Rant VI - HCPS from Apple to Dell
On April 28, 2005, Henrico County Public Schools decided to switch from a lease with Apple that ends this year, to a lease with Dell.
This is possibly the stupidest decision Henrico County has made in my 12 years of being in their school system, and that’s outweighing some pretty stupid decisions.
Not only are we switching from a superior system to an inferior system, but now we have to retrain the TSTs, retrain the Help Desks, retrain the entire school system, reconfigure every single file server to work through FTP instead of AFP, and undo all the hard work myself and the Info-Freeman team were doing on that informational site for the students because now we don’t use Apple.
Now, to better understand the stupidity a little more, let’s pick apart the article:
“Input was received from hundreds of teachers, students, staff, parents and community members about the challenges with the current laptop program.”
Yeah… that’s nice… but what do they know about computers?!
“A nine-member evaluation committee made up of teachers, principals and administrators studied the three RFPs and unanimously voted to recommend Dell’s proposal.”
Again, this tells me that the people that were voting know nothing about computers. I’m somewhat sad to say that my own school’s principal, Dr. Pruden, was on that evaluation committee.
“Making sure every high school student may utilize a laptop every day was one of the priorities for this new contract, Morton said. At any given time, he said 10 to 15 percent of the students in each classroom do not have an iBook due to maintenance issues. ‘That presents a huge problem with instruction,’ Morton said.”
Teach people not to smash their computers on walls, run over them, and slam them down when they’re in backpacks, and that wouldn’t be the problem. You’re not going to see any change come next September when we move to Dells, buddy.
“As for software, Morton said everyone he talked to at every level wanted Microsoft Office. The iBooks utilize AppleWorks. ‘Office will be on every machine,’ Morton said.”
Oh, really? Because I work in the Freeman High School Help Desk, Mr. Morton, and I didn’t see you coming to talk to me, or any of my colleagues, or hear about you visiting any of my colleagues at any other schools. Seems you missed a level there.
“Lloyd Brown, director of technology for Henrico schools, explained the features of the new Dell Inspiron 600M laptop. The screen is 14 inches compared to the iBook’s 12-inch screen. It has two USB ports and a track pad for moving the mouse. The Dells will utilize a Windows XP operating system.”
So… the only advantage is screen size? Because I looked at the specs, and they’re horrible compared to the iBook, not to mention it lacks a Firewire port.
“Brown also addressed the question of security —? how to prevent students from accessing inappropriate web sites. First of all, he said, ‘The type of laptop does not have anything to do with security — it’s your filters. Therefore, security will be a challenge with any product.’”
He got one thing right, the laptop is a case and some hardware parts. However, the brand behind it and the Operating System it utilizes and the users that use it have everything to do with it. Dell is no where near Apple when it comes to Customer Service or Support. Also, Windows is no where near Mac OS X in security prevention, hence why we see security bullentins every month from Microsoft. And it may be the responsibility of the student to maintain the security of the laptop once they get home, but you know better than that, Mr. Brown. Who’s going to have to deal with the viruses? The Department of Technology and the Help Desks. Who’s going to have to deal with the viruses that leak into the network and spread to every laptop in the system? The Department of Technology and the Help Desks. Who’s going to have to deal with the people who will still download and view porn at home? The Department of Technology and the Help Desks.
But wait, there seems to be one advantage to come out of all of this:
“Other than price, loaners and software, fees were another issue for the new contract. The $50 teacher fee and $100 student deductible for damage were eliminated, although the $50 student fee will remain.”
That’s good that you guys got rid of the $100 deductible. I’m sure the other Help Desk students will join me in smashing the Dell Inspiron 600M’s on the wall upon arrival without having to pay anything when we say, “Oops, I dropped it.”
And on a furthur, more personal, note, I’d like to say I own a Dell Inspiron (Thanks, Reid). Though I love it to death and I use it for all it’s worth, it’s a piece.
So, here’s to you, HCPS— enjoy your mistake.
Katie said...
I don’t even know how to respond to this event. It just hurts on the inside. Henrico County has officially screwed us all over. I know they’re going to regret this though.
April 29, 2005 @ 02:04 PM