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<font face="Calibri">Wow... cheaper than a graphics calculator!<br>
<br>
Cheers<br>
Ros<br>
</font><br>
Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:8c788a890809080039oa32da58pcff8612028f5e8d8@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">Golly, can the price fall lower for ultraportable
computers? Probably yes! This $98 Chinese laptop looks very interesting
.. any cheaper and they will be giving them away with USB keys :-)<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://techvideoblog.com/ifa/98-linux-laptop-the-hivision-mininote/">http://techvideoblog.com/ifa/98-linux-laptop-the-hivision-mininote/</a><br>
<br>
Don't get me wrong .. I am not judging these as 'school ready' .. just
amazed to watch the ongoing development. You can just see to the right
hand side part of an OLPC that it is being compared with. We live in
interesting times.<br>
<br>
Regards Roland<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">2008/9/7 Roland Gesthuizen <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:rgesthuizen@gmail.com">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
<div dir="ltr">Wow, infinite funding. The mind boggles at the
prospect of a blank cheque for any organisation.<br>
<br>
Interesting observation Ken although if you discount the price of the
OS, the machine is still far too cheap.<br>
<br>
We had a good laugh on another list about the future of this per-device
contract .. consideration was given to licences on potential devices
such as virtual machines, licences on ultra-small devices such as
portables, usb keys and licences on devices that would never run
another OS such as a linux proxy server such as EduPASS. In the end, it
would make more sense to do an audit and licence what has been used,
not just the potential of a device to run the OS. <br>
<br>
Perhaps this will go the way of the milk that I was once mandated to
drink each day at school, pyramids of goodness that had been warmed in
the sun and found a ready target at the school incinerator.<br>
<br>
Say, did you spot the interesting typo in the press release? The
department will deploy with the CASES rollout both Vista 2008 and
"Sever 2008" .. ouch!<br>
<br>
Regards Roland<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">2008/9/6 ken price <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:kenjprice@gmail.com"
target="_blank">kenjprice@gmail.com</a>></span>
<div>
<div class="Wj3C7c"><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote"
style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Could
it be that the Windows cost has been paid centrally in your State?<br>
<br>
"The $23 million three year deal covers Microsoft product licensing<br>
for 164,000 devices and accompanies a hardware refresh that begins in<br>
2008."<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1582266183"
target="_blank">http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1582266183</a><br>
<br>
Alternatively - I'm not sure what happens in Vic, but some states have<br>
an annual per-device payment that schools pay. Over three years this<br>
may well change the overall total cost of the two versions.<br>
<br>
I'd be a bit surprised however if the central contract was to cover an<br>
infinite number of devices - the Rudd initiative would, one assumes,<br>
have increased the number of computers by an amount that may not have<br>
been known at the time of contract negotiation.<br>
<br>
kp<br>
<div>
<div><br>
<br>
On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 12:21 AM, Roland Gesthuizen<br>
<<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:rgesthuizen@gmail.com"
target="_blank">rgesthuizen@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> Mark is right, this is very odd pricing. The ACER Aspire one
WIndows XP<br>
> version is priced at least $150 more on some of the overseas
websites I<br>
> checked. The hardware is diffent but not remarkably so. From what
I could<br>
> see, the CPU's are similar except the linux version comes with a
more robust<br>
> 8Gb flash memory drive with no moving parts and 512MB of RAM, the
Windows<br>
> version comes with 1Gb of RAM.<br>
> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,239035649,339290036,00.htm"
target="_blank">http://www.cnet.com.au/laptops/laptops/0,239035649,339290036,00.htm</a><br>
><br>
> If WIndows XP costs $250, does this make the laptops only $60?
Whilst users<br>
> can still purchase a copy of WIndows XP from Harris Technology,
perhaps Mark<br>
> is right to spot a goldmine for Windows XP licence purchases.
Something<br>
> doesnt sit right and I am suspictious of what might be going on.<br>
> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://tinyurl.com/5m8xj8"
target="_blank">http://tinyurl.com/5m8xj8</a> (Buy XP at HP)<br>
><br>
> I would hate to point the bone but if a seller is pricing the
different<br>
> units much higher than is reasonable or fair (price gouging) or if
they are<br>
> selling a product at very low price with the intent of driving
competitors<br>
> out of the market or to create a barrier to entry for new
competitors<br>
> (predatory pricing) then what they are doing is probably quite
illegal under<br>
> anti-trust laws.<br>
> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_gouging</a><br>
> <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_pricing" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predatory_pricing</a><br>
><br>
> "He who pays the piper can call the tune". In any case, users can
pick the<br>
> cheaper laptop and still pick their own operating system, golly
they can<br>
> even downgrade fr. Good competition drives prices down, not market<br>
> manipulation by an oligopolistic industry. We already have Linux
running on<br>
> our OLPC, eeePCs and library terminals. Not a big deal, it works.<br>
><br>
> Regards Roland<br>
><br>
> 2008/9/5 Donna Benjamin <<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:donna@cc.com.au" target="_blank">donna@cc.com.au</a>><br>
>><br>
>> On Fri, 2008-09-05 at 14:06 +1000, Mark Kelly wrote:<br>
>> > I trust discussion of Rudd money is at least partially
relevant to your<br>
>> > eLearning plan, especially planning your implementation
strategies.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > The panel UMPC from Acer is a cute thing - and cheap. You
get lots of<br>
>> > change from your Rudd $1000.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > We got one to play with and see whether it can stand
running Win Vista -<br>
>> > our standard platform in 2009.<br>
>> ><br>
>> > 6 hour battery life! Not bad...<br>
>> ><br>
>> > Anyway, the interesting thing is the pricing:<br>
>> > $313 ex with Windows XP.<br>
>> > $469 ex with Linux.<br>
>><br>
>> Ermmmm... are the specs on the machines the same?<br>
>><br>
>> > Now isn't that really interesting - Linux is free, and
Windows costs<br>
>> > negative $156 dollars!<br>
>> ><br>
>> > I'm gonna buy 10,000 copies of Windows and make a
fortune...<br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> Software Freedom Day 2008 <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/melb" target="_blank">http://www.softwarefreedomday.org/melb</a><br>
>> A world wide celebration of<br>
>> Free and Open Source Software Melbourne event at The
Hub@Docklands<br>
>> and the community behind it. 11am - 4pm, Saturday 20
September<br>
>><br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
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><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<br>
> <a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au"
target="_blank">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>
><br>
> "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens
can change<br>
> the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret
Mead<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
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> and<br>
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target="_blank">http://www.vitta.org.au</a> - VITTA Victorian
Information Technology Teachers<br>
> Association Inc<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
--<br>
</div>
</div>
Dr Ken Price MACS ACCE Professional Associate.<br>
President, TASITE<br>
<div>
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</blockquote>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
<div class="Ih2E3d">Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall
Secondary College<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au"
target="_blank">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>
<br>
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead<br>
</div>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<br>
<br clear="all">
<br>
-- <br>
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br>
<br>
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
--Margaret Mead<br>
</div>
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