertising motto, Think Different, an advertising slogan created for Apple Computer in the late 1990s by the New York branch office of advertising agency TBWA\Chiat\Day.
Would that be satisfactory?
FormerEDTech… thanks for a RARE unbiased opion on this blog/site … Apple/MAC OSX will never rise to its full potential if doesn’t come under some unbiased scrutinity every now then
Macs for little kids because Macs are cute little toys and Windows for the big kids so they will be ready for the real world with Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Awesome!
This will help future cubicle drones passionately use the guy with the question mark over his head when making PowerPoint presentations, make the sign in Word informing the staff that the refrigerator in the break room will be cleaned out every other Friday and how to view the video of the monkey peeing on himself after it passes the filtering and virus scan in e-mail.
MDN Magic Word: ‘lead’ as in You can give kids the technology which takes the lead in innovation and productivity, or you can give them Windows.
“We finally have a school technology expert that knows what he is talking about. Why waste a mountain of money on over-priced hardware when you can run more applications on the industry standard Windows PC. It is well known that there is almost no software for the macintosh (look at their pathetic stores to see the lack of software). No company or school should seriously look to purchase macintosh computers as they are just in fancy boxes. There is a reason businesses purchase computers from HP, IBM (now Lenovo) or Dell, and that is because they produce a top notch product for a low price and have excellent technical support to back you up.”
WOW!
It is amazing to me that there are still idiots running around out there that actually believe the BS quoted above.
This is what happens when assumptive arrogance replaces actual hands-on experience with a piece of technology.
The result is a complete lack of understanding of the topic at hand, and just one more Windows apologist spewing FUD and all other forms of misinformation to anyone within ear shot of their pathetic ignorance.
All I can say is that it pleases me to no end, knowing that each and every time there is another major virus infection or other Windows based disaster, these morons are caught in the flood of lost productivity and mass frustration.
Must suck to be so freaking stupid.
“ownership of an Apple Macinstosh”
Oops, sorry about the typo!
Maybe they are afraid it will fall on their head during a tornado, like whats-his-name during the earthquakes?…..
Thanks for the translate, TMF.
Can you also translate Stephen?
I hear whiskey helps.
You might have to look under my name for some of his hidden messages…..
@FormerEdTech
I think you should check your some of your info out.
Uh, I think Steve is from out of town. Wait, let me look out of the window and choose a vector…
…yeah, out there somewhere.
Steve: Please be doing the needful and give up on the English language… and I’ll have a large cola slurpee and a doughnut… to go.
FormerEdTech:
I think you’re right… Apple should partner up with Novell and get some killer enterprise management going on. NDS is still the best IMHO.
Magic word: ‘feeling’
“I love feeling the surface of my MBP gently shock me as I type.”
@Twisted Mac Freak
That was frickin’ awesome.
Any chance you could translate forum posts on all the other message boards on the Internet? Your services would be greatly appreciated.
@Twisted Mac Freak
That was too funny. Awesome. lol
MacRealist,
You really should try typing your posts into a word processor with spell check before you post on this board.
Your terrible grammar and poor spelling reveal your intellect. This debases your argument and shows you to have a weak mind.
Just for the record, I was using computers probably before you could spell the word (which is in doubt). Beginning with a System 360 and up through a series of other mainframes and then desktop systems including every operating system Microsoft made I now use a MacBook Pro. It’s an astounding computer. Easily the best I’ve ever used (though Rosetta runs a bit slower than I’d like).
Honestly, I can’t insult you any more than your own post does.
BustingTheSkullsofIdiots: It didn’t take long for the anti-rural bigotry to show up, did it? And you call yourself an evolved, enlightened person, no doubt. It just shows how far we haven’t come.
Never[/b use “evolved” in reference to Kansas, and especially Kansas school boards. I’m sure they’re doing their best. Why, when they’re all in one room, their collective IQ is bigger than the circumference of both seats in their school’s two-holer.
If “durability” and “total cost of ownership” are truly taken into account, I don’t think we have anything to worry about…
MW: fiscal!
Maybe they can’t tell the difference between a Mac and a PC because someone loaded Windows on the Mac and didn’t tell anyone.
Hey they look exactly the same. What’s the difference? OS X? What’s that? Huh? You can do what? That sounds way to complicated. – proceeds to scratch butt…
… evolution is a lot harder for some than it is for others ….
