Cult of Mac: a blog about the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone - and the people who love them

66 comments

My wife forks in the FL school system and I am glad to say that they are a 100% Mac school.. All in working order and being put to good use.. I do have to agree it would be terrible to see all that hardware not go to some good use..

Matt, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:20 pm

I’m not sure why you heard “landfill” when the school official said “state-approved recycling company”.

OTOH, it’s also unclear why $129 for a current copy of Mac OS X is characterized as “not very cost effective”. Assuming that they might get $30 from a recycler for the computers (probably optimistic) it seems like it would be worth printing labels that say “You must go to an Apple store and buy Mac OS X ($129) to make this computer work”, sticking them on the MacBooks and selling them for $150 each.

Bozo, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Just give them away on the side.. ya know?

Apple doesn’t need to know EVERYthing.

Tyson, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:47 pm

Leopard running on a candy colored iMac would not be pretty.

As for the open source quip — I certainly don’t want my Macs opened up to mayhem. I like it just the way it is.

Jay Floyd, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:49 pm

While 3rd party software might not be allowed to transfer to others, Apple doesn’t impose any such condition on MacOS X itself.

And has Apple been selling white MacBooks for five years now? The iMacs are definitely that old, but the MacBooks?

dave, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:52 pm

@Dave Those are iBooks, not macbooks, so yes they have been making them for 5 years.

Chase, on August 11th, 2009 at 7:55 pm

Where is this school-I really need a laptop and would love a mac-Even this old-I live in FLORIDA Some one please HELP!

Core, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:08 pm

Those are iBooks… probably G3 models from 2000-01. The iMacs are also G3 systems. None of those systems will run the current OSX being sold (10.5 Leopard). Leopard minimum requirements calls for a G4 running at 867Mhz.
It will run an old copy of Tiger 10.4.11. My wife actually uses an iBook G3/500 which is over 8 years old… and won’t let me buy her a new MacBook.
As for the iMacs, I have several installed at my church for the kids.. and work flawlessly.
Anyway, the license for the original OS9 that came with those computers is probably transferable since Apple does not sell upgrades… hence the school dictrict does not need the old license to keep the current licenses on new systems that are currently installed.
For the record, those iMacs sell for less than $65 at some used Mac retailers. So, usually it is a waste of man hours for the IT department to even look at them.

Javier, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:09 pm

that is very sad. macs should not be treated like that. i would certainly take one and purchase the software no problem! my 5 year old has my old clamshell, i didn’t want to get rid of, i couldn’t. after nearly 8 years and college i couldn’t part with it. i’m a mac and i think pc’s r yuck.

Janie, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:30 pm

I am actually tearing up right now.

William, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

@bozo.

those computers are so old that they probably couldn’t run Leopard. and certainly not very well.

I can understand the notion of needing to strip them of files and site licensed software but without the OS yes they are pretty pointless.

what is truly sad is the decision to go PC only. many schools are utilizing Macs to encourage creative projects, particularly for those students who underperform with the old standard thesis paper gig. Macs are set up with the software for such projects out of the box. and the company has great leasing plans (I know, I’d done them)

Lucas, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:45 pm

one interesting point no one seems to be making- notice how long macs last- thrown out due to obsolescence rather than hardware failure

Would love to know how the school board justified the switch to pcs – initial cash out lay rather than cost over life of product

or is another case of IT departments being PC centric

old macs dont die, on August 11th, 2009 at 8:49 pm

Those things are probably slower than netbooks. My older MacMini 1.42 GHz with 512MB of RAM is barely chugging along with Tiger 10.4.11. Youtube videos are painful to watch and Safari 4.0.2 pages are slow to load. I don’t think those computers they’re dumping are going to make anyone all that happy running a newer OS. Maybe what they have on them is OK, though.

Constable Odo, on August 11th, 2009 at 9:52 pm

@old macs dont die

IT Departments are PC-Centric because if they switched to mac half of the department would lose their jobs.

Sean, on August 11th, 2009 at 9:55 pm

I am helping out with a charity that is building a Computer Training Centre in Indonesia. Their goal is to provide free lessons, with proper certification, so that the people can find better paying jobs. This is a very good “teach a man to fish” way of helping a community break out of the poverty trap. Any idea if the school would give the Macs to charity?

Gin, on August 11th, 2009 at 10:01 pm

I could use one or two for my kids.

Glad to buy better to get them for free

Pedro Arias, on August 11th, 2009 at 10:31 pm

Damn. Those would make a half-decent computing cluster if you stuck Linux on them.

