(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A Forward Migration Kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as photography, optometry, etc.)
On March 12, Sacred Heart School in Emporia, Kansas, received two-dozen new Apple iBooks, enough for an entire class to use at once. The portables were leased from Apple for US$39,488, according to a March 29 article in the Emporia, Kansas Gazette .
Naturally, all the iBooks are equipped with AirPort cards to take advantage of Apple’s wireless technology. Sixth grade teacher Linda Glaser loves the technology.
“[Students] can explore what they’re interested in and share information,” she told the Gazette. “Even when I let them have fun and they were playing the Millionaire game [‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?’], they were pulling out dictionaries, they were pulling down maps. It’s amazing how they turned a game into productive research time.”
Instead of having a central computer lab, Sacred Heart has seven computer terminals in each classroom. The iBooks, provided by the school’s parent-teacher organization, offer a portable lab.
Each laptop is numbered, as are the students in each classroom, according to the Gazette. So all the “12” students have access to the “12” iBook. If there’s a problem with a laptop, the school knows who to ask about it, the article said.
In Cheryl Barton’s fifth grade class, students have studied the Civil war, using the laptops to explore the issues of North and South.
“When it comes to computers, the kids have no fear,” Luby told the Gazette. “It’s been a real growing experience.” (Thanks to MacCentral reader Wayne Rugenstein for sending us a copy of the article.)
Meanwhile, Agustin Contreras H. has his own business in Puerto Ordaz-Venezuela, renting computers for the Internet. He only has six computers (four Macs, two Wintel systems) as he just started the business two months ago, but he plans on evangelizing the Mac.
“I’m waiting for the coming of Mac OS X in Spanish to give my customers a better ‘look and feel’ and stable environment,” Contreras told MacCentral. “I’m working to promote the Mac as an alternative and better platform. Some people ‘Think Different,’ but the majority of people here make the mistake of using Windows.”
Do you have a forward migration story? E-mail it to us at dsellers@maccentral.com.
Requests for help
Now it’s time for our weekly requests for help from folks who need your advice and/or assistance in forward migrating — or at least being able to keep the Mac platform alive and thriving in their businesses. Contact the requesters directly at their e-mail addresses.
Luis Fernandez: “My wife works at a non-profit alternative art space. For years they’ve been running all Macs except for the accountant. Over the years they’ve weathered suggestions that they switch to PC’s, usually by a lone PC nut who can’t figure out how to use something that’s easy.
“But now suddenly they’ve decided to switch over because their new fund raising person insists they need a certain piece of fund raising software called ‘Raiser’s Edge.’ So because of that one piece of software they’re switching all the stations over to PCs. Can anyone recommend any good fund raising software for the Mac?”
Deborah Ling, business consultant, McCaffery & Company, San Francisco, CA: “I’m checking to see if anyone knows of any good updates to Mac compatible GIS products. I have been researching new versions of Mac GIS systems (mostly MapInfo 6.0 because we have the old MapInfo 4.0 for Macs), but most providers have been making their new versions available only for a PC platform. My boss is diametrically opposed to PCs and I am looking for an alternative to convincing him to buy one. Has anyone heard anything about the ability for MapInfo 6.0 to work well with Virtual PC 4.0 on a Mac platform?”