Hi speeque sefan langwiches, Hinglich da bes!
Oftentimes the MDN headlines sound like something out of the “Onion.” This is most definitely one of those.
KANSAS: This is the state with a school district that tried to ban the teaching of cosmology becuase the subject teaches that the Big Bang as 14.7 billion years ago (more than 8,000 years is too much for some of these people). Kansas, whenever I’m reading on minerology or some science that presumes that the Universe or Earth are billions of years old, I think of your state and laugh at you.
Kansas, whenever I’m reading on minerology or some science that presumes that the Universe or Earth are billions of years old, I think of your state and laugh at you.
Be glad most of them are in one geographic location. Be twice as glad that 99 percent of the rest are in the same country — unless they’re in Iraq helping God speed the Millennium.
@Greg L… Kansas tried to ban the use of cosmetics?
(ducks)
get it? IT geeks need to stay employed. So they lie about how PC’s are reasonable. And no one understands them so they keep their jobs.
Of course this guy’s smart enough to tell the difference, which is exactly why he lied about it.
Well, Kansas is the state that can’t tell the difference between science and intelligent design. So what do you expect?
Oftentimes the MDN headlines sound like something out of the “Onion.”
Oftentimes Kansas sounds like something out of the “Onion.”
Thank goodness we’re not in Kansas anymore! When an idiot spouts idiocies, it is not bigotry to point this out. It’s just common sense!
The big bang theory: First there was nothing, and it exploded!
What are the scientifically proven mathematical odds of that theory being viable?
Think it through.
>kenh – You sound like you are from Kansas.
Poor try at a response.
If I were from Kansas, would I care what you thought about that?
What is your evidence about the mathematical provability of the big bang theory?
If you want to get in this game, play it seriously.
Spencer Tracey:
<<Why, when they’re all in one room, their collective IQ is bigger than the circumference of both seats in their school’s two-holer.>>
Would that be in inches, feet, yards, miles or light years? 😀
Any State that can produce both Bob Dole and Gordon Parks can do anything and do unbelieveably dumb things!
Jayhawks SUCK!
My God, how can anyone get mad at Kansas?
Carry on my wayward son, and ignore the hate filled libs.
Their brains are just dust in the wind.
Don’t believe me? Ask Steve Walsh. He Knew….
that some of you are past the point of know return.
>kenh
OK, I’ll play your game.
First off if you want to talk “mathematical probabilities” I suggest you look up Stephen Hawkings and ask him. I’m sure he can set you straight.
Secondly, your brief synopsis of from “nothing” to a “big bang” is confused mix of science and biblical mythology. The bible states that there was void and then there was something.
The big bang comes from a point where all matter is condensed in one place and then explodes. Not from nothing.
Get your science and mythology separated and then you can play.
well put Drunk Cheney
Hey, wanna go quail huntin’ ?
Some of you guys really seem to have a lot of time on your hands.
@ FormerEdTech, most of your statement is wrong, you must not be a very good tech.
@ FormerEdTech, most of your statement is wrong, you must not be a very good tech.
@ FormerEdTech, most of your statement is wrong, you must not be a very good tech.
@ FormerEdTech, most of your statement is wrong, you must not be a very good tech.
Golly Gee kenh, I never bothered to try to think the Big Bang theory through before. And I’m sure no scientist ever thought it through either! Boy, I’m sure glad YOU HAVE THOUGH!!! Why the hell do we need scientists? For every answer to the natural world, we need look only no further than one of your books of mythology. You know, one of those “bible-type books” that tell us to stop bothering to figure out how the natural world works and how everything is the creation of an invisible, magical being.
Have you figured out yet that I’m being facetious? If not, then I’ll flesh it out better for you as to why I would prefer NOT to run down to my nearest church, synagog, or mosque for an explanation of a scientific question: The astronomer Bologna Cecco d’Ascoli was burnt alive by the church in 1327 for suggesting the “theory” that people live on the other side of a round world. When Copernicus, around 1513, wrote that the earth goes around the sun, the church violently opposed this theory for the next three hundred years. Galileo spent the last nine years of his life under house arrest for publicly supporting this view. This time around, certain religious forces take issue with the theory of evolution. And belief in creation myths and superstition didn’t solve jack in the way of medicine. Religion massively prolonging human suffering with their stupid superstitious theories of disease, holding that:
• Disease is caused by sin
• Insanity is caused by demons
• Pope Boniface VIII caused the outlawing of dissection for more than two centuries
So spare me your “think it through” hogwash. It amounts to nothing more than “I broke my brain and went with the Easter Bunny theory so now I’m fat, dumb, and happy.”
