Steve Jobs has died

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear

This is the worst idea in education ever. Books on toys is only going to be a distraction and increase its cost. When paper based (or whatever lower cost media based, like memory card even) would let schools use them over and over instead of spending $500 on a toy then the same retail price for one license of student, then locked into a vendor.

Make students do their homework flipping through books, unless of course if you can drop the price of an e-reader down to $100 with multiple competing book stores and put no games or web browser on it.



Agree 100%

 

[65cuda]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: 65cuda
I'm kind of surprised that more schools don't do this actually. It would seem to be a better system of buying books that are sometimes already outdated and then keeping them. Never mind that I've seen my kids carrying around book bags that were very heavy and actually cause problems. I also like that the doctors office now has tablets or laptops with your information so that it is a lot easier for them to be able to see your history instead of trying to go through multiple pages in a file. Even the doctors I've talked to liked it because the handwriting isn't a problem.


This is the worst idea in education ever. Books on toys is only going to be a distraction and increase its cost. When paper based (or whatever lower cost media based, like memory card even) would let schools use them over and over instead of spending $500 on a toy then the same retail price for one license of student, then locked into a vendor.

Make students do their homework flipping through books, unless of course if you can drop the price of an e-reader down to $100 with multiple competing book stores and put no games or web browser on it.



Actually I would bet that if a school district orders enough they can get quite a deal on some basic tablets or laptops pretty easy. Also the kids I know of hate the printed book. They will read something on the computer much faster than they will in a book. Just seems to be the way it is now. There are already school districts that are using ebooks and as far as I know it seems to be favorable.

 

[65cuda]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: 65cuda
While I agree that Jobs was a great force in the world of technology it does kind of bother me the almost religous adulation of him. Yes he did wonders in his short time, but at the same time now you can't hold a conversation with somebody because they have to be on their smart phone. You never get down time away from work because even on vacation you are still hooked up. I guess it is more a deal of he did wonders, but at what cost.


You could say the same thing about Henry Ford or Einstein.


I don't believe you can say the same thing about either one. Neither one came up with a product that you carried around with you day and night and couldn't get people to get away from to hold a conversation. Now Ford some have a simular adulation I guess, but it is still a different deal to me.

 

[Mystic]

People in at least the USA are pretty fond of their cars. Most pretty are driving quite a bit. And I have to turn on the lights in my house when it gets dark. So I would say that Henry Ford and Edison had probably as much influence as Steve Jobs.

 

[65cuda]

Influence yes, but the reverence like is being heaped on Jobs, no, that I wouldn't agree with. Especially with Edison. Now like I said with Ford people used to be diehard Ford fans, but now it is a different story more many.

 

[greenaccord02]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: 65cuda
I'm kind of surprised that more schools don't do this actually. It would seem to be a better system of buying books that are sometimes already outdated and then keeping them. Never mind that I've seen my kids carrying around book bags that were very heavy and actually cause problems. I also like that the doctors office now has tablets or laptops with your information so that it is a lot easier for them to be able to see your history instead of trying to go through multiple pages in a file. Even the doctors I've talked to liked it because the handwriting isn't a problem.


This is the worst idea in education ever. Books on toys is only going to be a distraction and increase its cost. When paper based (or whatever lower cost media based, like memory card even) would let schools use them over and over instead of spending $500 on a toy then the same retail price for one license of student, then locked into a vendor.

Make students do their homework flipping through books, unless of course if you can drop the price of an e-reader down to $100 with multiple competing book stores and put no games or web browser on it.



When it started, I felt the same way as you do.

Initial investment really isn't that high. Management's easy, too. There's nothing we had to add to the backend except a management server for the iPads. Wireless infrastructure was already in place. Everything is locked down on them, so it's not very much of a toy at all. Also, the licensing costs are pretty reasonable. You don't save a huge amount compared to books, but it certainly doesn't cost more and the info is much more accessible and constantly updated. It's a book that has audio and video, too. Initially it seems bad, but once you really look at it you see that this is where things are going and it's for the better.

