Today I had the amazing opportunity to participate in the Eye Opener Keynote and a press luncheon at FETC 2012 where Rajen Sheth, Group Product Manager for Chromebooks, announced that three districts, including mine, will be going 1:1 with Chromebooks in the 2012-2013 school year. Not only were these events a real honor to be a part of, they were a lot of fun. It was the first time that I had been involved in something of this magnitude at a major conference and was made even more special by sharing it with Jason Markey (@jmarkeyAP), Mikkel Storaasli (@LeydenASCI), and our new #googleschool friends from Council Bluffs and Richland Two. After the events, it was incredible to see things I had said being tweeted, blogged about, and quoted in various publications. This was definitely an experience I'll never forget and cannot thank the Chromebook team enough for this opportunity and for all their support with Leyden Community High School District 212's digital evolution. The following are some links to the video recap of the keynote and the articles that have been published so far:
It was such an excellent event made even more special by your participation and passion. Thanks for being here and for sharing your stories.
ReplyDeleteThanks for everything, Jes. And may I say I love the new threaded comments within Blogger! :-)
DeleteThree tech gadgets you might be tempted to buy, but shouldn't
ReplyDeleteSome products just aren't worth the hassle, even when they're a bargain.
Tech It Up! – Wed, May 9, 2012.. .
By Rick Broida, CNET
You know the old saying: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
For example, yesterday I received a PR pitch from Jabra, which is offering a $15 Amazon MP3 credit when you buy the Jabra Clipper Bluetooth stereo headset -- in your choice of four colors -- for $59.99.
Here's the funny part: there's a fifth color, black, that sells for $39.99 -- right there on the same Amazon product page. I'm no math whiz, but that plus $15 works out to less than $59.99.
This got me to thinking about other "deals" that aren't. Though it's easy to be tempted by huge price cuts and/or new technologies, some products are losers at any price. I've rounded up three I recommend avoiding.
1. AirPlay speakers
2. Chromebooks
Chromebooks were a sucky idea from the get-go. Take everything that's crummy about Netbooks -- weak processors, limited storage, a cut-rate operating system -- and pack it into a laptop that requires Internet access for it to be of any real use, then charge $500 for it? Yeah, can't imagine why that idea tanked.
Maybe that's why Amazon is now selling the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook for $299.99. Even at that price, you're looking at a seriously under-powered PC that's useful only for Web browsing, e-mail, and some light, Google Docs-driven office work.
In my mind, a Chromebook offers exactly one advantage over a traditional, Windows-powered laptop: fast start-up. Everything else is compromise, compromise, compromise. For all of $10 more, you can buy a full-featured Toshiba Satellite laptop (currently on sale for $309.99) that blows the Samsung out of the water at nearly every turn.
Trust me: Chromebooks will be a forgotten footnote in computing history, just like Netbooks.
3. Off-brand tablets