Are these Chromebooks the ones that are administered remotely?
If so, they better say it up front.
Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
11–20 of 114 posts
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#12It’s bad that public funds are being used to coerce people into using adtech surveillance services.
You can’t use these meaningfully without agreeing to the Google TOS. Tax money should not be used that way (but there are precedents in things like sports stadiums et cetera). It seems like simple public-private wealth transfer (ie corruption) to me.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#13Recent Chromebooks are extremely nice devices. For example, $299 at BestBuy gets you an Asus CM3401. It has AMD Ryzen CPU (with similar performance as 8th gen mobile i7), 1080p screen, and an M.2 SSD you can upgrade yourself. Downside is the weight -- 1.8kg (almost 4lbs) -- and that 16 GB RAM model costs extra. But perfectly good for using Crostini (ChromeOS's Linux VM -- you can run your favorite Debian programs, including those that use GUI, without reflashing your Chromebook a la Crouton).
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#14The following Dell laptop would be better than a vendor locked in Chromebook: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-lap...
Dude... This is a steal. Wow.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#15The following Dell laptop would be better than a vendor locked in Chromebook: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-lap...
Yes, being a government body they could get a larger discount on bulk orders, and having a computer that can run all software instead of just the web browser (that Chrome OS only allows) will actually help communities.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#16The following Dell laptop would be better than a vendor locked in Chromebook: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-lap...
It fills with malware so much faster, too!
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#17Instead of creating jobs, or trying to help businesses, let's buy 133,000 laptops because lack of Chromebooks are what are holding people back. 28 million can't be spent better than buying Chromebooks.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#18The following Dell laptop would be better than a vendor locked in Chromebook: https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/dell-laptops/inspiron-15-lap...
Wait, vendor locked?
I was about to get a chromebook for $120 and put some linux on it.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#19I think it'd more effectively go into the appropriate hands by at least charging some nominal amount. Advertise that anyone may visit the public library and purchase a subsidized internet-capable device for $20. Or $5. Free just has no chance of being an efficient distribution.
I’m sure there are some prerequisites, similar to how the acp is managed.
Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public
#20Seems like a feel-good idea but one which would be better implemented by just giving people the money instead and letting them do what they will with it
The idea is people get Chromebooks, not that people get something of the value of $300.
I can't think of any good scenarios from buying a bunch of crappy Chromebooks for any purpose. What's the best that can happen?