So what’s your response going to be to all the above history(?) “”Oops… my bad”
Hey, Drunk Cheney
“One can imagine that God created the universe at literally any time in the past. On the other hand, if the universe is expanding, there may be physical reasons why there had to be a beginning. One could imagine that God created the universe at the instant of the big bang, or even afterwards in just such a way as to make it look as though there had been a big bang, but it would be meaningless to suppose that it was created before the big bang. An expanding universe does not preclude a creator, but it does place limits on when he might have carried out his job! [Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (New York: Bantam, 1988), pp. 8-9.]
I remember readin this back when I was young, and smart……
Kansas on the other hand didn’t see the difference between creationism and science either, so …
MacDailyNews Take when Kansas announced this:
“Kansas City school administrators obviously have their act together on this one. The only type of hardware that school systems should be considering today are Apple’s OS-unlimited Macs. If any school system is considering spending money on OS-limited PCs from HP, Dell, Gateway, or any other PC box assembler, taxpayers should complain loudly because their money would be slated to be wasted foolishly. Only Apple Macs can run the world’s most advanced operating system and, if need be, Linux variants and Microsoft’s porous Windows.”
Why No MDN Take:
The same heroic Kansas City school administrators who chose Macs last week believe Dells and Macs are fundamentally the same thing. This is with good reason because if you pull a Mac apart you find that it has basically the same contents as a Dell. Thank You Kansas for opening the eyes of Mac Fanboys Everywhere.
“went with the Easter Bunny theory”
The Easter Bunny (pbuh) will crush you beneath her fiery paws and nibble upon your entrails, Unbeliever.
kenh:The big bang theory: First there was nothing, and it exploded!
What are the scientifically proven mathematical odds of that theory being viable?
Think it through.
First there was nothing, then there was a bearded old man who lives in the clouds and tells a nomadic tribe of sand herders to bash babies’ heads against rocks.
You couldn’t figure out how to pull your head out of your ass. Go grow corn.
KC,
Hays and Kansas City are completely different school systems, you retard.
Good God, the world is polluted with idiots!
FormerEdTech I can see why you are indeed Former..
Wow! All kenh did was to make a statement that you didn’t like, just like Bologna Cecco d’Ascoli and Copernicus did to the people of the early church. You then attack him with complete flaming hatred, again just like the people of the early church. Your vile emotional response has clearly demonstrated that you are no different than those you hate in the early church. Welcome brother!
“Not long ago, Kansas would have responded to the current situation by making the bastards pay. This would have been a political certainty, as predictable as what happens when you touch a match to a puddle of gasoline. When business screwed the farmers and the workers – when it implemented monopoly strategies invasive beyond the Populists’ furthest imaginings — when it ripped off shareholders and casually tossed thousands out of work — you could be damned sure about what would follow.
Not these days. Out here the gravity of discontent pulls in only one direction: to the right, to the right, further to the right. Strip today’s Kansans of their job security, and they head out to become registered Republicans. Push them off their land, and next thing you know they’re protesting in front of abortion clinics. Squander their life savings on manicures for the CEO, and there’s a good chance they’ll join the John Birch Society. But ask them about the remedies their ancestors proposed (unions, antitrust, public ownership), and you might as well be referring to the days when knighthood was in flower.“
-What’s the Matter with Kansas? (2004)Thomas Frank
Your vile emotional response has clearly demonstrated that you are no different than those you hate in the early church. Welcome brother!
First, none of us is your brother, thank Og. Second, unlike the church, I haven’t tortured, mutilated or burned at the stake anyone who dares to state the world is round. So I am different. I’m a much better human being than you and kenh are, anyway.
Actually, I think it is a good thing that so many people get sucked into using Windows. It gives those of us who use the superior Apple technology that much more of an edge in the marketplace. Just one case in point; arguably the most successful broadcaster in the history of the world is a Mac user. Coincidence? I think not.