 

[tonycarguy]

I have enormous respect for him because he did something many people didn't think was possible. He successfully marketed tech gadgets to women.

If you ever used computers and geeky stuff in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, you know they were primarily used by males. Women wanted a computer as badly as they wanted a power drill or lawnmower. That changed w/ Apple products; the Macs from the 90s, then the iPod, then iPhone and iPad. Virtually every one of my female friends under 35 wants an iPhone. And they want a Macbook, not a Dell or Gateway or Toshiba.

To understand how significant this is, it would be like a CEO successfully marketing handbags and cosmetics to every straight male out there, to the point that guys would spend their entire paycheck on a new handbag and wait 3 hours each time a new one was released.

Jobs was a genius.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: 65cuda
Actually I would bet that if a school district orders enough they can get quite a deal on some basic tablets or laptops pretty easy. Also the kids I know of hate the printed book. They will read something on the computer much faster than they will in a book. Just seems to be the way it is now. There are already school districts that are using ebooks and as far as I know it seems to be favorable.


Originally Posted By: greenaccord02

When it started, I felt the same way as you do.

Initial investment really isn't that high. Management's easy, too. There's nothing we had to add to the backend except a management server for the iPads. Wireless infrastructure was already in place. Everything is locked down on them, so it's not very much of a toy at all. Also, the licensing costs are pretty reasonable. You don't save a huge amount compared to books, but it certainly doesn't cost more and the info is much more accessible and constantly updated. It's a book that has audio and video, too. Initially it seems bad, but once you really look at it you see that this is where things are going and it's for the better.


It is an item that can be easily stolen, out of battery, hacked and damaged, software crash, etc. And let's not even talk about the need to upgrade as technology advance, on top of the amount of money for book licensing.

There are some benefit, I agree, mainly in reduced weight and inventory control. Students no longer need to haul 20lbs of paper to school in exchange for limited battery life. School only pay for book license for the number of students, with no extra license wasted just in case there are additional students, but in the case of negotiated book price it may be a wash.

Text book publisher would be the biggest winner because they no longer need to pay for huge inventory cost and virtually eliminated used book supply that eats into their profit margin. I was trading used book back in college and learned how important is risk management, on how long to keep a used book vs selling right away and buy it back later as needed.

I don't think the price is low enough to justify them as textbook yet. Maybe if it is down to $200 it would be worth it for college books, but for elementary and middle school (and even some high school), I think paper based books is still the way to go.

 

[Turk]

Yea, and he didn't NEED a College Degree!!

 

[Silk]

I'd probably be banned if this was posted separately,perfect timing.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10757088

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear

This is the worst idea in education ever.
Make students do their homework flipping through books, unless of course if you can drop the price of an e-reader down to $100 with multiple competing book stores and put no games or web browser on it.

For right now I agree with you. But I would guess that in 10+ years we are gonna be there, unfortunately.

And while I am not for going back to writing with sticks in the stand, I think we are losing something in the process.

 

[greenaccord02]

Originally Posted By: Al
Originally Posted By: PandaBear

This is the worst idea in education ever.
Make students do their homework flipping through books, unless of course if you can drop the price of an e-reader down to $100 with multiple competing book stores and put no games or web browser on it.

For right now I agree with you. But I would guess that in 10+ years we are gonna be there, unfortunately.

And while I am not for going back to writing with sticks in the stand, I think we are losing something in the process.

You know, a letter is infinitely more personal than a phone call...

Sorry guys, it's easier, it's cheaper, and I hate to tell you it's just better. You're right that we lose something in the process, but we gain much more.

 

[eljefino]

Originally Posted By: 65cuda
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Originally Posted By: 65cuda
While I agree that Jobs was a great force in the world of technology it does kind of bother me the almost religous adulation of him. Yes he did wonders in his short time, but at the same time now you can't hold a conversation with somebody because they have to be on their smart phone. You never get down time away from work because even on vacation you are still hooked up. I guess it is more a deal of he did wonders, but at what cost.


You could say the same thing about Henry Ford or Einstein.


