When an OS is written in spaghetti code, it can't be maintained and requires frequent replacement.
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Apple Launches $1099 21.5-Inch iMac With 3.3 GHz Dual-Core i3 Processor for Educational Institutions
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I'm surprised that no one has talked about the fact that the value proposition with these entirely depends on whether you need a good IPS display. If you do, the iMac is a great value. If you don't, then buy a MacMini not an iMac.
Why get an Educational iMac for $1099 when you can get the current gen 21.5" iMac as a refurb for same price?
- 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
- 8GB RAM
- 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
vs
- 3.3GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i3
- 4GB RAM
- 500GB HDD
- Intel HD Graphics 4000
Assuming you can get the refurb in the quantity you want for your school.
- 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i5
- 8GB RAM
- 1TB HDD
- NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M
vs
- 3.3GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i3
- 4GB RAM
- 500GB HDD
- Intel HD Graphics 4000
Assuming you can get the refurb in the quantity you want for your school.
Do you not see the hypocrisy in your statement? You openly say that students will be using these for spreadsheets , etc, then try to justify the price of a $1099 computer. The fact that you call me clueless then implying "dGPUs=only for gaming performance!" shows that you know nothing. How about software packages for technical drawings, e.g. AutoCad?
Also you openly accept that theres literally a $400 apple tax here. How can you possibly justify paying ~45% more, for absolutely no reason other than "appulz!"
So you get a slower i3 CPU, only 4Gb of RAM, 500Gb HDD and save $200 off the base iMac price. I know an 18% saving adds up when you could be talking about 100s of computers but I'm just not sure if that's a good deal considering they will need to replace them even quicker than the retail base model. Maybe instead of lasting 3 years they will be gone in 2?
I think the biggest problem with the Mini in a school setting is it's not AIO meaning they might need desks designed with a place to enclose or mount them. With any AIO like the iMac they just need to plug in the power and they are set. Though they would likely use wired KB and mouse so they don't go missing or get mixed up between the different computers.
I think the biggest problem with the Mini in a school setting is it's not AIO meaning they might need desks designed with a place to enclose or mount them. With any AIO like the iMac they just need to plug in the power and they are set. Though they would likely use wired KB and mouse so they don't go missing or get mixed up between the different computers.
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I always wonder about educational establishments buying macs. I'm all for it but it somehow still hasn't stopped the torrent of "no one in the real world uses a mac"-type arguments. If that's true why use the to educate people about how to use a computer... hmmm...
It's so easy to toss off an insult as opposed to telling us why you think he doesn't have a clue. Put up or shut up smart ass. I'll be waiting. What do you know about BSD Unix Vs. Microsoft. If you're talking about Linux you're on more solid ground, but Unix and Linux are both very solid. OS X at this point in time is more user friendly and more practical for the average user than Linux. Go ahead...Tell me why I don't have a clue. I'm waiting.
1. "Nobody in the real world uses a Mac" is clearly wrong.
2. If you need to teach how to use a computer at school, then something is very, very wrong with the computer. And whatever computer they would teach you to use at school wouldn't be the one you use in five years time anyway.
3. Computers at school are used to teach maths, physics, chemistry, biology, languages, history, literature, music, and so on and so on and so on. So you use the computer that is best suited to teach these things. On the list of important things to teach with the help of a computer, "using a computer" is really at the bottom of the list.
1. I agree completely, I just find it funny that so many people still believe this and use it as an argument against using macs.
2. You clearly haven't met the majority of people at school. I'm 19 and just left college last year and I can say with some authority that a large number of people I have known over the last 14 years definitely needed A LOT of teaching how to use computers, and some still can't do it. Using a computer of any kind isn't an instinctive thing. You need to learn. I agree that it does credit to a computer system if the learning curve is steep but there will always be a learning curve there.
3. I disagree completely with this comment. You can't use a computer as a teaching tool until the student knows how to use it. This is the equivalent of giving someone who can't read a history text book to teach them history.
In early life most people learn to read, after this time they can use books as tools for entertainment, study and other things. Imagine using a computer as a similar activity to reading - it must be learnt before it can be used.
That is probably a function of the sad correlation between skyrocketing property taxes
vs. a low scoring, poorly educated and ill equipped for productive life class of young people.
