Lost Remote » Macs rule in university classrooms

Macs rule in university classrooms

Cory Bergman October 10th, 2007

Just take a look at this photo from a classroom at the Missouri School of Journalism:

Here’s another angle of the same room here, with the sole ACER computer circled.

31 Comments Add your own

1. jordan | October 10th, 2007 at 4:38 pm

they are all on facebook

signed,
a college student
2. Mr. Hand | October 10th, 2007 at 5:33 pm

Yet they all insist they’re indviduals who think for themselves…
3. BJ | October 10th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

Macs are better.
4. Don Moore | October 10th, 2007 at 7:54 pm

What we PC owners need is a cute glowing emblem on our laptops . On the other hand, this might be the last chance these students get to use a Mac as they are rare in the business world.
5. Safran | October 10th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

Or they will use their Macs as creative platforms from which to launch their own businesses, never having to step foot in a corporate, PC-enslaved environment…
6. Anonymous | October 10th, 2007 at 7:58 pm

An inside tip: some colleges have a Mac Store on campus with deep student discounts, which are officially promoted and heavily encouraged by the school in official materials for new students, and professors even “require” Macs for their courses. The same can be said for Dell on other campuses. The colleges make money off it.

If you found out most students at a college had a Capital One Student Visa, would you think Capital One was popular with the kids these days, or wonder what kind of money the college is making off of Capital One?
7. tdc | October 10th, 2007 at 8:02 pm

‘individuals who think for themselves’

as a dad having watched his son of 18 years (who never before in his life did anything against his mother’s wishes) take a stand against the $500 circuit city sunday special laptop she wanted him to settle for as he headed off to college, instead holding out for the $1500 apple, i proudly agree.

here it is some 18 months later and she is still stunned. and i am still smiling.
8. Charles | October 10th, 2007 at 8:13 pm

Forget what’s more popualr in the classroom, because 75% of the time students ARE on Facebook during lecture. (Source: Me, top row, looking down) What’s more common in the journalism industry?
9. Safran | October 10th, 2007 at 8:27 pm

OMG, students not paying attention during a lecture? You young people…
10. gotigers | October 10th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

It wasn’t that way when I went to Mizzou a few years ago, but that was before the contract with Apple.

Now the Journalism school requires laptops, and very much insinuates they must be Macs. In return the professors get free Macs and other Apple products.

I’m certainly not proud of it.
11. huh? | October 10th, 2007 at 8:41 pm

“…take a stand against the $500 circuit city sunday special laptop she wanted him to settle for as he headed off to college, instead holding out for the $1500 apple, i proudly agree.”

Sure, kids always go for the less hip but more economical version of anything–the ones their parents suggest. Right?

Your child was unique in refusing to ’settle’ for the less-expensive product, holding out instead for the one all the other kids have.
12. Safran | October 10th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

OMG, teenagers who want what all their friends have and think is cool?
13. Greg | October 10th, 2007 at 8:54 pm

I’ll bet wi-fi must be horrible in that class.
14. aidian | October 10th, 2007 at 9:18 pm

It’s because every student in the j-school is REQUIRED to buy a mac laptop.

It works like this: school gets lots of apple tech toys. Individual professors, who as I recall were the ones who approved the deal, got FREE laptops. Students are forced to buy one.

Tuition nearly doubled in the few years I was there, financial aid didn’t even adjust for inflation. If I’d had to pay an extra $1200 my first semester I’d still be directing newscasts in the sticks (and probably be happier and better paid… but still)

(I particularly enjoyed watching them try to get AVID and INEWS running on (pre-intel) Mac platforms.)

I hope faculty members at fair Missouri use their free Mac systems to prepare presentations about ethics. Or maybe for slide shows about the virtues of diversity — to be presented to their classrooms full of affluent white kids from the burbs.

I’m no mac hater, but I’ve been out of school for a few years and I’m still totally insulted by the deal. Not only did the best j-school in the world sell its integrity, but the price was so damn low.

Rant over. I’ll save my bile for next time rosenbaum pops up shilling one-man-bands.
15. tdc | October 10th, 2007 at 9:31 pm

sorry, maybe i should have left the price$ out of the comment because that wasn’t the point i had hoped to make about “individuals who think for themselves”.

after 18 years of doing everything by someone else’s book i was proud to see him make his own mind up regardless of his motivations. ma wasn’t going to be with him every day in chicago as she had been all his life. my conclusion was- if he could stand up to her, making it in downtown chicago would be a snap.
16. Jacqueline Kazil | October 10th, 2007 at 9:48 pm

The University of Missouri’s School of Journalism now requires students to purchase Macs. They have a contract with Apple. They also encourage the use of Macs by having contests that encourage and in some cases require the use of Mac based software.

