Ecomomics of the Chrome netbook: I don't get it

I'm trying to make financial sense out of Google's Chrome notebook lease plan. As I understand it, rather than sell the hardware, schools would lease these little devices for $20 a month with a three year commitment. The school does not own the notebooks at the end of the plan.

Since I don't have enough fingers to do the math, let me grab a calculator. If we were to do a 1:1 project in our district for grades 3-12 we'd need about 6000 units. 6000 X $20 X 36 months = $4,320,000 or $1,440,000 per year. (About $300,000 a year more than our entire current tech budget.)

While the Chrome notebooks look like nice little devices that are easily managed, have fast start-ups, and promise good battery life, they also are limited in functionality - no Flash, limited offline functionality, and few available apps. Big time wireless network upgrades would be needed and machines that could be used for mandated online testing would still need to be maintained.

Let's run another set of numbers. Supply each student with a $350 Windows netbook. Just for fun, we'll throw on the DeepFreeze management system. 6000 X $350 = $2,100,000. If rolled out over three years: $700,000 a year. About half the cost of the Chrome Netbook. Add OpenOffice for off-line productivity and stay with GoogleApps for Education. Runs Flash and might play well with state tests.

What am I missing here? Why would I want to pay twice the money for half the functionality? And be stuck in a budget with tails (risky in times of volatile school funding). Is the Google lease plan just for districts that qualify for E-rate funding for hardware?

I love you Google for your GoogleApps for Education, but you may need to re-think this plan.

To see ourselves as others see us

When kids go to the mall instead of the library, it's not that the mall won, it's that the library lost.

They (kids) need a librarian more than ever (to figure out creative ways to find and use data). They need a library not at all.

...the people who run this library don't view the combination of access to data and connections to peers as a sidelight--it's the entire point. Seth Godin - The Future of the Library

"O would some power the giftie gie us to see ourselves as others see us", wrote Robert Burns. These lines run so loudly through my mind whenever I read a post that is absolutely dead-on about libraries, but more often than not, written by a non-librarian. Godin's Future of the Library post, echoing so many of the themes of the ECIS Library conference last week, is such a post. Read it, read it, read it.

When I read about school librarians in Los Angles and their interrogations about whether or not they are real teachers, I hear Burns's lines again. While I'm not that concerned about whether librarians take attendance, I certainly am convinced that librarians must own the duties associated with teachers if they want to be regarded (and paid) as such (1, 2, 3). Are we just shrinking in horror that our value is being impugned when we read these stories - or are we actually learning something about ourselves and asking tough questions?

Oh, I've always wondered why librarians work so hard to stay in the ranks of teachers, instead of working toward being considered administrators or directors. Do we have a innate inferiority complex?

http://www.wolverineliberationarmy.com/blog/2010/09/09/enemy-interrogation-the-rubber-match/

Colors of Istanbul

I've been struck by the colors here in Istanbul this trip. Here are just a few examples. Perhaps it's been the long Minnesota winter that makes these scenes so vibrant to my eye.

Tourists at Tokapi Palace. I'm glad the females of the human species have the better plumage than the males.

View across the Bosphorus. I've always loved how buildings built up a hill create a mosaic. Up close, not so good, but from a distance, art.

Tulips spell the name of Allah with their petals, or so the guide told us. Turkish, not Dutch in origin, these short lived blooms are everywhere here.

The LWW clothes shopping for the big conference party on Saturday night.

Art in the dome of Hagia Sophia. Once a Christian church, then a mosque, now a museum, an awesome place to experience.

Dark beauty of the Basilca Cistern. Orange lights were a smart choice.

Pottery in the Grand Bazaar.

Street scene near the Spice Market. Similar commerce has been going on here for a few thousand years. "How can I help you spend your money?" ask the friendly merchants.

Harbor at one of the Princes Islands, a short boat ride from the city to a slower pace of life.

Flowers in your hair?

Appetizers at a seaside restaurant. Presentation is everything. But I still don't eat herring.

Workshops today with lively, engaged librarians from every continent except Antarctica. The common task of finding new roles for libraries in the digital information age knows no borders.