Juan Nunez-Iglesias, on August 11th, 2009 at 10:34 pm

How much is the additional software cost if you have a family license pack with unused licenses? If the pack is for Leopard can you legally install an older OS on them? If not legally, how about morally?

David, on August 11th, 2009 at 10:41 pm

Shouldn’t someone tell them about the iMac aquarium? I mean surely they have some fish in an ugly glass bowl somewhere in that school

Knowimagination, on August 11th, 2009 at 10:44 pm

I’d be more than happy with a couple of those iBooks and an eMac or two. They could run Tiger and I have a family pack that I could use. All my machines at home are running Leopard right now.

The IT guys are probably ripping off the school because those machine could be sold to a reseller and they could get more money than just “recycling” them. It just goes to show you that in the education business there are not a lot of tech savvy individuals in the administration or the teaching corp. The computers at my son’s school are ancient and were running Windows 2000. With a PowerBook, an iMac, a mini and and MBP in our home it is waste of my kid’s time to learn on that crap.

Hal Summers, on August 11th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

some of those are eMacs which are capable of running OSX b/c they have at max a 1.25 GHz G4. and at least 867 MHz. that is the least amount of processing power needed for Leopard. It won’t run great but they are fantastic computers.

andrew, on August 11th, 2009 at 11:44 pm

this is a picture perfect example of why florida is one of the most f-’dup states in the union.

there’s gotta be a school district in texas doing the same thing.

Lonnie Lazar, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:09 am

They should donate ‘em all to the schools art class… Would be nice to see a big *** Mac sculpture of some sort

Thomas, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:14 am

All those upturned iMacs remind me of that scene in ‘Aliens’ (1986), the one with the ‘eggs’…

Harold, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:18 am

This school district is run by ignorant, selfish people. It would not be hard to find happy homes fir all these Mac’s. Shame on you people.

Sam Gouda, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:24 am

I work for Montecito Baptist School and we are a private, and young school that is mostly hispanic in the greater Los Angeles area. We would love it if they could be donated to us! Don’t trash them-just donate them to us and we could give them a tax write-off for their troubles.

Christopher Sanchez, on August 12th, 2009 at 1:42 am

Curious, when schools can’t even buy buy books, that they can throw thousands of dollars of electronic equipment away. I teach college and I’m constantly amazed at how illiterate high school students are at using a PC (any PC). Apparently. its more important to illustrate a ‘point’ then educate the students or give back to the community at this school.

Adrianna, on August 12th, 2009 at 2:05 am

Dear Superintendent,

Heard of Camara.ie?

Yours etc.

Eoin O'Mahony, on August 12th, 2009 at 3:07 am

I think that the superintendent is plain wrong: there are operating systems that will run on iMacs and iBooks that are not expensive at all. In fact, PowerPC GNU/Linux distributions will run just fine.

Depending on the teachings at the school, it may even make sense for them to keep the macs and teach on GNU/Linux: kids will have a higher value for their education.

Reed Richards, on August 12th, 2009 at 4:01 am

Stupidity is always ugly.

I believe you can legally install the OS that came with the computer. What did the idiots that run that place do with the disks?

Cheryl, on August 12th, 2009 at 4:16 am

What I would give for a Mac….
I’ve been stuck with crappy Windows OS because, being a student, I can’t really afford a Mac. If the school just sold them @ maybe like $150 a piece, even without the OS, it would be fabulous. Just go out and pay $129 for Tiger or something and it’d be perfect….

Although, now the Computer guys @ the school will now actually have computers to fix now that they’re switching over to PC’s. They can keep their job.

faniman57, on August 12th, 2009 at 5:44 am

Looks like they have enough to start a one laptop per child program…and it could be free!

Mike, on August 12th, 2009 at 7:23 am

Well I think I can use one of those can’t they just donate one to me as well! As that will be a waiste to just throw those macs away!!!

jazzyl, on August 12th, 2009 at 7:30 am

This is the same state that couldn’t figure out how to use paper ballots during a major election. Why am I not surprised they’re also tossing out perfectly good Macs and switching to PCs that will require a hell of a lot more tech support ($$$). I admit some of these Macs are a bit too old now (the iMacs for sure), but overall the Mac is still a better value for the money than any PC when you look at the total cost of ownership.

Mike, on August 12th, 2009 at 7:43 am

I’ll take one of the “trash” computers. Send it my way, OS or not.