This is a skewed sample.
17. jordan | October 10th, 2007 at 10:10 pm

I go to Ohio University’s EW Scripps School of Journalism and Macs arent required.
18. Hussman | October 11th, 2007 at 6:12 am

Hey, if anyone of those kids don’t want their Mac, I will gladly take it.

I won’t be able to buy my laptop until I sell my house, which has been on the market for 14 months now, thank you very much.
19. Rico Suave | October 11th, 2007 at 6:21 am

Whether they’re on Facebook or actually taking notes (here’s an idea, professor… turn off the wifi in your lecture hall and see what happens!), the question is: will these budding journalists be able to use a notebook and pencil in the field when they don’t have any electronic devices to use?
20. JoeMO | October 11th, 2007 at 6:34 am

Looks like a whole bunch of kids that are going to look pretty stupid when they get into the “real world”. That is unless they are all starving artist types or journalists.
21. ~bc | October 11th, 2007 at 7:45 am

Just for reference, here’s Mizzou’s policy:

You don’t have to have a Mac, but they’re strongly encouraged. They probably don’t have a much sweeter deal than the normal student discount. But let us not discount: I guarantee Mizzou’s doing less tech support now that they’re using Macs. And the program emphasizes multimedia, which the Macs come preloaded with the right apps for. Add an Office application, and blamo, it’s hard to say that this is the wrong direction for that school to take. It boils down to costs for what they need to do with the product- and the Apple investment (likely not the lowest bidder) brings the best ROI - less support costs, less additional software purchases. Apple’s hardware consistently fails the least (see the latest PC Mag run down). The bottomline is that Apples make economic and educational sense for this particular school. In some programs, it may not.

Isn’t that how decisions are supposed to be made?
22. ~bc | October 11th, 2007 at 7:47 am

SPAM filter removed my link, I’ll try to fool it:

H // http://www.journalism.missouri.edu/undergraduate/computer-requirements - dot - html
23. Steve Safran | October 11th, 2007 at 8:00 am

Yes - because this is a Mac vs. PC debate, not a stunning example of how education has changed.
24. Rob | October 11th, 2007 at 8:16 am

Wow. We had Corona Selectrics in my first journalism classroom.
25. Dave | October 11th, 2007 at 9:09 am

Super Nintendo is so better than Genesis…
26. discreet_chaos | October 11th, 2007 at 9:46 am

Mac makes computers? I thought they just made phones and walkmans.
27. Steve Safran | October 11th, 2007 at 10:03 am

Dave:

No frakkin’ way. The processor in the SNES runs at a pathetic 2.68 MHz, while my Genesis blazes past it at 7.67 MHz. Heck - my secondary processor is faster than your primary!

Did you try the Genesis CD addon? You might change your mind. It plays CD-ROM games, audio CDs and CD+G discs. Let’s see your pitiful Super Nintendo Chalmers do that!

Also, in keeping with Godwin’s Law, you’re worse than Hitler.
28. Dave | October 11th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

BS Safran! Or should I say Khrushchev?

You can talk about Sega’s “blast processing” all you want but the reality is SNES has the best games hands down. Are we forgetting the awesome Super FX chip?!

Call me when Genesis can deliver Mode 7 style graphics with over 16,000 colors in a quasi-3D environment only inside the best intergalactic, space-time, animal-based shooter. Or when Sega CD can deliver pre-rendered SGI graphics or other ACM techniques inside the one of the most classic game franchises of all time. Psshh… join the 90s Saf.

(I cheated, I had to wiki the buzzwords)
29. Ed | October 11th, 2007 at 6:28 pm

Unfortunately when these kids graduate they will be stuck working on PCs in the “real world” workplace.
I know a number of recent grads who’ve entered the working world only to scrap their Macs for PCs to be able to be in synch with corporate America where “PCs rule and Macs drool”.
That’s just the way it is kiddos…
Unless you’re a new grad working at one of the many failing newspapers in the country…
which are in up over the butts in Apple products…
30. Hermie | October 12th, 2007 at 6:23 am

it’s cute how they all want to be independent…together.
31. Partners in Grime | April 12th, 2008 at 11:18 am

Whoa! That’s a lot of Macs! Sure wish our school would switch back.