Maine has been a proven national leader in progressive legislation in the past on issues such as health care and campaign finance reform.
The state has once again taken a step ahead of the game. In the first week of the new year, the Maine Department of Education signed a four year, $37.2 million contract with Apple Computers.
According to the Apple Web page, the deal will provide 33,000 students and 3,000 teachers with iBook notebook computers, wireless networks, training, and technical support.
All seventh graders from the 241 middle schools across the state will be equipped with the portable, wireless computers starting next fall.
We college students watching the deal unfold while eating mac and cheese and looking for dessert under the couch might be wondering why our poor selves didn’t receive free computers instead of the seventh graders. Here at USM, some students might question the brand of computers purchased by the state as well.
According to Bob Pinkelman, software support specialist for Software Services, there about 1000 IBMs compared to 400 Apples on campus. Pinkelman admits that there are many more IBM users as well.
Sue Herrick, a junior English major and a work-study employee in the Portland computer lab said she notices that students have a strong preference for IBMs.
“I see a lot more prefer using the p.c. over the MACs,” she said. According to Herrick, many students refuse to use MACs even if they are the only computers available in the lab.
“They’ll actually come back to see if IBMs are open,” said Herrick who is a strong IBM supporter as well.
“I’ve always had problems with MACs,” she said. “They’re slow and a little simplistic. I feel like ‘duh’ when I’m using them.”
Ahmed Jama, a junior electrical engineering major and computer lab employee as well said, “I have no preference, but mostly I use IBM.”
“I prefer IBMs,” said Rachel Sackowitz, a junior criminology major. “Only because that’s all I’ve ever known.”
In the presence of an IBM majority within the USM computer labs, there are some MAC users who are willing to speak out.
“MAC. That’s my computer and I like it,” said Anne Cornell, a senior sociology major. “I’ve used them my whole life.”
“MACs have better color,” said Sue Monty, a senior leadership and organizational studies major.
While these students are caught in the everlasting debate over MACs and IBMs, there is another group who is willing to take what we can get and hope that we can spend as little time in front of the screen as possible.
“I don’t deal with computers half the time,” said Jeremy “Bear” Brooks, a senior history major.
“I don’t know much about computers,” said Denitza Zlatarova, a junior communication major. “But I don’t really see a big difference.
“A lot of it is an image thing,” said Sabrina Calhoun, a sophomore jazz performance major. “But now they’re compatible.”
Bob Pinkelman agrees that as technology advances, MACs and IBMs are becoming more and more compatible. He did admit, though, that he spends much more of his time repairing IBMs. The MAC, by far, is less prone to break down. “They protect the users from themselves,” he said.
Staff writer Tyler Stanley can be contacted at: [email protected]