Walt, on August 12th, 2009 at 8:20 am

If nothing else, cannot one install a stripped-down version of Linux meant for older machines? Puppy Linux comes to mind, but I admit I am not well-versed in Linux distributions.

There are many, many people right now who would enjoy having a computer—of any working quality—to use. Computers and the internet have pretty much become a necessity these days and still not everyone can afford them. Selling these computers for under $100 with a Linux distribution installed on them would free the school from fears of a licensing mishap, raise a bit of money for a likely cash-strapped school, and give someone an opportunity to own a computer.

Nicole, on August 12th, 2009 at 8:32 am

They should use them for the younger students to learn keyboarding. You don’t need the most current OS to teach keyboarding skills to grade school kids. Or set them up at the local public library as a computer bank. Again you don’t need the most current OS to search a library database or surf the web. You don’t even need to have the ability to print at many libraries. Or send them over seas to our GI’s to use for emailing. Or give them to schools in Malawi to kids that have never seen a computer and would love to have one per school. So many uses. ;( So much wasted potential. All it would take is a little creativity. Is this how they treat their underachieving students also?

weirdsci, on August 12th, 2009 at 9:21 am

[...] of Mac also updates with pictures of the Macs, and we warn you, if all of those machines really are headed for the landfill, it’s a little [...]

Florida school may trash 200 Macs to go PC-only | Anthonyrobinson.info, on August 12th, 2009 at 9:22 am

They could have donated these to poor countries! Many can benefit of using them..

countocram, on August 12th, 2009 at 9:52 am

It’s a real shame …
These old Macs are really better than a Vista OS PC …

Ali, on August 12th, 2009 at 9:53 am

The thing I don’t understand is instead of throwing away 208 working computers why you don’t donate them to some 3rd world country where it would be a huge blessing to them. This is outrageous, think about others for a change, quit being so inconsiderate.

cdeforce, on August 12th, 2009 at 9:55 am

PC only School?, come on??? are you serious???

gigi, on August 12th, 2009 at 10:50 am

I can tell you personally that running Leopard on an iBook G4 is PAINFULLY SLOW!!

I currently have the following computers in operation with the OSes I consider useful for them:

iBook G3 – 10.3
PowerMac G4 Cube – 10.3
iBook G4 – 10.4 (although I’m running 10.5 on it)
Macbook C2D – 10.5

Those computers are completely useable with the proper OS. Sure you won’t get all the Leopardy Goodness out of them but for a basic e-mail/web browser/word processing/iTunes/iPhoto computer they’re perfectly useable. Really the only thing you probably wouldn’t want to do on them is video editing and Garageband.

Phil

Phil, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am

You can hear Jonny Ive faintly sobbing down the corridor.

Stephen, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:40 am

There can only be one of 3 reasons for this:

1) Stupidity. TCO of a Mac, especially large volumes of macs, is a small fraction of the cost of PCs. Much less than a PC over 4 or 5 years, even compared to the cheapest crap-PC out there.

2) Malfeasance. Somebody in authority has an extreme prejudice against everything Apple, or they’re benefitting by this change. Even if it’s not standard graft, has anyone asked the Superintendent if his investment portfolio contains anything that benefits from choosing a PC over Mac?

3) Publicity. I’d like to know what – if anything – the district is paying for the PCs and their software. What a shock it would be to know that the school is getting these machines for less-than-cost. Who’d be shocked to find out that MicroSoft thought it would be a great investment to have a couple hundred kids standing out in the schoolyard shouting “I’m a PC!” in their next commercial? It would, in fact, be brilliant, if Machiavellian.

imajoebob, on August 12th, 2009 at 11:58 am

This gets pretty complicated but it seems crazy that they can’t donate the computers to a worthwhile charity. Seems like a midnight GoodWill run could solve the problem pretty quickly!

brian fidler, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pm

oh, waaa… as an IT mac support guy for a major university, I understand why they are letting these macs go. they are of the vintage hard drives are failing , power supplies are failing, display’s are going bad, the os’s aren’t getting security updates from Apple etc. a handy IT tech “could” mix and match till they get a cobbled together mac that “may” last for a while but giving these to a charity or other similar program would not be good PR. imagine the headlines .. fla school donates junk computers to charity, causing private information to be hacked due to lack of security updates being available for the os’s. or our charity got these macs and they all just crash… The idea of moving them to a middle man to then decide whats worth doing anything with keeps them out of litigation involving what happens next with those computers.
as an IT tech , I know the license for the os “goes with the computer” but the IT support may not have held onto the original disks. Having done several major upgrades for labs and depts , the free time available to trouble shoot outgoing machines is simply not available. we’ve auctioned off old computers to the public but those go “as is” without disks, software etc and have been either scrubbed with an electromagnet to remove all data or have the hard drive removed and destroyed.
so until someone wants to step up and say “we will come pick up those macs at the school, repair or replace whatever components have failed, ship them for free where ever they need to go, AND provide free tech support for them after they continue to fail”, don’t give the school a hard time. They at least are indicating an attempt to recycle the ones that are broken.
it’s sad to me how quickly hardware and software is rendered obsolete, but i believe that is the business model of the computer corporations not the users…. I ‘ve still got a 7500 i use but i’ve got the skillz to keep it running….but not on the internet

