...but it goes to point out that a machine doesn't fail to become useful after 2 years, just because it is a base model.
I agree! The point of the post was to point justs that out. There's no reason for an institution to pay $1000 for specs that aren't going to last too much longer in the market. There are better options out there for EDU customers. The current model is a better choice.
These are clearly aimed for K-12, which don't need a lot of power and will be fine four years from now.
Simply not true for everyone, and again, that school will be paying more money to upgrade long before they get to that 4 year mark. At that price Apple should just send them to the current model for $150 more.
Are you talking about the standard warranty? What institution orders any hardware without an extended warranty? And Edu AppleCare can be purchased in four or five year blocks.
Three years period, anyone paying for five years is wasting money in the tech world. An institution is better off repairing machines on a case by case basis after three years. Out of the 40 towers we have we've only just replaced a GPU after 6 years.
If your budget cycle is every six years, your university needs more funding. Machines should be replaced when their warranties expire, which in Apple's case would be five years, max. We purchase everything in four year cycles where I am.
Budget cycle isn't every six years, never said that. Machine life is at six years and the Mac Pros are still strong. Machines don't need to be replaced when their warranties are up if the institution purchases correctly. The fine arts department upgraded from single core quick silvers after 10 years of service. Our department still has 8 year old G5s in service. The Intels will last another 4 years guaranteed.
The other thing to consider for us though, is that we can't spend millions on towers alone. We're production oriented, and the small tv studio set the school back 1.2 million. dropping half a million on towers every four years would be reckless for us.
When did being an informed or budget conscious business become the sad part?
Don't know where I said that, but I might have been typing too fast.
I'm still working on a 5 1/2 year old Pentium D with 2GB of RAM and Windows XP. It earns just as much per hour for me as would a brand new top of the line Mac.
For you sure! Not criticizing, but we have to remember where I was quoting from.
Do I want a new computer? Sure do. Do I need one yet? No.
You have the luxury, as do most users. The quote was about EDU institutions spending $1000 for a grossly under-spec'd machine, which is a bad choice given how long the machine should last them.
