iStampede!
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We've had iPods, iLife, iMusic, and for a long time iBooks, but now an iStampede?!?!!
Apparently a $50 laptop computer, a iBook to be precise, is worth pushing, knocking down, even trying to run over your fellow citizens. Granted it's a roughly $200 value, but still. Aren't there better ways to do this? Having a lottery of some sort, give out numbers like a popular concert, or something else. Lots of people suggested eBay, but I think that the citizens of that district should get priority, something I'm not sure they can do on eBay. In my mind they should have worked it through the schools and given parents of kids in the schools some type of way to purchase these older computers and it probably would have solved everything.
I've been lucky in life and fairly well off, so like most DBAs that are reading this, I could afford to purchase a computer for my kids if they needed it. And I would hope that for most IT Pros, if the need was there, buying a $500-800 computer might be a stretch, but they could do it. However I know and recognize that there are many people that can't afford it. I have a friend who's a single parent, working two jobs to just make rent, and can't afford an ISP. The computer in the house is a early Pentium that barely runs Windows 95 and over time, it works less and less.
That's the person that could use a $50 computer to work on a resume, get some basic stuff done with the kids, etc. And I'm sure there were lots of people out in Virginia that are in similar situations. And I'm sure that there were people in similar situations that were there to buy a laptop and then sell it to make some money. I'm ok with that for families that could use $100 or so more than the computer.
But this was a fiasco. I'm sure it was a good idea that someone had to be generous to the community and make the old computers available for a low cost. And I'm sure they never expected something like this. It was a good idea that wasn't executed well.
I'd like to see more school systems sell the old computers to people that need them, like those that receive government assistance of some sort. But find a better way to do this and I hope other school districts learn from this.
Steve Jones
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I did not know I would see it here. I am to upset to comment. I have heard about it on the radio. It reminded me of my previous life of lines, vauchers and distributions. But I remember we were trying to respect each other then. Mostly.
Regards,Yelena Varsha
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When I worked in a local college, old PCs were offerred to the students cheaply. Not only was it an easy solution but they were a group on low incomes who would be using them to further their studies.
Most schools I've known also do this.
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This was truly another example of the herd instinct at its worst. I read an interview with a 20 year old male speaking about how he was literally pounding on people behind him that were trying to cut in line and he had absolutely no shame about it. His opinion was "they deserved it".
It goes to show that you can't trust people to behave like adults when greed is involved. The same thing happens nearly every Christmas at retailers whenever there's a run on stores for the latest 'gift du-jour'. And this comes at a time when people should be celebrating a spirit of brotherhood and goodwill. It's quite a sad commentary on our society.
My hovercraft is full of eels.
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Displays of naked greed are never pleasant. Or perhaps greed is the wrong word in this case. Many of the people involved here may have just wanted to give their children the advantages of having a computer they could not have otherwise afforded.
I would like to suggest that those of you who work for companies who upgrade their computer systems (and individuals who upgrade their home computers) find a method of distributing this equipment to families in your area who could use some assistance in getting computers. In every community there are Churches, Mosques, Synagogues, Boys Clubs, Girls Clubs, Scouting and other organizations that have members who know of people who would like to have or need to have a computer. These organizations could be used to refurbish and distribute used computers to those individuals cannot afford a computer. Or they could rebuild them for themselves.
In many cases used equipment will need to be upgraded or in some cases parts from several computers can be combined to produce a usable computer. Most of these organizations will be glad to furnish the boy or girl power to transform these computers into workable machines.
Remember having a child help you build or rebuild a computer only takes three times as much time as it would take you to do it yourself and it is worth every minute of it.
Michael Du Bois
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