What programs reside on your hard drive?
Wednesday, August 13, 2014 at 05:54AM Gartner on Monday said that sales of Chromebooks will reach 5.2 million units worldwide this year, with more than 80% of the demand in the U.S. That's an 80% increase in sales from 2013.
But this demand was driven almost entirely by education last year, which accounted for nearly 85% of Chromebook sales, according to Gartner.
... the Chromebook was attractive to the school system, especially because of its management, cost and low maintenance. School System CIOs are Sold on Chromebooks, ComputerWorld, August 11, 2014.
When it comes to technology, I hate to buy more machine than is needed to the job. And I am beginning to think about 90% of educators would do just fine with a Chromebook or Chromebox.
Just how many drive-based programs do people run anymore?
I use Photoshop Elements, iPhoto, and, uh, well, that's pretty much it. Everything else opens in a browser. And I am not such a sophisticated user of Photoshop that I could not do what little editing I do using an online tool. I need to move my photos and photo management system to the cloud.
The old standbys of Word, Excel, and Powerpoint have been replaced by GoogleDocs. It's painful to use Outlook. I don't edit video. The rare game I play is now online.
I wonder just how many teachers are in the same boat - able to complete nearly every task online using only a browser? Moodle, Schoology, Edmodo - all web-based. Gradebooks - web-based. IWB software may be the exception, but I don't see us replacing IWBs as they wear out and screen mirroring software takes its place.
As the opening quote suggests, Chromebook/Chromebox management compared to MDM for iPad or the re-imaging of desktops is a breeze. And one could buy 3-4 Chromebooks for the cost of a laptop.
Look to see the next big tech wars in school be Chrome vs regular laptop, not Windows vs OSX. I hear the banners flapping now...
So, what am I missing?
Reader Comments (4)
I like the post and agree. I would add that Chromebooks aren't perfect either but at least when they do crash Google tried to build in some humor. http://blog.vilmatech.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Chrome-crash.png
I wonder if the real change in education will come when business start using Chromebooks - it seems to me (in my limited experience) that most school are using Microsoft programs - including Internet Explorer - because that is what was used in businesses back in the day.
Education should well prepare students for their life after high school, and I can see Office going the way of the dodo in the next 10 years or less as more and more upper-level decision makers realize that online applications can accomplish most of these tasks with far fewer local resources. I use Outlook only because my agency uses it, and I hate it with the burning passion of a thousand suns.
I create my presentations in Drive, then download them as PowerPoints only if I have to. For now, I would look at keeping Office around for just a bit longer, but as Windows machines die, replace them with leaner Chrome devices. I would not keep a clunky laptop around any longer than absolutely necessary, and I imagine most teachers would embrace a lighter, more nimble Chromebook or Chromebox, especially if they have been properly weaned off of Microsoft. Of course, technology initiatives cannot succeed without proper staff development, and taking the time to wean those teachers will make the process go much more smoothly.
Thanks, Ed. Love the error message.
Live long and prosper,
Doug
Hi Kenn,
I wonder what the change rate in business is right now. This "what businesses use" argument has been used for insisting on Windows machines too. I want kids to know how to use a word processor, not Word and we need to make that distinction. Also look at how many post-secondary institutions are now using GAFE!
Doug
HI Len,
I agree wholeheartedly. I am now forced to use Outlook again it is a pain. (My new district runs both email programs!) I hope the economy of using SaaS apps like GAFE will eventually rule the day. It does look like Microsoft is stepping up with an affordable SaaS service for kids, but it may be too little, too late.
Doug