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The cafeteria at Booker Elementary School Tuesday looked like an Apple Macintosh computer supermarket – except the machines were not for sale. They were gathered for scrap.
More than 140 G3 and G4 laptops and more than 50 iMac and eMac machines were headed for salvage; not resale, not reuse, but salvage.
While the computers are not state-of-the-art, they remain usable. In fact, there is a lively market for used Macintosh computers. The oldest eMac still sells for $100 on the Internet, with other versions selling for $300 or more. Used iBooks sell for between $350 to $500. The total retail value of the Booker haul probably exceeds $50,000, based on prices seen on the Internet.
One could debate the potential gain of the Macs, but the wisdom of sending them to salvage is dubious at best.
But at least it was quick and easy for somebody.
http://www.pelicanpress.org/content/1258_1.php
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Freakin' amazing! Given that many of the kids in this school district would never be able to afford a home computer, it is the height of folly not to make them available to students.
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Wow, this part is astounding:
"The Macintosh "pogrom" reportedly began when then-Superintendent Gary Norris came to town and declared the school system would be PC-only. A variety of students and teachers protested – including sending letters to the editor. Even though Norris is gone, the surplus declaration for Macs continues.
The school system, at the urging of joint county-school board information technology chief Bob Hanson, entered into a leasing agreement with Hewlett-Packard this year to replace all school computers with HP machines as existing computers aged beyond five years. The Booker "Mac massacre"– as another teacher dubbed it – is part of the five-years-and-out effort."
... wait, so one guy just arbitrarily said "no Macs", and that's what's led to this...? Shouldn't that be a decision for an IT department? I'm guessing there might have been some kickbacks to the HP rep...
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If you ever need some ammo in favor of Macs, this is a good start...
http://www.macvspc.info/
(Hasn't been updated in 3 years, though.)
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PeterB wrote:
Wow, this part is astounding:
"The Macintosh "pogrom" reportedly began when then-Superintendent Gary Norris came to town and declared the school system would be PC-only. A variety of students and teachers protested – including sending letters to the editor. Even though Norris is gone, the surplus declaration for Macs continues.
The school system, at the urging of joint county-school board information technology chief Bob Hanson, entered into a leasing agreement with Hewlett-Packard this year to replace all school computers with HP machines as existing computers aged beyond five years. The Booker "Mac massacre"– as another teacher dubbed it – is part of the five-years-and-out effort."
... wait, so one guy just arbitrarily said "no Macs", and that's what's led to this...? Shouldn't that be a decision for an IT department? I'm guessing there might have been some kickbacks to the HP rep...
Re-read what you quoted: "at the urging of ... IT chief ..."
These things are always decided by IT departments, because nobody else raises their voice, and there won't be enough Mac users to shout down the PC lovers. Teachers? Why listen them? What do THEY know about it? They're just users
Regarding "kickbacks" --- there are always incentives by HP, Dell etc. Apple offers very little unless they get involved in a big state-wide deal. And IT always loves dealing with PC companies and MS; they don't get the same kind of love and kisses from Apple. On that score it's hard to blame IT.
Regarding tossing them --- I'd like to hear from some accountants here. I'd "heard" that many places can't adequately show old tech as being depreciated and off the books unless it's destroyed, i.e. sent to the dump. I'll bet I'm wrong though.
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deckeda wrote:
Regarding tossing them --- I'd like to hear from some accountants here. I'd "heard" that many places can't adequately show old tech as being depreciated and off the books unless it's destroyed, i.e. sent to the dump. I'll bet I'm wrong though.
Not an accountant, but have worked a government job for a long time. Best way I can put it is that for most government property, they do not keep track of depreciation like a business would. Many items are kept on the books at original purchase cost, replacements usually come out of a future capital outlay appropriation.
As for disposal, each state has its own rules, and they may or may not appply to lesser governing entities and divisions within the state. So it is hard to say if this practice described in the article is normal for their as I do not live or work there.
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Perhaps they didn't want a repeat of THIS memorable moment in Mac laptop history:
http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/news/2005/08/68542
:villagers: This Sunday is the 4 year anniversary :villagers:
Bargain IBooks Trigger Mac Melee
Associated Press 08.16.05
RICHMOND, Virginia -- A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far as to wet herself rather than surrender her place in line.
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deckeda wrote:
[quote=PeterB]
Wow, this part is astounding:
"The Macintosh "pogrom" reportedly began when then-Superintendent Gary Norris came to town and declared the school system would be PC-only. A variety of students and teachers protested – including sending letters to the editor. Even though Norris is gone, the surplus declaration for Macs continues.
The school system, at the urging of joint county-school board information technology chief Bob Hanson, entered into a leasing agreement with Hewlett-Packard this year to replace all school computers with HP machines as existing computers aged beyond five years. The Booker "Mac massacre"– as another teacher dubbed it – is part of the five-years-and-out effort."
... wait, so one guy just arbitrarily said "no Macs", and that's what's led to this...? Shouldn't that be a decision for an IT department? I'm guessing there might have been some kickbacks to the HP rep...
Re-read what you quoted: "at the urging of ... IT chief ..."
These things are always decided by IT departments, because nobody else raises their voice, and there won't be enough Mac users to shout down the PC lovers. Teachers? Why listen them? What do THEY know about it? They're just users
Regarding "kickbacks" --- there are always incentives by HP, Dell etc. Apple offers very little unless they get involved in a big state-wide deal. And IT always loves dealing with PC companies and MS; they don't get the same kind of love and kisses from Apple. On that score it's hard to blame IT.
Regarding tossing them --- I'd like to hear from some accountants here. I'd "heard" that many places can't adequately show old tech as being depreciated and off the books unless it's destroyed, i.e. sent to the dump. I'll bet I'm wrong though.
Yep, I did read the quote. My point was that the Superintendent had no business making the decision for what is really an IT issue. It sounded to me as though the IT chief was just following orders, though perhaps he had some further incentive to replace the Macs with HPs.
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