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Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

statescoop.com

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Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#71

Post by robocat »

JaDogg wrote: post #61
graphe wrote: post #17

Instead 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.

Please do not create jobs. Seriously, this is a good way to get people related to politicians in various places that just pay a salary. Now the whole neighborhood is worse off. This will only lead to corruption and nepotism. Helping businesses with something like an incubator is a good idea, and these businesses can create jobs instead of the government creating jobs. Hopefully, these Chromebooks will make it easier…

> Helping businesses with something like an incubator

First: helping businesses does not avoid corruption and nepotism.

Secondly: I experienced a government subsidised business incubator in New Zealand, and I can honestly say it was a 100% waste of tax dollars. (We were the only positive dollar business outcome and the incubator had very little value for us!)

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#72

Post by ge96 »

trog wrote: post #70
ge96 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what is the percentage of people that would even consider "run [their] favorite Debian programs..." on their Chromebook.

I set up the Linux version of Firefox on our company's Chromebooks so we could use client certificates (not available in the Android version available from Play Store). It's super easy so I imagine any nerd with a Chromebook that wants more functionality that they can get from mobile apps would do it!

Yeah I have taken a $50 chromebook before and ran virtual box in it.

I don't know why they would buy/give out these crippled OS devices vs. just Windows/easiest option.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#73

Post by 1letterunixname »

The almost laptops that are like IKEA furniture but worse: by a company that monetizes users' privacy, are unrepairable e-waste, and expire after X years.

Instead, domestically-manufactured tablets or laptops based on open source would be more sustainable and waste less taxpayer money rather than just handing $50m USD to megacorp.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#74

Post by 1letterunixname »

madars wrote: post #13

Recent 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, in…

Sorry, no. See also: AUE.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#75

Post by explaininjs »

graphe wrote: post #52
explaininjs wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The real question is whether the state standards should be expected to apply to inner city schools. The knee jerk reaction is to say yes of course how could they not, but that ignores all sorts of socioeconomic context that goes into education.

People in greater poverty and ignorance have gotten out of worst situations. Even a nuanced response does not excuse this mismanagement of funds or the poor performance. Inner city should not equate "expectation to fail at greater cost than success".

In almost all cases it wasn’t government cash that got them out. Thus I agree “throw money at the poor people” isn’t the answer. The question is whether “decrease the standards proportional to a reasonable statistical expectation based on underling factors of the particular population at hand” is.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#76

Post by shortrounddev2 »

explaininjs wrote: post #3
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #2

Seems 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

Except 133,000 individuals could not buy 133,000 chromebooks for the amount of money that it takes one entity to buy 133,000 chromebooks. There’s plenty of free cash/food/shelter around for those who need it. Adding computers to the list is better than just slightly more cash.

Right but the question is if the government knows what those 133k people need better than they do. There's also the administrative cost of such a system and logistics (if the government decides to ship or deliver the devices themselves). You could avoid having to pay government salaries for the people involved in finding qualified people, getting their info, auditing for fraud, etc.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#77

Post by 1letterunixname »

robocat wrote: post #68
sokoloff wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this. The amount of wasteful greedy/hoarding behavior that is induced by free and is curbed by charging even $20 is quite high. Charging 50% of the going resale rate is probably enough to prevent hoarding and substantially curb resale. That might be slightly too much for the aims of the program, in which case adjust as needed, realizing that you're trading off one outcome for another.

"user pays" prevents the benefit from occurring. For example in New Zealand (public healthcare) there used to be a $5 copay for prescribed medication (by government healthcare doctors). There is now no copay ($0) because 3% of people would not get the medicine because of cost. This was particularly true for low-income families, Māori, Pacific peoples, and disabled New Zealanders. That said, our conservative party wan…

Exactly. This concept is borne of "let them eat cake" wealth privilege gatekeeping/utopian magical thinking. There are homeless people and the elderly who are continually deciding whether to buy medicine or food.

It's possible to distribute benefits fairly based on limiting a physical device to 1 per person.

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#78

Post by shortrounddev2 »

explaininjs wrote: post #6
prepend wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but it’s cheaper to administer cash outflows. Maybe the state can buy the books for $200 but they have to manage inventory, hire staff, etc etc. So it’s probably cheaper to just cut checks to people for $300 even though the cost per unit is higher.

I can assure you the state already has plenty staff on hand with plenty of training on giving out free stuff. And even if they don’t: jobs program.

The state could administer other tasks it's good at more effectively if it didn't need to spend human resources on such a program.

>jobs program

so is the point to help the poor, or is it to pay government workers to do unnecessary work?

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#79

Post by shortrounddev2 »

thatwasunusual wrote: post #24
prepend wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but it’s cheaper to administer cash outflows. Maybe the state can buy the books for $200 but they have to manage inventory, hire staff, etc etc. So it’s probably cheaper to just cut checks to people for $300 even though the cost per unit is higher.

How can you be assured that those money are used on those ChromeBooks?

You can't, but it doesn't matter

Re: Maryland will hand out 133k Chromebooks to the public

#80

Post by shortrounddev2 »

robertlagrant wrote: post #5
shortrounddev2 wrote: post #2

Seems 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.

If they need a laptop, they'll buy one. If they need something else, they'll buy that instead
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