“They weren’t comparing apples to oranges,” Diane Gasper-O’Brien reports for The Hays Daily News [Hayes, Kansas]. “But when school board members in Hays USD 489 compared Apples to Dells, the price tag on this bag of Apples was just too high.”
“So the board voted 5-1 on Wednesday night to go with Dells — a PC brand — for the next technology lease for the district,” Gasper-O’Brien reports.
“The Hays district is in its final year of a three-year lease with Apple, from which it is leasing 1,800 computers yearly, including 1,450 laptops — 1,100 at Hays High School alone. The the new four-year lease with Dell will begin June 1. The district decided to switch to a four-year lease agreement to help spread the cost through an additional year,” Gasper-O’Brien reports.
“The difference in total price between the two proposals for the four-year lease was $200,000. ‘I don’t think we have any choice,’ board member Greg Schwartz said,” Gasper-O’Brien reports.
“At a technology work session earlier this month, school board members and the district’s technology committee decided to keep the annual amount coming out of capital outlay to $920,000 or less. Dell’s proposal was $919,909, while Apple’s was $945,295,” Gasper-O’Brien reports. “With all bids and all budgets included, the four-year total from Apple was right at $4.3 million, while Dell’s was $4.1 million.”
“‘This recommendation will meet our needs and serve what we need to have served in the most economical way possible,’ Woods said. While Woods said she knows some district employees would prefer staying with Apple, she thinks everyone will be on board as ‘team players’ come summer,” Gasper-O’Brien reports.
Gasper-O’Brien reports, “Woods said the Apple laptops will be available for purchase by the general public when the new computers come in. She and VonLintel will release the process for buying those laptops later this week.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, how much will Hays school system be allocating for antivirus software and subscriptions? How will they replace iLife? What are their additional software costs? Has Hays factored in Mac vs. PC support costs? What are the estimates for Total Cost of Ownership and was that factored into the decision or was sticker price paramount or the only consideration? Did they understand that Apple Macs are OS-unlimited while the Dell PCs are OS-limited?
We feel sorry for Hays students and teachers today. Too bad the wrong decision was made. Macs are less expensive than Windows PCs: http://www.macvspc.info/pages/03.html
Contact info:
• Board of Education, USD 489 Board Members, boe@hays489.k12.ks.us
• Fred Kaufman, USD 489 Superintendent, fkaufman@hays489.k12.ks.us
Related articles:
Kansas school district can’t see much difference between Apple Macs and Windows PCs – April 17, 2007
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
After dropping Macs, Henrico officials work to protect students’ new Dells from viruses – August 29, 2005
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
Henrico citizens stampede for $50 Apple iBooks – August 16, 2005
Henrico blasted for choosing Dell laptops with Windows XP over Apple iBooks with Mac OS X Tiger – May 09, 2005
The Board will learn they made the wrong decision. It will just take time. Wait til the students and teachers that were using OS X now have to move to Vista. Ouch! They will be sorry. Oh, will they be sorry.
I have had my 800Mhz G4 iMac for 5 years now.
While I do want a NEW iMAC, the FACT IS, I don’t NEED a new iMAC.
I would’ve gone thru 3 PCs by now, ESPECIALLY with this VISTA crap, so what IS my cost ?
I have only upgraded my OS as the new ones came out, otherwise, no real major add-on costs, and best of all Z E R O TECH SUPPORT COSTS!
STUPID STUPID STUPID School system –
p.s. I am going to my 30th HS Reunion in a month – they issue every Freshman a new mac laptop – go figure (Catholic HS)
Mrejag – Dallas, TX
This will bite them in the ass, big time. It always plays out the same way.
The part time tech support, usually from knowledgeable staff (teachers) on site, will change to dedicated IT types who won’t always be there. A single bad download will incapacitate the network. PCs will have to locked down to the point of being inoperable. Which will be defeated by the kids anyway. Never mind the repair costs for systems that are proven to not be a robust as Macs.
Oh well. Just another crime in the litany of crimes committed in the name of the Lowest Bidder System.
Teaching creationism is right on.
Their decision may be short-sighted, but their beliefs are right on in my book.
Signed,
A God fearing Mac User
Glad were not in Kansas anymore.
I thought the school districts were concerned about the weight of the kids backpacks. Those poor little spines carrying around those big cluncky DELLS around. What a joke! This country is so back asswards
Shiva, so going by your claim, 10 PCs cost nearly the same to maintain as 90 macs. That sounds about right.
Could it be that Dell is practically giving computers away in an effort save its ass?
Translation: Kansas school district IT supervisor needs excuse to up his/her budget to become bigger player in school district.
Just my $0.02
Just as MDN point out the Hays School Board will have a shock at the end of each academic year when the bill for all those apps mentioned by MDN come in.
The parents should also demand a 24/7 365 day support line be provided and if lines are too busy this be an acceptable reason for late work.
I think the support cost would be Dell’s Presto service which is charged each and everytime an issue arises. Who pays for that?
I am not sure if the same Presto service is in the USA as I could not find it on the US website other than a forum user interested in Presto. Dell could introduce this to the USA for all customers overnight regardless of contractual agreements, Dell has the right to alter agreements without notice.
The thing is, which comes to mind, will there be another unexpected or unplanned over budget expenditure within a school district? More parents demand an explanation from their school board because cuts have had to be made and as to why junior won’t be able to enjoy a certain after class activity?
