Do you want to save money with your technology purchases? If you are a teacher reading this blog you can probably raise your hand. Well, Cloud Apps are seeming to be a highly logical solution for schools (at least to me they are) as our current economy is not bouncing back as quickly as we would like. I work in a school and am very familiar with the numbers of computers schools typically have for say a student population of 500. Let's say your school has 68 student desktops that are 9 years old, 30 student laptops that are 7 years old, and 26 teacher computers that are 7 years old. They will probably need replaced in the next year or so because let's face it you have spent enough time polishing the brass on the Titanic. Many of them are probably so slow that student and faculty frustration is reaching a high. So, let's take a look at three options for laptops and software.
MacBook (Current Apps)
MacBook 13-inch (white)
120GB Hard Drive
2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM
SuperDrive 8x
Airport Extreme & Bluetooth
iSight camera
MAC OS X CONTRACT MAINT 36 MOS.-USA
ILIFE CONTRACTUAL MAINT 36 MOS.-USA
3-year AppleCare Parts Agreement
The current applications for all students are:
Microsoft Office Suite(Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
Comic Life
Inspiration
Type To Learn
iWork (Pages, Keynote, Numbers)
Total Price: $1242.34 per computer
HP 6730B Laptop (Current Apps)
2.26 GHz Core 2 Duo
2GB Memory
160GB Hard Drive
DVD/RW – CD/RW Combo drive
15.4” WXGA Display
Bluetooth
Integrated VGA Camera
INTEL Wireless WI-FI Link 5100
3 yr limited warranty
Windows XP Pro
The current applications for all students are:
Microsoft Office Suite(Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access)
Total: $1283.00 per computer
MSI Wind
• Intel® Atom™ N270 Processor
• Genuine Windows® XP Home
• 10” Wide Screen Display
• Convenient Magnifying Capability
• Ergonomic Big-Size Keyboard and Touch Pad
• Hard Drive 120GB
• Built-in 1.3 Mega Pixels Webcam
• Built-in High-Performance 2 Channel Stereo Speakers, and Microphone
• 802.11b/g Wireless Lan
• Comprehensive Multi-Media Application Interface
Current applications for all students are replaced with Cloud Apps:
Various Cloud Apps that replaced our current apps
Total: $429.00 (without your school working a deal) per computer
Let's just paint a quick scenario. If you wanted to replace your 26 teacher laptops this is what it would cost:
Replacement of 26 Teacher Laptops
MacBooks- $32,300.84
HP 6730B- $33,358.00
MSI Wind
Now let's have some fun with the numbers. If you wanted to give 250 student at your school a laptop from these three choices this would be the cost.
Laptops for 250 student (Half your school)
MacBooks- $310,585.00
HP 6730B- $320,750.00
MSI Wind
Have you had a computer that was so frustrating to you that life would be simpler without it. I would bet "yes". I have! My current desktop at work can barely handle what I need to do on a daily basis just to do my job. I have been using my MSI Wind
With numbers like I am looking at by switching to a netbook and Cloud Apps the decision is easy and if my vote counts I say, "Nothing but Net!"
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3 Comments
Another great post! The numbers are staggering and honestly, it does seem like a no-brainer.
I would love to hear what someone in administration thinks about the netbooks for the kids or around the school.
And for the cloud apps - if an institution like a school or school district wanted to use them throughout their organization, is there a cost involved?
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Jon Pierce Reply:
February 12th, 2009 at 8:39 pm
Will-
The numbers really are and I hope that the right decision maker reads my blog and feels the same. As for the cost of Cloud Apps for organizations and large institutions there could be a cost involved if you are looking for enterprise solutions. However, Google Apps has their Google Education Apps that is free to educational institutions. There are school districts, universities that are currently using Google Education Apps at no cost what so ever. Check them out!
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Jon I am very impressed with the numbers. I think this is a wonderful idea, and I plan on exploring the cloud apps and the others you mentioned just out of curiosity.
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Jon Pierce Reply:
February 17th, 2009 at 4:53 am
Janine-
Thank you very much. I will continue to post more Cloud Apps and look forward to reading your comments in the future.
-Jon Pierce
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Jon - the numbers, as always, add up - and this sounds like a fabulous idea. Thanks for putting so much time and energy into new ideas that seem "shovel ready" for our school. I look forward to exploring cloud apps and getting active in the world of web2 technology, and seeing how our options manifest. It's giving me some new project ideas...
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