Be glad most of them are in one geographic location. Be twice as glad that 99 percent of the rest are in the same country — unless they’re in Iraq helping God speed the Millennium.
What does this even mean? Does anyone who believes this kind of mindless rushish even realize that our Middle East policy is 180 degrees off of what would usher in the End Times as described in the Bible?
Now, Kerry’s policies would have specifically fulfilled Biblical prophecy regarding Armageddon but my guess is that “Educated Person” (there’s an ironic moniker if ever there was one) is wholly ignorant of this truth.
@ To GregL
<i>Second, unlike the church, I haven’t tortured, mutilated or burned at the stake anyone who dares to state the world is round. So I am different. I’m a much better human being than you and kenh are, anyway.<i>
Isaiah was the first Bible believer to state that the Earth was round, this was around ~700BC. Of course, many pagans believed the earth was flat for many years after that of course. Most of those same people also believed in naturalism as well. Probably just a coincidence though.
I don’t recall that the Church “tortured, mutilated or burned at the stake” anyone for a belief in a round earth (of course, it is not really so much “round” as spherical) but maybe you can produce evidence for this? I doubt you can but feel free to go on spouting ignorant liable if that makes you feel better about your own belief systems.
Lighten up y’all.
For decades, the most outspoken citizens of Kansas have all been authoritarians with limited thinking skills. Due to these activist’s limited thinking skills, Kansas’s citizens have all received sub-standard educations, thus keeping the cycle of ignorance going.
So I give credit to the fine halfwits from Kansas who overcame their limitations and learned themselves howta work one a dem der ‘puter contraptions.
Get er done.
Busting false beliefs: . . . it is not really so much “round” as spherical. . . .
Specifically, it’s an oblate spheroid.
. . . but feel free to go on spouting ignorant liable. . . .
The word for which you are groping, I presume, is libel. Now that you know how to spell it, look it up in a dictionary and end your ignorance as to what it is.
@ Busting false beliefs
You’re cracking me up. Using the Bible to debate science is like using a Harry Potter novel to debate steroid use among pro athletes.
But keep reading your Bible. Sooner or later you might discover all the thousands and thousands of passages that are abhorrent to rational, sentient beings. Perhaps you may gain some real insight and possibly grow out of your limited, authoritarian view. Perhaps you may discover that your Bible is self-contradictory and hilariously flawed.
But probably not. You are likely a product of American public schools. You have a lifetime of poor education to overcome.
So, keep up the “false belief” busting. The rest of the civilized world needs a good laugh and lately the US government is only good for tragic comedy.
Just so no one is confused, I wrote my first entry under the pen name “Greg L”
The second one, addressed as “@ Greg L” was an opposing response from a religious-type over how I had bashed kenh.
Oh, and to “@ Greg L”: Wahh. I’m not bashing the kenh, I tearing apart his ideas and exposing the flaws in his logic. It wasn’t a “vile emotional response” or “flaming hatred” as you allege. However, YOUR response accusing me of such is a clear indicator that having your superstitions in magical beings trampled upon stung. So… thanks. Made my day. I suggest you avoid defending others who argue scientific subjects from a religious point of view. I’ve read letters-to-the-editor in the local paper from religious types trying to poo-poo carbon dating because it “measures the amount of carbon in a substance” and how this can easily be undermined simply by “burning it, like a piece of charcoal.” Jeez. Talk about having one’s head buried in the sand.
By the way, I will not be posting any more comments here. Any further entries as “Greg L” are forgeries.
Hey,
I thought you may want to know what Hays High students think. Here is a link to our online paper.
http://www.hayshighguidon.com/MacPC/Mac_PCOpinion.html
OK. One last time (really really). I can’t stop imposters from posting entries under forged pen names. Religious types will do anything if they can rationalize that God told them to do it in His name.
To “Busting false beliefs”: If you really can’t fathom the notion that the church burned people alive for their beliefs, consider this:
“Because the papacy often was treated as a political pawn, popes sometimes found themselves at the mercy of ruthless rulers.
Consider poor John XVI, who thought he was the rightful pope, according to Roman nobles who pushed him onto the papal throne in 997. Unfortunately, another politically powerful pope, Gregory V, was alive elsewhere in Europe.
