“The purchase of $1,000 MacBook laptops for first- and second-graders doesn’t add up for David Pearl, a member of the Hooksett Budget Committee and a technology volunteer at Underhill Elementary School,” Lauren Sausser reports for The Union Leader. “‘The issue that I have right now is they purchased 10 MacBooks to be used by first- and second-graders,’ Pearl said, noting that PC laptops can be had for as little as $400. ‘I feel like (the computers) are being bought without any plan. I would feel more comfortable spending the money if there was some sort of plan.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Actually, the real issue is that a “technology volunteer” cannot grasp the rather simple concepts of comparing prices of similarly spec’ed machines along with Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).
Sausser continues, “Bailey Rigg, technology director for the school district, insists a plan is in place. The purchase of the 10 laptops in August for Underhill Elementary was just a small part of the grand scheme, Rigg said.”
“The MacBooks were included in a $60,000-dollar Macintosh order that included 40 iMacs, the desktop equivalent of the MacBook, and 20 additional laptops spread throughout Hooksett’s two other schools,” Sausser reports. “The recent purchase brings the district’s computer count to about 500 computers, or one computer for every five students. Rigg said 95 percent of those computers run on the Macintosh platform.”
MacDailyNews Take: Tough decision, but we’re going to have to side with the school district’s Technology Director over Joe Random “technology volunteer.”
Sausser continues, “‘Those 10 MacBooks that we put in Underhill this year are the best machines they have in that school,’ Rigg said, adding Macintosh computers are pre-installed with necessary software, generally last longer than PCs and are more user-friendly. ‘The kids are getting a wonderful amount of technology.'”
“Technology volunteer” Pearl said that “there is no good reason the district needs to purchase such sophisticated Macintosh hardware when PC laptop equivalents are available for less than half the amount,” Sausser reports.
“Hooksett Superintendent Charles Littlefield [said] the school board made a decision in 2001 that the district would adopt a predominantly Macintosh platform,” Sausser reports. “My position on this is that it was a decision that was made long before I came on board. We’re going to make purchases that are consistent with that decision. We’re done fairly well striking deals with Apple to get favorable prices on hardware that supports and runs the software that our kids are using. That, to me, is cut and dry,’ Littlefield said. Including the Hooksett School District, Littlefield also oversees the Candia and Auburn school districts, both of which use Microsoft operating systems on computers.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Nice little story. You’ve got the informed Technology Director, Joe Random “technology volunteer” who can’t see past price tags, and the buck-passing Superintendent who’s onboard for the moment, but seemingly could flip at any time depending on which way the wind blows.
Now, there is a comment section to the article on the Union Leader’s website that desperately needs input informed Mac users. The ignorant Windows PC sufferers’ tripe is nauseating. Please go there and offer polite, level-headed information regarding why Macs are the best choice for schools. For some examples:
• Macintosh computers have substantially lower Total Cost of Ownership.
• Macs are easier to learn, requires fewer keystrokes for similar tasks, and results in much higher user productivity.
• Macs can also run a Windows and/or Linux operating systems essentially providing two+ computers for the price of one.
• Compared to Windows PCs, Macs are much easier to support and experience far fewer problems.
• Due to the rapid pace of change, specific OS/programs should not be taught as they will likely be markedly different when the student enters business; you teach computing concepts. An OS-unlimited Apple Mac is the best machine choice for schools; all other OS-limited choices (Dell, HP, etc.) are needlessly shortchanging students.
Many more reasons and supporting links for the bullet points above can be found here.
Brace yourselves Hooksett. MDN readership is on the case.
The purchase had already been made. It included far more than just 10 MacBooks. David Pearl, the technology Volunteer, is just woofing in order that he looks like he is actually reviewing the purchase. He is re-enforcing that he is fiscally responsible, a watchdog of tax payer monies as it were.
That’s what volunteers with political aspirations do.
The real question is, why the heck do 1st and 2nd graders need laptops?!
My guess is they bring the computers to the students rather than the students to the computers probably using this: http://www.apple.com/education/k12/mobilelabs/bretford/
@Tucker:
You would be amased at what those 1st and 2nd graders can do with a Macintosh. I bought my girls their first iMacs when they were 5 years old. Now, that they are in their teens…they could run around me in their knowledge of the Mac.
“Please go there and offer polite, level-headed information regarding why Macs are the best choice for schools.”
I just wanted to take a moment to applaud MDN’s take. MDN is often a shrill and uncritical advocate of all things Apple. I think the final MDN comments are right on the money. There is no need to overpraise the Mac or Apple. The truth will more than suffice.
Bravo MDN! You got it exactly right.
We’re doomed. There are just too many Joe Randoms out there. Human evolution is in reverse.
As a part of the Six Sigma we had replaced a component in the injected mold production that cost a lot less, that the disposal of the waste cost 150% more old raw material, so we are spending a lot more to produce the same body part. (of course, we are going back to the old material).
That is exactly what happens in schools and enterprise, they buy “cheaper” dell and HP computers that cost a lot more to keep them working and to get support for it.
I have one million words for this volunteer: Windows Virus.
Get a Mac, Get a teacher back, who doesn’t spend half his/her life troubleshooting PCs and wiping hard drives each term.
The other point to drive home is the case of the substitute teacher that was jailed after the Windows PC in the classroom was nailed with spyware and started displaying p*rn through no fault of her own. Not going to happen on Macs.