MacMonkey, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

Well, I hope the district has fun with the electrical upgrades to buildings, crappy and inconsistent hardware components, LCD monitors that love to flake out, cables galore, less room for teachers in their classrooms, viruses and spyware, Internet Explorer, much more difficult PC rollout projects, less effective management tools and last but not least licensing issues and costs that will make blood spurt from your ears.

Mark, on August 12th, 2009 at 12:47 pm

“NyxoLyno Cangemi”?

Weirdest name ever…

veritas, on August 12th, 2009 at 1:38 pm

[...] Cult of Mac recebeu algumas fotos do conjunto de Macs que estão sendo substituídos (algumas delas vocês puderam ver acima), mas, [...]

Escola norte-americana é acusada de enviar quase 200 Macs para o lixo por declarar-se “PC Only” | MacMagazine, on August 12th, 2009 at 2:19 pm

[...] Cult of Mac recebeu algumas fotos do conjunto de Macs que estão sendo substituídos (algumas delas vocês puderam ver acima), mas, [...]

Escola norte-americana é acusada de enviar quase 200 Macs para o lixo por declarar-se “PC Only” | New Info, on August 12th, 2009 at 3:00 pm

They could give all those computers to a poor country like Colombia where the public schools in the rural area do not have enough computers. In this country only the narcs and paramilitary are the only people that have everything with the blessing of our President.

Luis Gomez, on August 12th, 2009 at 8:04 pm

emacs came in many different speeds (700mhz, 800mhz, 1ghz, and 1.25ghz), which, assuming that they have 512 ram all but the 700 and 800mhz will run leopard fine (know from experience).

bobbyjoe, on August 12th, 2009 at 10:18 pm

Load linux on them and ship them to schools in developing countries…or just sell them on eBay…

Ben, on August 13th, 2009 at 5:40 am

Just to ask, on the 4th picture down, amongst all the eMacs and snow iMacs, is that an iMac G4?

Also, some of those machines MAY be able to run Leopard well. Some of those eMacs if they are above 1Ghz could run Leopard quite happily!

Chris, on August 13th, 2009 at 9:04 am

What a waste. Seriously they should have had a garage sale and put some money to a learning field trip for the kids or some type of equipment for the schools. How about musical instruments? Hell, they could have bought some Windows equipment. The guy who did this is a total idiot. I would want him off my school board next election time.

Yesterday I gave an old Emac g4 to someone that didn’t have a computer. It runs on the net and they have access to something they didn’t have before. It really wasn’t that difficult to do.

gq330, on August 13th, 2009 at 10:59 am

@ MacMonkey… AMEN. I feel the same way.

BigMac, on August 13th, 2009 at 11:52 am

It may be a security issue. Here in South Carolina we had a sell of computers from a school that had used them for years and were replacing them. Someone that just wanted some computers bought some and they ended up having private teacher and student information on them because they were all on the same server so any teacher could access any computer in school and use it as an admistrator. Even though it was an error the school had to pay the person to buy the computers back, the person didn’t give them back without the cash. So I think its a good idea to recycle as much as you can because they don’t know who put what information on those computers and believe it or not the kids get around the ware that protects the computers and I wouldn’t want to have a computer that had porn on it and have my children see it.

cma, on August 13th, 2009 at 5:00 pm

BUT…once they’re in the trash the school corporation doesn’t have a say on them. The Supreme Court ruled that your trash is fair game. If you throw it away, anyone can have it.

Scabby, on August 16th, 2009 at 12:45 pm

[...] Fuente: Cult of Mac [...]

La “Masacre Mac” en Florida, no lo olvidaremos., on August 19th, 2009 at 5:21 pm

Another example of PeeCee users that know nothing about computers. This guy should loose his job. Sure some o the really old imacs are not very useful but the emacs and the laptops are. They should be sold off.

