Filed under: Education, Odds and ends, Apple
All Mac University
Everybody knows that the Mac and higher education are supposed to go together like, well... like two things that go really well together. However, those of us that have spent a lot of time on campus lately realize that is often not the case. At my own university (and the one I recently left), the Mac is distinctly a second-class citizen (though there are some Macs around here, and a very passionate band of Mac-heads that keeps the IT people from abandoning us completely). For instance, when I got here I was issued a Dell which sits quietly in my office doing, well, nothing and the university recently standardized on Microsoft's Exchange server and Outlook as a putatively cost-saving move.With that said, it's nice to see someplace moving in the right direction: Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA recently announced that the campus was going 100% Mac. According to Scott Byers, a Wilkes vice president, "Macs are constructed with superior technology and hardware and their ability to run Windows means we still have access to any Windows programs... It's the best of both worlds." Apple's marketing department could hardly have said it better! The university is spending $1.4 million on the switch over and "expects to replenish its 1700-computer network with Macs in the next three years" to create "a virtually virus-free IT network." Let's hope that this marks the start of a trend.
[Via MacVolPlace]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Josh H. said 2:10PM on 2-24-2007
I'm going to have to go there...thats awesome!! More schools should do this!!!
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stuart said 2:12PM on 2-24-2007
Here at UMD, most of the laptops I see are MacBooks.
Maybe I'm just inclined to see them over Dells...
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wako said 2:37PM on 2-24-2007
Yeah, ever since the MacBooks got released, I been seeing alot more Macs on campus as well.
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CajunLuke said 3:13PM on 2-24-2007
Alma College in Alma, Michigan is an all-Mac campus.
Here, at the University of Wisconsin, on average, the labs are 10% Mac, 30% UNIX/Linux/Solaris, and 60% Windows (the Mac would be higher, but the Engineering campus and the Computer Science building are pretty UNIX-heavy. Also, the campus IT division computer store sells lots of Macs - there are a few Thinkpads over in the corner that everyone ignores.
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ele©tro said 3:16PM on 2-24-2007
I went to Drake University (Des Moines, Iowa) in the early '90s, and they had a Mac in every dorm room (probably the biggest reason I went there).
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gshearman said 5:34PM on 2-24-2007
I hope they realise that if they plan on running XP on at least some of their macs then they aren't going to have a 'virtually virus-free IT network'.
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Stephen said 3:33PM on 2-24-2007
Biola University (biola.edu) is a mostly-Mac campus - They include a few PC's in their business department knowing that Macs won't completely replace PC's in the business world for quite a while. And you'll notice a few stubborn students here and there who own a PC.
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Mike said 3:45PM on 2-24-2007
At The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio, 75% of the computer labs are Macs and the rest are Windows or Windows/Linux dual-boot. In the classrooms, nearly every computer is a Mac laptop (iBook/MacBook), and the libraries are probably 75% Mac. Among faculty, close to 75% use Macs, but among staff, it's probably only 10% Mac. And for the student body, they're probably only 25% Mac, if that.
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Heather said 4:21PM on 2-24-2007
I want to go to that college. I wonder if the cost of the project means tuition is going to go up.
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spil said 4:22PM on 2-24-2007
The business school at southern methodist university (SMU) is switching to macs this summer, but I don't think the rest of the school is. Why switch to macs? 5 out of 20 new Gateways died and the "bossman" got a macbook, loves it.
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michel said 4:43PM on 2-24-2007
I'm working as a "IT people" in an university.
I manage the network, servers , software and all
We decided (for some time now) to give up exchange, go to all linux stack for imaps/smtp with opensource software
and standardized on Mozilla Thunderbird for Linux, Mac Os X and Windows.
linux and os X computers are seamlessly integrated in the whole linux servers (nfs, samba/cifs, cyrus imap, ldap directory, cups printing and so on.
Windows got access thanks to Samba.
no second class citizen for mac. (whole support of wifi/airport mac and so on )
nevertheless, the university use massively Windows on the desktop (for offices works and some graphists tools and on)
some departments uses mac for Final cut and dvd studio pro
some others uses linux to teach sysadmin work, network, unix, java and C development, scientifical programs (abaqus, nastran ..)
some employes, not being teachers, uses some mac or even linux, because they specifically ask it. We support that when it's possible.
we try to standardize on Openoffice. it will be a very long migration (years).
(I'm all to remove microsoft office and windows dependancy in enterprise when appropriate. too much expensive and not efficient.)
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RamJaw said 4:38PM on 2-24-2007
Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA was an all Mac campus when I was there. However, you can't force people to use computers and I believe there was only about a 70% adoption rate for students. All school computers were however.
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J.Edward said 4:41PM on 2-24-2007
Back when Macs were synonymous with education, computer viruses were considerably less of a problem as the internet wasn't as integral to the computing process. However, if campuses everywhere were to convert back to Macs, the little computer science nerds would start writing more viruses for Macs.
I would rather my university keep using PCs and Joe ProgramingNerd to continue to develop PC viruses and work on his virtual, computer-based girlfriend instead of targeting my MacBook.
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GDB said 5:07PM on 2-24-2007
"a virtually virus-free IT network. Let's hope that this marks the start of a trend."
NOOOO!!!!!!!!
The more students use Macs by default, the more likely they will start writing viruses for Macs/OS X.
Just imagine if EVERY SINGLE UNIVERSITY STUDENT today uses Mac at school. Someone's bound to have the itchy finger and start writing viruses.
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futurepastnow said 5:59PM on 2-24-2007
"I hope they realise that if they plan on running XP on at least some of their macs then they aren't going to have a 'virtually virus-free IT network'."
If they're grabbing virtual machine images off a server, maintenance is really a non-issue. If the image gets hosed they can just reload it.
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Les said 7:49PM on 2-24-2007
To #11, I humbly suggest you are spreading BS. People have been trying for a long time to write OS X viruses and have so far utterly failed, and that includes the MOAB "researchers". That is not to say they won't eventually succeed, but it will not happen because of students having access to Macs at college.
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jer said 12:41AM on 2-25-2007
Windows XP Screensaver? Is that even connected to the Mac mini at all?
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Cedric said 8:19AM on 2-25-2007
I too recently left a university that used mostly Windows-based PCs. However, many of the tech people were also Mac fans, or at least appreciated them even if they were not themselves users. Also, I notices that all of the professors in the Chinese programs uses Macs.
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GWHayduke said 9:07AM on 2-25-2007
At UT El Paso, most of the university uses Windows and those of us using Macs get told "I don't do Macs" when problems are addressed to the IT department. However, it's interesting to me how many of the geology profs and students use Macs and more are appearing every day.
By the way...most of the folks I meet still lust after my 12" PB. Hear that Steve?
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Rich said 7:18PM on 2-25-2007
The College of Architecture at the University of North Carolina @ Charlotte is entirely Mac-based. Every student owns an Apple notebook, they're required. Each faculty member owns either a portable or iMac. Our computer labs are outfitted with powermac G3s, G4s, G5s, and intel iMacs. Our library is outfitted with iMac G4s. Our networks are built around xserves.
You could say we're proud. Architecture school and the Mac go great together.
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