Gregory returned to Rome with an army and wasn’t amused at finding a rival. He ordered John’s eyes put out as well as his nose and ears sliced off. Then, to underline the point, John was excommunicated. Should he wish to object, his lips, teeth and tongue were removed next. And his mutilated body, still alive, was shipped to a monastery.”
–David Crumm, Knight Ridder Newspapers
The above strongly reinforces the following:
“ Man is the only religious animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion–several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself and cuts his throat, if his theology isn’t straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother’s path to happiness and heaven. ”
— Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth, “The Damned Human Race”
@ Greg L:
Wish you’d reconsider and keep posting in your excellent style. The non-retarded of the world need people like you to keep doing the heavy lifting.
In the USA, people of your mental clarity are vastly outnumbered and afraid to express themselves for fear of some Fox News commentator using their names/images for propaganda purposes.
150 years after the publication of “On the Origin of Species” and many decades after any substantive debate on evolution ended, knuckle-draggers like “Mr. Busting false beliefs” still believe they are in possession of some unique, unassailable wisdom.
Only in the USA and the middle east does one find such rampant scientific ignorance.
@ Derek Kandt:
Thanks for the link. Advice: convince your parents to move to a state where educational standards have improved over the last half century.
I am a huge Mac fan and think they should decide to stay with Apple, but this article is significantly slanted.
In a school district as opposed to the corporate world where there is a significant lack of funding, the decision often does come down to the bottom line. Even with all the anti-virus and spyware software and all of the multi-media authoring software they will need to purchase to be comparible with iLife software and all of training required to switch to a different operating system and all of the financing, Dell still has a lower TCO.
Due to Apple’s delayed release of Leopord operating system until October, it will probably cost Hays School District nearly $150,000 extra dollars to go Apple because they will have to purchase the Apple Maintenace Program on all the laptops to get the Leopord operating system. Plus an additional fee to upgrade to iLife 07 when it is released.
Also weighting on the technology director’s mind must be the exponential logic board failure that Hays has reportedly experienced over the last 3 years with the Apple iBook.
I think the student opinion in the decision should be valued. Thanks Derek for the link.
http://www.hayshighguidon.com/MacPC/Mac_PCOpinion.html
Richard Saunders
Still have my Macs like I have since 1988, think its the best operating system, I don’t try to make people believe that the people who you want to identify as Christians even though their conduct proves they are not and never were Christian, such as Hitler etc. . Even though you seem to have a need to lump them in with us. I think Steven Hawking is just another of God’s creations, more power to him.
You have a religion that you worship. I hate to call that religion “science” because many scientists are Christians who are just afraid to speak out in the world of your religion. So I don’t know what to call it.
But I do know that a great many scientists, after many years of thought and research have come to the conclusion that there are far too many questions that “science” can’t answer.
Hooray for the questions that science can answer, but it will never answer all of them.
We will disagree, your have your belief, I have mine and am willing to stand on that, not a problem for me and I don’t lose any sleep at night over what you think. If I knew you personally, I would just know who to avoid in my daily life. Makes my life easier.
So I will close with: God Bless You. It does not mean that he approves of you, or me for that matter. It just means that I ask him to involve Himself in your life and mine. I will listen to Him. If you don’t that is between you and Him.
Let me give yo another survey:
Which desktop OS will you be using when you get a real world job?
Windows 95%
Linux 3%
Mac OS X 2%
Might as well get all your classes taught in Latin as use a Mac, it’s going to be as much use to you in the real world.
USD 489 BOE decides 5-1 for Dell.
Their cowardly neutral statements are a euphemistic way of warding off a backlash.
They’re quietly tip-toeing around the sleeping Mac-community, hoping not to stir its ire, on their way to making a deal with Michael Dell.
Informed: Thanks. You can find me on Wikipedia at User:Greg L
You mentioned Darwin. I think you’d get a kick from a first glance at my user page.
Regards
…curious, my magic word is “done”
One of you turds is gonna get smacked in the mouth!
Greg L, if your such a fucking Mac/Apple fan why does your User:Greg L say nothing about Apple.
Another coward less Navy SEAL bastard, I hope you die in Iraq!
@ kenh:
Why must you assume that I, or any other scientifically literate person has “a religion that (I) worship”? Speaking only for myself, I “worship” nothing. Nothing is worthy of my “worship.”