PC-only is trouble.

This guy is not very bright.

annoyedatstupidity, on August 28th, 2009 at 2:47 pm

The computers and laptops may be a little old, but they can still make good classroom computers for the student for research, book reports, class projects and after school programs. The students can play games when they are in free time. All I am tring to say is that schools board members have loss there jobs. Schools do not have the money to by paper to print or paper to dry our hands, the computer and laptop can be used for something in that schools.

Keep technology in the schools…..

A school Tech, on September 3rd, 2009 at 2:18 pm

Working for public schools with little money, I can say its a shame. Most techs know PCs, and remove macs when they can. I learned mac, upgraded the firmware under 9.2 and then installed 10.4.11 after buying Leopard and downgrading on 150 imacs. It only required more memory. Upper district tech support staff decides what stays and what goes. They know PCs not Mac. They also know MS, not Linux or any variable. Are districts and states loosing money? Yes! And board members; do they know enough to push for change and risk being the only one to take a stand? No. After years with MS and Apple/Mac, what do I prefer? Linux. I loved Yellowdog on macs and Ubuntu on PCs. Do I have a choice? Not at work.

CentralTech, on September 6th, 2009 at 11:24 am

What a shame, there are plenty of students who don’t have a computer at home that could of benefited from this districts poor thought process. The laptops look like G4’s that run great. What a waste of money and a poor decision.

RMabra, on September 6th, 2009 at 7:35 pm

I would personally buy some of the laptops, as I KNOW they are slow, but still good technology for the basics. So what if they can’t run Leopard? I don’t care! I know 10.3 and 10.4 Tiger will work just fine! I already have a brand new mac that has Leopard, and a 1999 CRT imac that runs Tiger without any problems!!

I wonder if there is a payoff to Microsoft somewhere in this hidden deal to go PC only. Hmmm. The lucrative contracts Msoft gets from supplying all this.

It is tragic to see such waste of good Apple technology, even if it is obsolete!

I personally fix both Macs and PCs all the time for people. So I know how to upgrade older computers!

Believe it or not.. my 3 ancient macs (era 1999) are STILL working ok, and work fine for the projects I need. My 10 year old windows XP machine has already died and was unable to be resurrected after daily heavy duty computer use.

I agree with many of the above commenters. Many of the computers can be refurbished and given to charity, sold on ebay, amazon, given to goodwill for repairs, and the ones that are completely dead, recycle for gold and silver.

The imacs may be very old, but I just happen to have a 1999 CRT imac that chugs along and still works ok. It was my first mac that convinced me to leave windows behind for good.

Especially after my frustrating nightmares with XP and Vista WGA (windows genuine advantage problems – with LEGAL store bought windows software), activation problems, viruses, trojans, spyware, popup ads….. Annoying incompatibility problems with MICROSOFT Vista certified hardware that would NOT work with Microsoft Vista!! Too many headaches with windows. I waste more time fixing my windows machines than I ever do on a Mac. With a Mac, I can get MORE work done, without wasting valuable time fixing them all the time. Only with windows pcs do I end up wasting time repairing them, rather than using them. Vista was the most frustrating of all the versions, and after spending many hours fixing all my friends Vista computers, I had enough of the constant problems!

That was the last straw that broke my ties with Microsoft after 20 years as a windows user!

The price of windows keeps going up, and the glitches was getting worse with each version! Millenium Edition was a total disaster…. which I wiped out and replaced on a laptop with Linux… as ME kept crashing too many times!

Vista has become a VERY unpopular version of windows with all my friends / family who bought new Vista machines. They now hate Vista. 3 of my Vista friends are now thinking of switching to Apple after all the problems they had with Vista!

So good luck school staff…. you’re going to be screaming later when you see the cost overruns of IT techs working overtime to fix virus problems, trojans, spyware gloats, crashes, corrupt registries, Vista’s slowness, incompatibility issues, and “cancel or Allow” nag screens every time you install an update.

The students will miss the macs, and will be frustrated with Vista’s problems. The school will wish they stayed with Apple and saved money instead of losing money with Microsoft.

E

eric, on September 9th, 2009 at 3:33 am

[...] Cult of Mac recebeu algumas fotos do conjunto de Macs que estão sendo substituídos (algumas delas vocês puderam ver acima), mas, [...]

Escola norte-americana é acusada de enviar quase 200 Macs para o lixo por declarar-se “PC Only” - WinBrasil, on January 2nd, 2010 at 1:15 am

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