“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
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!