Three years into the laptop initiative, we have more computers on campus than people. In addition to all the Macs in classrooms and the library, all freshmen, sophomores, juniors and teachers are toting laptops in bookbags.
Now, with a new outsourced database and integrated software called Advanced Academic, all students, teachers and parents have their own homepages, accessing syllabi, class rosters, assignments, Notices To the Advisors, etc. Oh, yeah: the whole campus is wireless, so you can surf the web lounging by the pond.
That's the good news. Here's the bad. One hundred and seventy-six new G-4 laptops were distributed to new students and teachers on September 8. They're hot. I mean literally hot. Like... they're burning up. They're great to cuddle up with on a cool evening, but it can be a little awkward, being as how the aluminum cases are warping under the heat.
It gets worse. We are the first school on the planet to purchased these toasty lap warmers en masse, and Apple's first response to our complaints can be characterized as denial. Don't be surprised if--in a David & Goliath remake--you're reading about Proctor Academy vs. Apple Computers in the Wall Street Journal.
