Dell Laptops Require Substantial Extra IT Effort Over iBooks in Henrico Co., VA, High Schools

Because Henrico Co. selected Dell laptops over Apple iBooks to replace the four-year-old iBooks of high schoolers, the hidden costs are just beginning to emerge. Henrico Co, selected the Dell laptops because they were bid a bit cheaper than the Apple iBooks and because they offered the Microsoft Office suite software. The decision has required the county schools IT staff to take extra precautions to avoid malware since the Dells use the Microsoft Windows operating system.

They have cancelled the conveniece of student email accounts, applied filters to prevent the laptops from visiting certain web sites, set up firewalls and ensured that all software can be instantly updated with security patches. The laptops will have installed anti-theft stop tags and tracing capability to locate every laptop on campus. Software installed on each laptop will allow the central administration to seize control of any laptop at any time. Finally, no student will be allowed to download any software. The procedures required by Windows are not only costly but badly crimp the potential learning experience. This is only the tip of the hidden cost iceberg. Hopefully, these extra hidden costs are being monitored by county school officials. More... [Bill Fox]