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Location: Blogs Dan Maas, CIO |
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| Posted by: Dan Maas |
3/7/2008 11:27 AM |
I occasionally retrace my blogging steps and came back to my old blog for the CALET department of CASE. I posted a lament about how the dropping costs for IT products didn't seem to be resulting in lower prices for technology at schools. I hoped for a sub-laptop that could give basic functionality for a student... and now we are piloting the ASUS Eee PC which perfectly fits the bill of what we've been wanting for a very long time. Excerpt and links are below:
Yes, I recall my first laptop purchase in 1996. A Pentium I ThinkPad that I cherished. Ir ecall taking notes at the TIE conference shortly thereafter and the speaker noted that the costs to produce technology were dropping and that the trend was going to enable schools to buy enough laptop computers for every kid and completely revolutionize educational practice. I had [paid] $2,000 for my little ThinkPad...
Last month, I ordered a new laptop from Dell for my office and got hold of a nice Pentium IV machine with wireless and all the goodies. Like my old ThinkPad, it isn't the top of the line, but is nothing to sneeze at. I paid $2,000.
What happened to that trend everyone has talked about? I thought this stuff was going to cheaper?
I'll tell you what happened. The costs did get cheaper. Indeed, we could get new Pentium I laptops for $200 but who would buy them? You can't get software for them today unless you decided to run a Linux OS ...
So what's i[t] gonna be? Are we forever stuck buying $2,000 laptops that will be obsolete in 3 years and always unable to fund the kind of change in technological environment that we envision? Do we just need more money? Or is there another answer here?
What about a Vertical Market? What if education represented a market for inexpensive equipment, like a Pentium I machine, and educational software that was developed to run on it? We would install the devices for specific purposes rather than general purpose computing and these systems could be used to truly transform instruction... because we could afford to put a quality product in the hands of every kid! Imagine if we had small laptops with instructional software, textbook replacing resources and office productivity tools all on one simple device...
http://calet.blogspot.com/2005/01/whats-it-going-to-take.html |
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Re: The industry coming around |
By Charles Wimber on
3/8/2008 7:56 AM |
If we look at Wal-Mart, Sears and Target (EeePC Surf Mini-Laptop) and at
the Meraki mini-mesh in the light of an LPS student household family that will get a tax rebate for each child we can see a solution to a recession.
We have spoken about the XO-1. LPS is piloting the EeePC. The XO and the EeePC have someting in common: USB ports, battery, Linux OS, and Ethernet communications and WLAN capacity in a classroom.
The EeePC has alot of freeware on it. And one of the USB ports could be used by a computer on a stick focusing on autonomy with privacy and security.
During a recession with lay-offs could those being laid off learn some new skills (like insalling a Meraki mini-mesh). Or mastering Open Office. And what about thin film solar panels. And the advantage of open source software, open architecture hardware, open specturm (3650 GHz) and an inexpensive set of cyber-security tools.
I have also mentioned the digital to analog converter boxes. The feature I am looking for is a USB capacity on the box. To me a Meraki Mini-Mesh and a digital to analog converter box should become part of the LPS pilot.
So cold hard realiatiy for a tough recession: doing more with less, faster with greater capacity that is cheapter, resulting in fewer, but better choices that are durable and stable. Yes, an operating logic for a pilot.
Examples (with Wal-Mart, Sears and Target consumer electronics products): Yes; used by novices, casuals, newbies and techies. Yes, with multi-media that is multi-cultural, cross-cultural and inter-generational even where minorities are a majority, like in Denver.
- low-cost mini-PCs that are battery powered
- Linux OS for the open source (gift) community
- Open Office
- battery powered
- Meraki mini-mesh that is solar powered
Now the LPS pilot comes close to what China, India, Russia and the OLPC Foundation are doing - like in the hard times of a recession in the USA.
This adds meat to the hand-out I gave you on my visit: "In the 21st century confronting recession with local control and self-help." I also showed you a book about the Agrarian Crusade and the abuses of the industrial robber barons. In the 21st Century we have the global electronic highway robber barons as global multi-media cartels who want to by-pass community and go directly into the home for entertainment, buying, banking, learning and earning.
And as we watch the campaign for the President of the USA with the Democrats coming to Denver in 2008, check-out the Democrats coming to Denver in 1908. The hard time comparisons are very sobering in 1908 and for 2008. Are we going back to the future?
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