MW ‘process’ as in yet another process where a numbskull decision ends up with egg on the face.
The board had no choice. Like most governments that put out competitive bids they’re required by law to take the lowest one. If they don’t they get sued. Remember what happened when the school district near Atlanta chose Apple over Dell even though the Apple bid cost more? Very ugly. So yes, Hays, KS made a bad choice from our perspective. But they also made the only choice they could that kept them from facing lawsuits and recall votes.
Oakies
First, I’d like to ask the users of this forum to show a little more civility and lay off the Kansas jokes. Do you think it makes you sound intelligent by denigrating others?
Second, in defense of the school board, $200,000 is a lot of money to anyone and school boards have to get their money throuh taxes and referendums and need to justify every penney they spend.
Third, I’d love to hear more comments directed to the difference between the short-term and long-term consequences of this decision. Many have alluded to it. Additional IT support? Anti-Virus costs. Things like that. Anyone have some hard numbers instead of self-serving opinions?
@Kansas,
Nice reply. Hang in there and feel free to let us know how it goes in say 3 months after they do the transition. It will make for interesting reading.
PS, are you using Vista??? Pray that you are not.
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I have worked with schools before and found them filled with nice people (mostly) and that most of the administrators have NO CLUE about running…. er… much of anything.
Best of luck with your new systems.
en
I have to admit that I’ve never really been to this website before – But you guys are getting all hot and bothered because a school board in Kansas decided to buy Dells instead of Apples?? Really?? Unless your children go to school in Hays Kansas… then who cares? How does that even register on your give-a-sh!t meter?
@ No Squirt
You are wrong. “Ad astra per aspera” is a latin phrase put out by the school board. Roughly translated it means, “from ass to asshole’.
By the time this lease expires most of the board members will probably be gone. Aren’t those elected positions?
Darkness – The board had no choice. Like most governments that put out competitive bids they’re required by law to take the lowest one
Then all government computers should be running linux and open office as they are free.
School administrators spending taxpayer money opt for the lower costing solution-you dorks jump all over them.
School administrators go with the higher costing solution-they get butchered by the press, taxpayers and government officials but they get kudos from you dorks.
I’d say it was a no brainer-much like most of you here.
PS> Give up on the TCO-you will never get the average taxpayer anywhere to understand it. People in groups are stupid.
I say let them suffer for the errors of their ways. Price alone should not be the sole factor in whether or not to consider any kind of technology (whether Apple, Dell, Hp or your mom and pop store).
There is a space between your ears called the brain. Use it sometimes.
In Kansas:
A hayseed / country bumpkin comes across a set of rail road tracks stretching across the fields of wheat and thinks “hmmm… someone designed, built and placed these tracks here. I wonder why?” A train comes by… ‘wow, look at that! Now I know why the tracks were designed and created! For the train… what a great idea. I wonder who’s idea that was? I’d sure like to get to know that person.”
In California:
A hip urban evolved featherless biped comes across a set of rail road tracks cutting through the San Gabriel Mountains and thinks “hmmm… I wonder how these tracks got here? Hey… look at all this rock and stuff. The tracks and rocks are both hard… and look, there’s some metal in that rock…. the tracks must have sprung up from all this rock and metal and all. That’s pretty cool.” A train comes by… ‘wow, look at what else evolved! It’s amazing how these tracks and that train could evolve to work together so nicely. …. almost like they were created for each other…. nah… couldn’t be…. we all know that nothing exists that has not evolved by chance. Sure am glad I’m evolved!”
Again, if you use the decision by a school board to dog on Kansas as a whole, I don’t want to be in your camp. You bigots give Apple users a bad name.
Also, “creationism” is a term invented by atheists to denigrate the Christian theology that in short teaches “God made”. There are no known “creationists” except in the minds of Darwin-thumping Richard Dawkins types.
“Intelligent Design” is not a theological argument, in such as it says nothing about the nature of a creator, be the creator male, female, triune, multi-handed, or anything else. The term “irreducible complexity” is key, here; also, the basic concept that similarity in design reflects a designer; much like you can tell the works of Picasso by his signature. Don’t forget about “stair-step evolution”, either. ID does, however, require one of those “open minds” that they teach you to have in school, and not a lockjaw, slavering attachment to any particular scientific theory.
It is a struggle of good against evil Roger.
So after the initial slew of “Kansas, you ignorant slut”, comments, a little decency and common sense have crept into this discussion.
A government entity spent less money to get dells than macs. Don’t make fun of them. Justify you opinions.
Who cares. The morons will find out soon enough that the $200,000 they saved upfront will go right down the drain in additional support costs later.
i think the biggest mistake was extending the contract to 4 years. i don’t know what the replacement policy is for broken/failed computers, but there almost has to be a limit on it; suppliers don’t sign open-ended contracts that makes them liable for potentially an infinite number of replacements regardless of what happens to the computers. the dells will not last 4 years, probably most of them won’t last 3 years. so i think there will be additional costs that the school board will have to face up to in the last year of the contract that they are unwilling to face right now. they are putting off a problem and hoping it will go away and maybe they will be retired or off the board by that time. also dell is desperate and is also only looking at the immediate future and hoping that magically something will happen to take care of the outyear problems. both sides have got their heads in the sand unfortunately, and the kids and teachers are caught in the middle.