I don't believe you can say the same thing about either one. Neither one came up with a product that you carried around with you day and night and couldn't get people to get away from to hold a conversation. Now Ford some have a simular adulation I guess, but it is still a different deal to me.


The angle I was going for is they've invented or popularized or set in motion a revolutionary new force on the world, but at what cost?.

 

[JHZR2]

I found this interesting about Steve:

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/8-things-didn-t-know-life-steve-jobs-172130955.html

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
You guys really have to turn every single thread into politics don't you? Even when someone died, an opportunity not to waste.

So, did you not read the article?
Originally Posted By: Kevin D. Williamson
I don’t know what Steve Jobs’s politics were, I don’t much care, and in any case they are beside the point.

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Personally not a fan of SJ for various reasons (charity clause, not very much of a team player and turn team against each other, etc), but at least he pays alright and all is forgiven when he pass away. RIP. There are lots of fans in the parking lot paying respect today.

It is probably the biggest praise I can find for the man. He helped to feed more people, kept the most people from being homeless, etc. than Mother Teresa probably ever dreamed of helping.
Originally Posted By: Kevin D. Williamson
Mr. Jobs’s contribution to the world is Apple and its products, along with Pixar and his other enterprises, his 338 patented inventions — his work — not some Steve Jobs Memorial Foundation for Giving Stuff to Poor People in Exotic Lands and Making Me Feel Good About Myself. Because he already did that: He gave them better computers, better telephones, better music players, etc. In a lot of cases, he gave them better jobs, too. Did he do it because he was a nice guy, or because he was greedy, or because he was a maniacally single-minded competitor who got up every morning possessed by an unspeakable rage to strangle his rivals? The beauty of capitalism — the beauty of the iPhone world as opposed to the world of politics — is that that question does not matter one little bit.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: benjamming
He helped to feed more people, kept the most people from being homeless, etc. than Mother Teresa probably ever dreamed of helping.


Right. I can swallow an LCD panel and it would sustain my calorie need for 5 months.

I don't think he is any worse than Larry Ellison, but he is no saint and the fact that he cancelled every single charity clause of Apple since he come back (and never restore them since the company turn around) is a prove that he is no saint.

Oh, and denying child support on his first daughter and claim to the court that he is infertile? Sounds like he got some great genes from his biological dad who abandoned his biological mom and sister later on.

It is an insult to Mother Teresa or even Ron Paul to be compared to Steve Jobs.

 

[mechanicx]

Yeah I have to agree. It was guys that I and few others even remember their name like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the interventor of the steam engine and penicillin, Diesel, Bell, Eli Whitney etc that made the real contributions. I don't have anything against Job's and don't mean to put him down in this thread, but I even if considered computers and mobile communications significant, I don't know that he was the most important contributor.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Yeah I have to agree. It was guys that I and few others even remember their name like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, the interventor of the steam engine and penicillin, Diesel, Bell, Eli Whitney etc that made the real contributions. I don't have anything against Job's and don't mean to put him down in this thread, but I even if considered computers and mobile communications significant, I don't know that he was the most important contributor.

Mechanicx. You would enjoy this book:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0...;condition=used

You can get it for under 5 bucks used.

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Originally Posted By: benjamming
He helped to feed more people, kept the most people from being homeless, etc. than Mother Teresa probably ever dreamed of helping.


Right. I can swallow an LCD panel and it would sustain my calorie need for 5 months.

I don't think he is any worse than Larry Ellison, but he is no saint and the fact that he cancelled every single charity clause of Apple since he come back (and never restore them since the company turn around) is a prove that he is no saint.

Oh, and denying child support on his first daughter and claim to the court that he is infertile? Sounds like he got some great genes from his biological dad who abandoned his biological mom and sister later on.

It is an insult to Mother Teresa or even Ron Paul to be compared to Steve Jobs.

Obviously, another way to look at it is that he provided jobs for people to be able to provide food for their families.

“Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.”

 

[eljefino]

We have no idea yet what's in Jobs' estate. For all we know a bunch will go to charity.

If I were an industrialist I would save most or all of my money for empire building while I'm alive, and then stick it to my kids when I die by giving most of it away.