Howdy,
At the risk of putting my head on the chopping block, here goes:
The fee is indeed mandatory (doh!). Undoubtedly, many, especially those who
already have a laptop or have their eye on a perty little number will
exclaim, ?WTF?!?
Here?s the thinking at Western U:
1) The curriculum at Western U is going all (yes, 100%) electronic,
eventually. Thus, the academic powers that be declared that laptops are
mandatory?like Anatomy is mandatory. For some, it sucks. For others, just
another requirement.
2) We need to be brought up to speed on how to use the computers themselves,
the network, and the internet?BTW we have a T-3 on the way?that is 15 Mb
(yes, fifteen mind-blowing mega bits/sec)?connection to the internet. The
only way to ride the T-3 is through the Cat-5 cable that will connect the
said laptops to the multitude of jacks at the university. It?s nice to surf
Newport Beach, but you can surf it up here ;0).
3) So what? Why do we have to lease computers from the school, moreover
standardized ones? The reason for this is that in the past, the school
?allowed? (hey, we?re all adults) many other laptops, and some students
bought laptops different than those. Given those permutations of types of
systems, the IT Department simply could not support the users when their
systems would crash. The reason being that it is nearly impossible to
maintain a drivers data base for every single user?many users don?t even
know what drivers are? And the IT Department would get as frustrated as the
users?user support people like to?.uh?..support people, but given the above
were impotent to do so (regardless of the recent release of sildenafil).
4) It stands to reason that if a computer breaks, and that if they are now
all of the same, that they are now interchangable and easy to fix. But, it
gets better: Those of you fortunate enough to own a Lexus know that if the
thing breaks down you get a loaner until your car is fixed. Well, although
I admit that we are paying for that service, we get Lexus treatment if our
laptop croaks?we get a loaner equivalent until ours is fixed.
5) Keep in mind that the academic committees made this decision, believing
that this was what was best for the students, the institution, and the
profession as a whole. Computers are here, they are great tools, and, if
the students of WesternU use those tools, then they may just become
competent leaders in medicine of the digital age.
Okay, now for the specs, for all of you Road and Track types:
Celeron 500 (for most apps as fast as PIII, but way less power consumption)
64 MB RAM
12.1? SVGA (800x600)?the 14? model was REALLY expensive
4MB video RAM
6GB HD
24x10X CDR
10/100 Network card (can you say surf that 15Mb/s connection?i.e. BIG surf?)
56K modem for when the surf is low (i.e. at home)
5.9-6.3lbs. (with/without CDR)
Oh yea, the Operating System will be Windows 98, because, after all, Quake
III runs fastest on this system. But the official policy is that the
surfing is not for Quake ;0).
I hope that this answers some questions, and that future frustrations will
be taken out on war criminals.
Seriously, IT is here to help, and they?re working to help you understand
what is up, and how to use what is here.
Sincerely,
The Insider
A man with Connections wishing to remain anonymous
