[Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 studentin northern victoria primary schools

Tue Mar 24 09:29:17 EST 2009

I have heard this too and can easily imagine these being quickly 'upgraded'
to Windows 7 over Vista when it is due (although Windows 7 is still a Beta
product). Unless users run some bench tests with other operating system
flavours, it is hard to say what runs best. Two decades ago I did well
enough with WordStar on a 286 laptop, albet with no mouse. Increased
competition with open source products is driving these falling prices (and
profit margins) for all the netbook hardware and software and in the end,
all of us consumers are winners. The change has been a long time coming.

Say, have some of you heard the new Apple rumour for a netbook market entry?
Looks similar to plans for the OLPC mark 2 computer with dual touch screen
functions related to the iPhone .. fascinating entry. Has anybody had some
classroom experience with the iPod Touch units?

Regards Roland

2009/3/24 Bill Kerr <billkerr at gmail.com>

> hi rob,
>
> I'm not surprised they are running proprietary software but am surprised
> they are running vista. To quote from a recent wired article:
>
> Nearly every company in the PC industry has had its game plan uprooted by
> netbooks. Microsoft had intended to stop selling Windows XP this summer,
> driving customers to its more lucrative Vista operating system. But when
> Linux roared out of the gate on netbooks, Microsoft quickly backpedaled, extending
> XP<http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2008/apr08/04-03xpeos.mspx>for another two years—specifically for netbooks. Most experts guess that
> Redmond can charge barely $15 for XP on a netbook, less than a quarter of
> what it previously sold for. (Microsoft corporate vice president Brad Brooks
> assures me the company is earning "good money" on the devices and plans to
> make sure its next OS, Windows 7, can run on netbooks—Vista performs poorly
> on them.) For its part, Intel is selling millions of its low-power Atom
> chips to netbook manufacturers. "We see this as our next billion-dollar
> market," says Anil Nanduri <http://www.spoke.com/info/p4gnY93/AnilNanduri>,
> Intel's technical marketing manager—except that the company makes only a
> fraction of the money on an Atom chip as on a more powerful Celeron or
> Pentium in a full-size laptop.
>
> http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks?currentPage=all
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Mar 23, 2009 at 9:53 PM, Costello, Rob R <
> Costello.Rob.R at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>
>> HI Bill
>>
>> its been on the cards for ages and seems finally official
>>
>>
>> http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf
>>
>> i've seen the models  (or at least the same model and software image that
>> one of the schools here had prepurchased) - Lenovo - i don't know the exact
>> brand - 1.6 Ghz chip i think
>> running vista and seemed suprisingly responsive
>>
>> afraid i'd choose them, and the software image, over the XO / OLPC sugar
>> environment that might have indirectly influenced the design of the netbook
>> market
>>
>> cheers
>>
>> rob
>>
>> ________________________________
>>
>> From: yr7-10it-bounces at edulists.com.au on behalf of Bill Kerr
>> Sent: Mon 3/23/2009 12:04 AM
>> To: Year 7 - 10 Information Technology Teachers' Mailing List
>> Subject: [Yr7-10it] netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6
>> studentin northern victoria primary schools
>>
>>
>> netbooks being distributed to every year 5 and 6 student in northern
>> victoria primary schools
>>
>> press release
>>
>> http://candybroadcountry.blogspot.com/2009/02/hi-tech-mini-netbooks-to-boost-learning.html
>>
>> brochure to parents (pdf)
>>
>> http://www.eduweb.vic.gov.au/edulibrary/public/ict/netbooks/netbook-parent-brochure.pdf
>>
>> Anyone have more information about this? I'm preparing a talk about the
>> potential of netbooks for my school staff and for the CEGSA conference in
>> July (I'll post my notes somewhere in due course, still at the research
>> stage)
>>
>> --
>> Bill Kerr
>> http://billkerr2.blogspot.com/
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"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
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