Microsoft offers ad-free Bing for the classroom to battle Google
news.yahoo.com
news.yahoo.com
That's an interesting use of "give."
Anyway, the idea of an ad free search engine hits right at the heart of Google's business. While I know many adults who are unconcerned about their own online privacy, many of them have serious concerns about their children's.
Google is entangled with Schmidt's creepy line.
I'm not saying that Microsoft is motivated purely by altruism - however, Microsoft could probably offer everybody (not just students) ad free search and still be massively profitable and there's not a damn thing Google can do about it.
Privacy issues are a potential long term limitation on Google's business model and kids grow up fast.
Their goal is to "cut off the air supply" to Google… just like Google's goal with ChromeOS (and the $249 Chromebooks) is to cut off Microsoft/Apple's profits.
As consumers, sometimes we get a nice deal out of the infighting.
Computer: no.
Oh and the Lenovo T400 I bought last week (Core 2, 2.4, 8Gb RAM, Radeon HD, 128Gb Samsung 840 pro) lasts 8 hours only cost $25 more and doesn't break if you cough near it.
I don't get the value proposition.
HOwever, the school district should buy a pile of shit dell desktops and bolt them to the desks like they probably did before rather than succumb to a low priced promotional Trojan.
Someone probably gets a promotion for saving the cash but do they realise how inflexible the machine is and how tied onto the vendors' platform it is.
Selling out is the only description.
Before that I functioned just fine on a Samsung chromebook ($199) for 6 months.
I can assure you, Chromebooks are most definitely a computers. (They cover far more than the needs of the average user)
If it is a ChromeOS device, I don't believe you. You cannot be an effective sysadmin administrator on a ChromeOS machine unless you're propping up Google Apps and nothing else.
If you have installed something else, the value proposition of a pixel is flawed and your education district shouldn't have paid for it.
And, I would think that for most school work, having a computer that the kids can't break would be an admin's dream.
So, the ChromeOS notebook should work as good as anything for that job.
About 50% of my administrative tasks (documentation and architecture) are entirely offline tasks?
My kids can't break their windows machine, because I know what I'm doing and have set up a strong security policy.
I wait until the end of my commute, and then use the network there. All places I work form have internet access.
For offline tasks, use offline apps, like Google Docs.
In my experience, I find that regardless of policy, windows computers are more likely to break down at one point or another. Curious though, what do you do different to mitigate that inevitability?
1. Secure by default. The default windows configuration is not secure by default - it's a compromise that is used to make it usable for people. You can (with Group Policy) lock the machine down heavily then allow things as they are required. I do this.
2. Good hardware. They have a Dell Precision T3500 rather than some shitty disposable piece of crap. I expect this will last around 8-10 years.
Windows is perfectly fine if you understand it. We have 377 Windows machines and 205 Linux machines in total. Reliability statistics are approximately the same. The only issues we get is with hardware packing in occasionally (usually the HP mid-range stuff and their laptops).
As others have mentioned: -I can ssh into any linux box I need.
As others haven't mentioned: -I can RDP via chrome app to any Windows server I need (Or more commonly I RDP to a "command" server and do all my other work from there.) This gives the added benefit of keeping my device outside the general workflow of things. I still have a windows laptop loaded with the same image as the average user, but there's really only for dogfooding.
We are a Google Apps heavy shop - so there's that.
I'm missing the logical connection you make between what my school district should and shouldn't pay for... Should your employers not buy Macbooks?
And what is Google going to do in response? Any competing project has to admit the premise that their primary product is unsuitable for children.
Essentially, Microsoft is competing with Wikipedia and homegrown solutions from school districts and the governor's brother in law.
If you are seriously calling Microsoft a one trick pony please consider the wide variety of services, software and hardware that they provide.
- developes Desktop, Tablet, phone and server OS's
- develops Development tools
- designs their own keyboards and mouse hardware
- sells a video game console
- runs one of the largest online email providers
- runs a huge online gameing network
- runs one of the largest SAAS/PAAS networks(Azure)
- develops one of the most popular web servers
- develops their own web sdk(asp.net)
- runs a huge network of conferences
- runs their own book publishing arm ....
I've got another 10 or so off the top of my head. Microsoft has many warts, but in no way can you call it a one trick pony.
Don't know why you got the idea I was referring to Microsoft at all.
Edit: To clarify, and before I get another laundry list of achievements, I clearly don't think Google is one either.
My ICT teacher was quite open that Microsoft essentially wrote his curriculum and provided all his funding, and that's why all we learned was Excel/Access.
I don't know if it's the McDonald's strategy either---kids love McDonalds, then grow out of them.
I'd say it's more like the tobacco industry's strategy. Most smokers I know got hooked as kids and couldn't quit after growing up.
Because they can't sell them... this is just PR garbage.
Why? Well that's a reasonably safe way for parents to allow computer use with less supervision. It's not quite a walled garden, but at least there's a shared interest among the adults.
In other words, Microsoft is helping school districts solve the problem of solving problems for parents - and without having to stipulate which browser people use at home or in the classroom - many mobile browsers do not allow plugins.
And as public institutions [under the US system] parents look to the schools both to provide proper resources for completing out of school assignments and are willing to assign blame for technological issues which are for practical matter beyond the school's control - i.e what comes across the student's browser while sitting at the kitchen table.
Outside the bubble, most people are not that tech savvy and the trend is toward passive use of browsing devices not managing plug-ins and maintaining browser side scripts. And outside the bubble, people use school websites as portals - the schools are setting them up that way.
Microsoft is marketing something simple - if you get advertizing you clicked on the wrong link. That can be explained to the principal, the teacher in the classroom, the student, their dad, and the president of the school board - and without much more than those literal words.
Generate a false problem: "You don't wan't ads on your search engine do you!?"
Claim to have a solution: "You can use Bing! We don't have ads for students!"
As a systems admin for a large school district, I'm very comfortable stating that what Microsoft and Apple offer to education is a joke compared to Google's offerings.
Not even comparable products.
I'm asking because besides search, and the ability to search effectively, which I think is a very necessary skill for a modern education, I've never considered Google as company with educational offerings.
So when Google comes along and says "Hey, for $199 here's a system that has an expected life of 2 years, minimal deployment overhead and integrated services that connect to your existing AD infrastructure"
It's a no brainer. Chromebooks will, without question, be dominant in schools everywhere in the next 2 years.