You are right–there are a great many questions that science can’t answer. They are the same questions your religion can’t answer. They are the fake questions that assume answers must exist, e.g.: “why are we here?” and “what is the meaning of life?” and “what happens to me when I die?” and “what was the universe like before the big bang?”
Your religion can’t answer these pseudo-questions, but it pretends to.
These questions look like real questions, but they are no different than asking “what is the meaning of basketball?” or “why is North in that direction?” or “what happens to a guess after we’ve made it?”
Why must you religion people assume that human lives have some “meaning” which isn’t obvious? Why assume your individual life must have some on-going existence beyond your current existence? Other than your Bible, what evidence do you have for this grandiose assumption?
We know the universe is nearly 14 billion-years-old (and yes, we do know this), so the question of any cosmic “meaning” to an individual life on this third planet from a third-generation star is laughably absurd.
The answer to your chicken-and-the egg riddle is “there was never nothing.” The physical universe has always existed in some form or another. There’s no need to ponder the physical state of the universe prior to the big bang because the answer makes no difference. The universe is eternally in the process of creation and destruction.
On the other hand, for me to take you seriously, you had better be able to explain where your god came from. For that matter, you better be able to account for your god’s current whereabouts, since I see no evidence of its existence, whatsoever.
So kenh, try to use your mind and quit looking for things to worship or for pre-packaged answers to your anxieties about existence. Life is too short to throw away on some Bronze Age fairy tale.
“Life is too short to throw away on some Bronze Age fairy tale.”
The Great Fluffy One (pbuh) will sink her holy incisors into your private parts, and lo there will be much squealing.
Repent now, the Great Fluffy One (pbuh) is All Merciful and All Compassionate.
Try taking this quiz to keep up with the Wrath of God.
http://www.landoverbaptist.org/news1100/godswrathquiz.html
There is another possibility:
They knew that if they favoured *either* platform in a statement, the wingnuts on both sides would come out in droves, so to save themselves, they spoke mildly to the press. This also puts them in better negotiation position with Apple and Dell. And we know what Dell will do to get the sale…
It may have nothing to do with the actual cpus, just “business/poltics” as practiced in the USA.
kenh believes he can trump every infidel with “Science doesn’t have all the answers, and more and more scientists are Christians and afraid to say so because they will be ostricized/torn asunder/mistreated/sent to Coventy/fired/lose their funding/tortured/murdered/raped/get jay-walking tickets for expressing their faith.
He says this because he read it in the Reader’s Digest, so it must be true.
Macs might have a higher up-front cost than Windows machines, but I believe they more than make up for it by not requiring users to spend tons of time dealing with virus and malware issues. I initially used a Windows laptop in law school, loaded with anti-virus software. It only took about 5 minutes of browsing for me to get hit with those issues – you know – like those webpages you land on after mistyping a URL, that then redirect you every time you try to go to a search engine? Honestly, life is too short to deal with that stuff. I spent way more time with the IT guy trying to have my machine cleaned out than I ever wanted to. Let’s not even get started about crashing during mild use. My last desktop PC wouldn’t even boot up (at all) after I downloaded a Microsoft XP OS update – I had to pull out my hard drive and connect it to my brother’s PC to get the data off it. Never again. My iBook G4 got me through law school, even after I dropped it from 5 feet twice. Just a pleasure to use. When my mom, who is totally computer illiterate, wanted to learn how to use a machine, I got her a Macbook Pro, which she loves. In the end it comes down to ease of use and reliability.
IM ONE OF THE LITTLE KANSAN’S THANKS!!! AND YES OUR MAC’S WERE WORTH IT.. WHEN WE GOT THE LEASE.. EVER SINCE THE 2ND YEAR THEY’VE JUST BEEN GETTING WORSE AND WORSE.. THESE AREN’T THE BEST COMPUTERS IN THE WORLD SO GTE OVER YOURSELVES.. WE MAY BE FROM KANSAS BUT AT LEAST WE AREN’T ACTING LIKE FOOL’S SAYING RUDE COMMENTS ABOUT THINGS WE DON’T KNOW ABOUT. WE STICK TO OURSELVES SO WHY CAN’T YOU ALL JUST STAY OUT OF OUR SCHOOL DISTICTS LIVES, THEY ACTUALLY DO TRY TO HELP US. WE GET WHAT WE NEED TO GET DONE..
