This guy "article" is only worth that adjective: Pathetic.

However, there is something even more pathetic: MacNN echoing this insanely absurd babbling about education and the new iBook, just to get more hits from eager Mac fans willing to discuss how pathetic this guy is.

But wait, there is more! There is something else which is the most pathetic fact about the whole thing: We, the people writing in this threat, are actually buying into this shit put in the spotlight by MacNN _and_ wasting our time writing about it (Exactly like these very same lines :-) Dada at its best!).

And if this wasn't enough, you could bet that there would be hordes of school and college kids in places in the typical mac IRC channels and newsgroups and mail lists playing macho-man and old-fashioned, crusty Apple Jedis, precisely babbling about this whole thread today.

Hey, It is a pathetic world, after all.

By the way, the $200 price difference per computer is a lot.
Here are the numbers.

1 machine: save $200
10 machines: save $2000
100 machines: save $20000
1000 machines: save $200000

Yup, if I (the school district) want to buy one thousand machines for my schools, I save two hundred thousand dollars buying PCs.
And big rich Microsoft will give us poor schools FREE software.
Ohh, better get a Dell with MS, and then spend half the saved money (not counting the free software) on IT techs, and the other hundred thousand dollars on other things I need.

GOT THE THINKING PEOPLE.
$200 isn't a lot.
Try multiplying it.

I've used a Macintosh since the 128K days and still use them today. However, if you look at the state of the solution posed by PC vendors to educators, I'm afraid I must concur with Steve Wood that for a long term solution a Windows based PC makes the most sense for a school system.

Point 1) Macintosh market share is now 1.9%, while Windows-based PCs command a market share in excess of 85%. Educators have as one of their goals for computers-in-the-classroom education to teach children the mechanics of operating a computer. How can such an educator justify using a niche tool when these children are facing a Windows world?

Point 2) That using Macintosh is cheaper in the long run. Will it is true that a single Macintosh will require less tech support over its lifespan than a single Windows-based PC, once you factor in several school requirements this cost differential disappears. School districts like to be legal in terms of software. With all of the dramatic changes in the Macintosh software environment over the last decade, the Macintosh's ability to run very old software has degraded considerably compared to the PC. Only a small percentage of the software from the 1980s runs without issues on the Mac, while the vast majority of 1980s software runs fine on the latest Windows OS and hardware. This means that software upgrade costs are higher on the Macintosh, and can constitute a large percentage of a school's computer budget. This says nothing about any custom software crafted by schools and teacher, updates to which will require sizable investment of time and money.

Also, Macs tend to have the swiss army knife approach to system configurations. This ties the hands of schools that would like to save money by having specialized computers for given tasks. Every school I've worked for had an A/V lab or section where the video cameras were kept. There is where the computers need firewire and more powerful configurations; other computers in the school have simpler requirements.

Finally, if a school so desires there is no need for them to buy their PCs from Dell or Compaq - Beige boxes can be slapped together by the hundreds for a fraction of the cost of a name brand.

Point 3) There is more software and peripherals available for the PC. With Macintosh commanding a mere 1.9% market share, most of the computing world focuses on PCs first and then the niche players like Mac and Linux if they can. This makes for a more varied and richer software and peripheral environment if a school chooses Windows-based PCs.

Point 4) Windows systems are multi-vendor, Macs are single. Apple has been in trouble before, and another misstep means that a school using a Macintosh solution may lose its sole vendor. Like Windows or hate it, you have to admit that it's not going away anytime soon. This gives all system administrators surity.

Again, I am a Macintosh person and love the platform. Howe

and this person's still whinning.

Wouldn't want to have this person as my child's teacher

What did this guy expect? A insanely great laptop at half the price of windows machines?

Ain't gonna happen anywhere! They do have to make a goddamn profit for christ sake!

Apple's pricing structure for it's laptops is now the most aggressive of ANY of the major manufacturers, bar none! NONE!

NUTS!!!

This clown is the best advertizement for home schooling your kids. Can you imagine letting a dope like that teach your kid for 6 hours a day? Forget it.

Check out .

While I agree that Steve Wood's opinions are misguided and not backed by the facts, there's no denying that he is a long-standing Mac user and programmer.

MacNN Readers who wish to provide constructive criticism can read the Steve Wood at

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