My kids started on a Mac at that age and use the machine productively – there is plenty 1st and 2nd graders can do on a computer (especially a Mac running OS X that they can’t admin and therefore aren’t likely to break).
The whole[entire] world doesn’t revolve around Windows, or even Windows and Mac.
Someone should remind them that they could also use Linux and have a plethora of UI options, if any of them had any real cajunas they’d at least entertain the idea of using Unix with Solaris UI. Yeah, Linux and Unix are expensive to setup, but total cost of operation should help to level that out over several years. And with so many Open source applications available across all platforms they should be able to very cost effectively provide:
– word processing
– spread sheet
– photo editing
– page layout
and etc.
On thing’s for sure, Windows should be the absolute very last option, on principle alone, if not on fact.
Laptops for 1st & 2nd graders?!?!?!?!
I was lucky to be able get ‘Big Chief Tablet’ and a supply of over-sized #2 pencils in the first grade… and it’s also when I learned to eat dirt. I didn’t get my first computer (an Amiga 500) until college.
Elementary students don’t *need* laptops. Let em wait ’til middle school or High School.
Flibbity-floo…
I work in IT for a school district that is switching from Mac to PC due to a Technology Director that is clueless and a Superintendent that’s worse. Add to that loss of revenue and the subsequent cutbacks, it’s only a matter of time. The schools and students will ultimately suffer and the taxpayers will get less for their money. I see it, the teachers (mostly) see it, but the ones in power don’t understand value, only the numbers.
Shame.
After reading the comments in the Union Leader I am surprised at how many stupid people inhabit NH. I get the impression that many of the local folks would prefer their kids learn in a setting equivalent to “Little House on the Prairie.” That what America needs, students totally unprepared for technology.
Let’s hope the smart people prevail in Hooksett.
eh, screw all that – Joe Random is right. Why even have laptops? Give the kids crayons and colored paper and let them use their imagination to imagine they have laptops – total cost = $100 for EVERY kid to have it – no sharing needed. Of course that’s not the Crayola Deluxe 128 piece package – but the generic brand 8 color pack. Then again – when these uneducated kids are druggies or strippers or locked up – it may cost the state even more money than if they properly educated them on the most advanced platform.
David Pearl = Joe Random = Joe ‘six-pack’
Students need exposure to technology and the opportunity to use that technology. Certainly Macs are easier to use and don’t experience problems with viruses/malware, etc. The computers will not and should not replace the skills of an experienced, dedicated teacher. Schools waste a lot more money than this on trivial crap that benefit no one.
Hey, those kids don’t need pencils either – they cost too much. Just give them a pin to prick their fingers so they can write in blood – it’s free!
@MDN
i doubt any of you have ever worked in a school and educated children so perhaps you should keep your profound ignorance to yourself. Just because you’ve been to school don’t make the assumption you understand the view from the other side of the desk.
Over 200,000 Winblows viruses = over 200,000 reasons to not buy PC’s.
back to the point
the college I work for recently went through the same process of evaluating HP notebooks and white macbooks.
Until you’ve been there, done that and dealt with the (amazingly!) complex issues involved in giving students and staff computers and the intractability of the some of the parties involved (apple, staff, some students), you never realize what a truly difficult situation it can be. Exisiting infrastructure issues aside, there also the issues of software: markbooks, reporting software, faculty specific software that doesn’t run on a mac, and which there is no apple equivalent or the apple version is laughable. Sure you can run it on a mac, but not without a windows license, which in itself raises the cost of a mac significantly and is a very big mark against it (pun intended). Given the minimal actual hardware quality difference in a mac and a HP, why would anybody want to run windows on a mac when the HP is about $500 cheaper and doesn’t require buying a windows license, as does the mac.
So while its easy to sit up in an ivory tower of smug, and spout uninformed nonsence about TCO, in reality is never that simple. And TCO is only one of a host of parameters. You’re kidding yourself too if you think OSX works perfectly in a heterogenous workplace like a school. Try synchronizing data and managing user profiles and so forth without buying an apple server, which also adds signifcantly to the cost, particularly if you already have windows servers.
Problem with the layer of smug surrounding the ivory tower: often it obscures the clear view on the ground.
This is just a wild-ass guess, but I think Brulek may be a Windows IT guy. Even without reading his comments, the trail of his knuckle prints on the ground behind him gives him away.
My 5 year old uses my wives brand new MacBoook. If it was Windows, he would not even be interested because of the inherit difficulty for a 5 year old to get around the Windows UI. With the Mac, he has access to all the software from the dock, and more importantly, he doesn’t need to go to the start button to shut it down.
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Exactly how many wives do you have? And why only one MacBook for all of them?
Yeah, Mac-nugget, with multiple wives, I wasn’t sure whether to envy you or pity you. 😀
MW: Groups… Say no more!
@84 mac guy
no, dumbass, I am NOT a windows advocate. I am writing this on a mac. Problem is, I have the capacity for rational thought and am NOT one eye blind to everything but osx. The point I was making was that no decision like this one is as simplistic as MDN and you seem to think it is. Far from it.
For example: Geometer’s Sketchpad is an excellent teaching product for mathematics. It is widely used in my college. As far as I know, there is no apple equivalent, and to run it on a non-windows machine, I would have to do some additional work or get some additional software. Now multiply this effort by 650 for every student that would use it and factor that into the TCO. Now are you starting to get an idea of the size of this decision. And that is only ONE peice of software. Now consider each faculty has software along these lines…so you knuckle dragging dumbass, wise up fool.