AT LEAST MORE OF US WILL GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL THEN IN A LOT OF THE BIGGER PLACES. ACADEMICS IS ALL THAT MATTERS NOT WHAT YOU USE TO GET THE EDUCATION.
WE COULD GO BACK TO NOT HAVING COMPUTERS AND MAKE IT FARTHER HERE THEN IN THOSE BIG CITIES BECAUSE YOU ALL THINK WERE DUMB. WE PROVE OURSELVES TO NO ONE SO GET OVER YOURSELVES AND STAY OUT OF OUR TOWN’S BUSINESS.
MAYBE IF MAC WOULD OFFER US A DEAL THAT’S WORTH IT THEY MIGHT GO FOR IT. BUT IT’S NOT WORTH IT WHEN MOST OF OUR STUDENT’S DON’T EVEN GET COMPUTERS HALF OF THIS YEAR BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL BEING REPAIRED BECAUSE THESE LAPTOPS THEY GAVE US 3 YEARS AGO ARE CRAPPY.
GIVE US A GOOD DEAL FOR GOOD COMPUTERS AND MAYBE WE’D GO FOR MAC’S UNTIL THEN YOU ALL CAN GO SUCK A NUT.
Student from Hays, Kansas.
Excuse me you “oh-so great” Mac users? What in the world gives you the right to talk crap on us.. when one you don’t even know us, two you have never been here, three you don’t know what our administration is doing or even saying.. and four you’re actually the retarded one here?
To answer some of the questions up there.. no, they didn’t ask us (the students) about what we want.. but it’s not our decision, we aren’t the ones paying for it.
However, we would like to be aware but in the end all we need is a computer.. whether it be a Macintosh or a Dell.
Macintonsh wasn’t that great. They broke a LOT.. you can’t download as many things as a Dell can.. and just because Apple comes out with the ” iTV, iPOD, iHome..etc ” doesn’t make them better than Dell who makes just computers.
And for the rest of you, grab a dicitionary then dictate to us students about something interesting other than your bitching about how we decided to take Dell over Macintosh.
As far as I’m concerned, Dell > Mac.
Please, Please.. for the love of God, send me complaints.. I’ll be waiting to dictate you even further.
Aren’t you guys like 50-60ish? Get a life.
Sincerely,
KANSAS student, proud of it.
Thus the cycle continues.
kiss my ass, man.
you don’t know anything about what our admin. is doing.
let me guess, you’re about.. 34? still in your parent’s house? virgin?
Yuuuup.
Most of you people truly are the freakin dumbest I have read in a long time. I can’t help but believe that one’s IQ drops dramatically after reading your posts and If you f’n idiots are the spokesman for Apple–then the school district made the right choice.
To the students in the district…it’s nice that you support your administrators – most districts don’t have the luxury of that.
To the rest of you…where did religion, etc. come into play in the article? I thought they mainly talked about the BOE technology lease….
Tsk. Tsk. Your anger and name-calling betrays you as a person of loving, merciful faith.
I don’t involve myself in communications with pimply faced, adolescent, narrow-minded, unquestioning, Kansas clod-hopping simpletons.
All of you that bashed Hays and the people in it, please note that they are talking about the board members and the technology directors. These people do not work with the students and they do not know what the teachers are using on their Mac (that comes on all macs). We have been beating our heads against the wall trying to explain to these people that we love our Macs. And when the pc’s come, they will not have the software that the Mac has and to get it will cost more. They won’t listen to the students or the teachers, so we have to suffer. So don’t bash all of us with your dirty words. I love Macs and it is out of our control.
smitty has it to a T…Thank you smitty
I apologize to any students I may have offended. None of the objects of my satire or criticism are your fault.
But with this apology, I strongly encourage you to fix the mess your politicians and the narrow (read: tiny)-minded have created in your state.
Spent some time at your Wikipedia page. I am both impressed and humbled.
I certainly understand why you wished to bow out of this extremely intellectual thread, what with all the friendly neighborhood “christians” like “Chip.”
