It is rare that I would disagree with either Taylor or
Coletti. It is almost unheard of to disagree with both of them,
but for what it’s worth I shall.
The situation with the Apple
purchase has more depth than the simple purchase of a box. You
have to deal with the accompanying servers in place, software licenses
purchased, staff training and a host of other tangible and intangible
costs associated. Having been a consultant for many a school
system I can assure you that many mistakes are made acquiring
technology “for the children”. In this case, even if the Dell
boxes were to be 1/2 the price of the Apple I-Books, the addtional
costs to switch software, educate the educators, train the MIS dept.
and deal with the network security flaws of Windows boxes would have
been far higher.
And when’s the last time an Apple network was crippled by viruses?
The most egregious problem in Chatham county is their new $2900 per new home impact tax.
