Posted on 12/18/2009 1:33:31 AM PST by nickcarraway
2010…a new decade, and with it must come a new round of predictions, right? It’s a particularly interesting time to be a pundit, though. Not only is technology emerging at a blistering pace, but education itself is undergoing some serious transformations as we look towards global competition.
I won’t even try to predict how Ed Tech will look in 2020. Ubiquitous WiFi was barely conceivable in 2000; we were just happy that we finally got to party like it was 1999. I can take a pretty good stab at the next couple of years though. Let me know what you think once you’ve read my musings.
Prediction #1: My kid will do it with Ubuntu There he is, kid #4: his t-shirt says it all. By way of disclosure, I got that t-shirt for free from the good folks at Canonical. I don’t, however, think he will end up using Ubuntu because they gave me a free t-shirt. I think he’ll use Ubuntu because he already does. I also think that Ubuntu use will continue to spread beyond the kids of the sorts of people to whom Canonical sends t-shirts. Ubuntu is not just for geeks anymore.
A teacher saw an Ubuntu sticker on my computer the other day and asked what I thought of it. He’s a relatively savvy user, but hardly a geek. However, he told me that he had just installed Ubuntu on his wife’s computer, much to her chagrin (he had already switched his own). She didn’t care for Vista (already installed) and he couldn’t bring himself to pay for an upgrade to Windows 7, so she got Ubuntu. She was completely surprised to find out that not only was it free, but she liked it.
This is the sort of mainstream acceptance (whether from ease of use, Vista loathing, Win 7 sticker shock, or whatever) that will make Ubuntu really viable in schools. I keep referring to Ubuntu, by the way, instead of Linux because it simply is Linux to those relatively mainstream users to whom I’m referring.
Schools continue to roll out netbooks in droves because of their affordability. Windows 7, outside of the Starter Edition, makes those netbooks less affordable, while the Ubuntu Netbook Remix is a robust, mature, snappy OS that looks great on a netbook screen.
One other factor in more widespread adoption of Ubuntu? Remember how your grandparents would wash plastic forks or reuse paper plates? They lived through the Depression and have a drastically different sense of frugality than younger generations. Although the recession from which we’re slowly emerging was hardly the equivalent of the Great Depression, it was certainly enough to alter our thinking on the way we spend money. Free, great software or great software for which you need to pay (yes, I just called Windows 7 great; it’s actually a very nice OS)? Definitely a question that should give us pause as we struggle, as always, to do more with less.
SNIP
Ping
That said, hardware is cheap.
Notice that I didn't say good hardware.
Good hardware still costs money, just less money than before.
Example: don't buy off-brand NICs.
Get Intel NICs, especially if you plan to run pfSense (open-source firewall), which compares favorably with its enterprise-grade competitors.
Truly wonderful post. Thanks for the heads up!
BTTT
I can’t bring myself to run Ubuntu.
Nothing against the distribution, but the marketing is way the heck too politically correct.
My three already do;)
One pleasant surprise recently for me has been to see how well Windows compatibility using the Wine application works.
I’ll take Mint....thanks.
Sure. This guy gets his news from the dinosaurs.
You can’t escape PC with PCs. At least with Ubuntu you are not indirectly funding abortionists.
ping
I am an Ubuntu fanboy, and unashamedly so. It so happens, I also like Win7. My opinion on 7 is pretty much the same as my opinion of Win2k was, when it was released. It rocks. Both, Win 7 and Win2K are vastly superior to their predecessors, in so many ways, that each has made me forget the others’ first name.
I can honestly say the same about Ubuntu. My main .nix box was Dapper, and for a long time. Sure I installed all of the releases as they came, some even in Alpha, on other machines of mine. But, Karmic (9.10) is, to previous releases, as Win7 is to XP, IMO. Cleaner, smoother, faster, and more secure.
So, in my life, there is room for both Windows and Ubuntu. Different strokes, for different folks, ya’ know, and multi-strokes for those of us who like ‘em both!
I’ve done around 25 or so installs of Ubuntu for Seniors to use, and the only issues I have, to date, are printers (arrgghh! Ug! Brfffpht!-Ubuntu/Debian are you listening?)
OTOH, Seniors with Windows call me nearly constantly, asking me about this pop-up or that message or, do I have to be worried about going to this site or that site or downloading this widget or that program?
Each OS has it’s strong points that apply to different users and their needs. And, hey, that’s what choice and competition is all about, right?
BTW, last night I helped a Senior setup VLC on two computers so he could stream his videos and Netflix and Hulu, etc. Today, he’ll be canceling his extra cable packages and that will save him about $65.00 per month or, $780 per year. That $780, my FRiends, means a LOT to a Senior couple these days. Heck, it’s a lot to me, as well.
I love technology, rock on with your bad self!
Smurf......you nerd. ;-)
We put the latest Mint release on my Asus 9.1” netbook. It’s good. Really good. I’m considering it for my Acer Aspire also. But currently the XP install is doing a bang-up job, and until it doesn’t (or I fork out the money for a backup install disk)(or I buy a USB CD/DVD burner to make a proper backup), I’m going to leave it. I’m sorely tempted to try the new PCLinuxOS on the Aspire, too.
Mint is great, and gets better with every new release. I’m waiting on “Squeeze”, Debian’s next updated release. If it’s as good as what I’m hearing, that’ll probably be my next long termer. But then, if Mint does a release based on Squeeze, I’ll try that before I make the decision.
Which Aspire do you have?
I’ve got an Aspire one 10.1”. Everyone calls their Aspires by some version number, but I’ve never looked. I got the 6 cell battery, gig of memory, in RED. It’s an awesome machine, I love it.
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