Its so amazing. I re-read Chip’s post, and his writing still makes no sense whatsoever. Chip must be really smart. And he’s so macho! He must be really tough, too! What an all-around American, that Chip.
Thanks for your thoughts and comments “@ Greg L”. I’ve found in life that the religious-types who are most secure in their belief system handle encounters with atheists as if they now have a new, challenging hobby. Sorta like “boy, I’ve got to get this heathen to embrace God and my Saviour or he won’t go to heaven.” Chip is huffing & puffing only because he’s angry. Anger always comes from feeling threatened. Always. The words I’ve written have shaken his belief system. I can’t get in his head, but I know that deep down, he’s not POSITIVE about his religious beliefs and for some reason, the “alternative” deeply scares him.
Chip: What was it you learned from your bible that justified your response on page #2? Speaking of “dying in Iraq,” that’s truly where you belong — amongst a people who have nothing but bitter hatred for all who worship their god differently from the way you do. Like them, you apparently and aren’t yet ready to participate in an advanced civilization that embraces that difficult endeavor known as democracy. When I posted my reply to “Informed”, I expected that you and people like you would vandalize my Wikipedia user page. Did you not know you could? I was surprised this morning when I looked at the history file and found it hadn’t. Come on; you know you want to. God says it’s OK to smite me in His name.
And to Jenny: People here dumped on Kansas because your poor state has too often been hijacked by religious extremists and brought the national spotlight on it. Temporarily successfully efforts in Kansas to limit the teachings of geology, cosmology, and evolution (because those subjects taught that Earth was greater than 8,000 years old) made it appear like Kansans were from the Dark Ages. It’s like the people in Kansas took a vote. They said “it looks like we’re 80% Christian so let’s force the teachings of the natural world to conform to Christian beliefs. I know you’d instantly “get it” if there was an isolated Muslim county in your state that voted to force school kids to say an Islamic prayer (Mohammed is a real prophet, Jesus isn’t) each morning. Backwards thought this, and the kind of politicians that spew out of your state make it look like you guys have your share of inbred banjo players. An anonymous forum like this emboldens people to poke fun at Kansas. Get over it. Everyone knows not everyone in Kansas is this way.
School Board approved $900k lease of Dell computers.
Link:
http://www.hays489.k12.ks.us/BOE/briefs/April19.HTM
The “@ Greg L” above was me, Greg L. I am the one who is both impressed and humbled.
I really did feel bad when I realized that high-school students assumed my (and your) venom was aimed at them. The students are innocent bystanders. Frankly, I couldn’t care less what computer system their districts buy. Money is always tight in schools.
My beef is with the Kansas science curricula. These poor students are hostage to their pinheaded community “leaders.” May they overcome and succeed. I think it was some heathen who once said “the unexamined life is not worth living…”
I’m not too concerned as to what laptops we get as long as I can JUSTIFY MY TEXT.. IM TALKING TO YOU HAYS DAILY
I have 5 PC’s and 4 Mac’s in the house. 2 PC’s work and all 4 Mac’s work.
Those are the odds as I see them.
One more quick thing:
Jenny Ramey
You don’t want to be making everyone’s arguments against you for them.
Yes you do pay for the computers. I’ll give you a moment to think about that.
Hey its like saying ‘lets replace all the students desks with cardboard boxes’
I find it interesting that no one has mentioned the fact that these new PC’s that the Hays district is leasing will likely come with VISTA. Anyone who has a new computer with VISTA already knows that this alone will cause immense compatability problems. As an example, if they are using any Filemaker Pro programs, they will have to purchase FM 8.5 software (nothing else will run on VISTA) and then convert their old software to that version. Not always easy nor successful! Since the BOE is accountable to the public for how they spend the dollars, it is not difficult to understand the decision to go with Dell (even though Dell does not have the best reputation anymore). After all $200,000.00 is not chicken feed. However, the grief this change over is going to cause the schools involved may not justify the decision in the long run. I wish them well!!!
Though Professor I do understand that Vista is the newest to the windows that most likely would be used, but we are not actually getting top of the line computers. Most likely the computers will have Windows XP.
And to all of the Kansas comments again I will repeat my comment on http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/13351/P100/ that we are NOT white trash rednecks there are a few cowboys, but I think most schools have at least three rednecks for every 1000 students in there school.
what is the diffrence between kansas and michigan?