The bottom line is, given an x sum of $ budgeted for computers, if a district has a choice of buying 100 "A" computers
or 100 "W" computers and a digital camera or a 3d printer or a LEGO Mindstorm Robototics kit,
which choice will provide the best tools and opportunity for educational achievement for the taxpayer dollar?
As the head of that department at a local college, I agree 100%. Computers are like car purchases, in which I've been on both sides of the fence. Either you...
A) Get the high end model at the high end price, and you get your money's worth. (Gambling that nothing goes wrong.)
...or...
B) Get the low end model at the low end price, and end up paying the high end price in the long run, trying to keep it running like the high end model.
Here's the problem: There is so much legacy equipment in schools because of low funding, that they can't make or can't absorb high initial costs into their budgets. Again, there are two problems presented here. First, it is financially easier to make bulk purchases when you can justify the low cost. Second, it makes little financial sense to get computers that (weren't around for and) aren't compatible with many of the things that faculty and students use on campus.
Food for thought: Many of the online resources are still Windows-only. Yes, Apple is embraced by the public, but companies (book publishers, parallel institutions) are all still hesitant to make the initial plunge into the Apple ecosystem before someone else does first. Since everything in schools is so old, legacy adapters and cables are a must. Sometimes, even legacy software is still needed. A $1,099 computer (that's very nice, runs well, and built well) is still a chore when it has to merge into another ecosystem. As such, as mentioned here too, most Macs on campus are sealed off out of the ecosystem to Media, Arts and Music.
Albeit, we have never ever had a Mac fail while in use; before the end of its useful life cycle. Worst that's happened since I've been here is a dead iSight camera on a white iMac that just got taken out of service last month. That's the very worst. (Second only to complaints that we get SuperDrives for every new Mini, making it the same size as the old Mini with a second peripheral and an extra cord.) Still, build quality can never be denied.
You have only disproved a statement I did not make, which would have been something like "There are no kids who understand computers".
He does not represent every kid or anything close. You can find more examples but the plural of anecdote is not data.
There are hundreds of millions of kids who use computers. Almost none of them can tell you the difference between big endian and little endian.
Except that it is not necessarily the school's responsibility to ensure that every student leaves being well versed in how to operate a computer. ICT is there to serve as a platform to pick up 21st century skills. If learning how to operate a PC is the biggest stumbling block, then one of the solutions would clearly be to either use a simpler OS, or even a more intuitive device like the ipad, where anybody can just pick it up and start using it within 5 minutes.
If a school were to simply buy the low end iMac Consumer for $200 more it would lower the total cost of ownership, because they could resell them in 3-4 years for a significant fraction of what they paid. Then get the current low end all-in-one.
You can't say that about a WinTel PC lab. In fact some schools buy Macs for their Windows labs for this reason.
Rocketman
You can't say that about a WinTel PC lab. In fact some schools buy Macs for their Windows labs for this reason.
Rocketman
Someone must have run a speed test on one by now.
That looks like about a 20% performance difference. Please pardon me for posting factual data.
Rocketman
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I3 LOL
We get better deals from buying from resellers with better specs.
And the new push in Colleges and schools is VMWARE/citrix.
We get better deals from buying from resellers with better specs.
And the new push in Colleges and schools is VMWARE/citrix.
As a former educational technology integrationist for a public school district, I will tell you that we don't teach kids how to use a computer in isolation. In other words, we don't have lessons on how to use a mouse/trackpad or how to use a Web browser and search the Internet, or how to format text in a word processor, or how to connect peripherals, etc. Students learn these things, but they learn them in the context of lessons and activities directly related to content areas (such as reading, math, science, music, etc.). Now, if you are going to teach a skills class in high school in order for students to gain certifications in various computer-related fields, that is a completely different thing.
I suppose both arguments have some merit. I learnt the really basic stuff like what a monitor is called, how to turn on and off a computer either from parents or from doing badges at beavers. I can remember my dad sitting me down and teaching me how to use a web browser.
I'm sure things are slightly different now as even in my short lifetime computers are hugely more commonplace in homes and kids are using them earlier and earlier, but the fact remains that they do have to learn to use a computer somehow.
Yes, when doing IT at school we used software in the context of a project, but the project itself was largely irrelevant and was used to teach how to use basic software such as an office suite. In my opinion there's something wrong with the way IT is taught, at least in my experience as these classes were either far too simple for people, or didn't help them understand how to use a computer at all.
At college I did A level computing which was much more programming based, and arguably more platform independent due to the concepts often being very transferrable.