Computer Industry News for Schools

"The Future of Handheld Computers in Education", an interview by Carolyn Staudt, published in Fall, 2000 in the The Concord Consortium.  An interview with Mike Lorion, Vice President for Education at Palm, Inc., about the future of handhelds in the classroom and some of the challenges ahead.

"Compaq to recall notebook batteries that can catch fire" published on CNET.com, by Michael Kanellos on October 27, 2000.  Compaq Computer said Friday it will recall and replace about 55,000 battery packs sold with two of its notebook models because of an overheating problem.  The Houston-based company revealed that batteries contained inside its Armada E500 and V300 notebooks can short-circuit, causing the notebooks to overheat, smoke and even catch fire.

 "Dell Recalls Batteries for Some Notebook Computers" published October 14, 2000 in ZDNet News.  "Dell Computer Corp. said it was recalling about 27,000 batteries sold with certain notebook computers, saying the batteries can short circuit and catch fire, even when not in use."  See Dell's Battery Recall Program.  

"IBM, Dell trail Apple in wireless laptop push" by Joe Wilcox, published in CNET News.com on September 7, 2000.  IBM and Dell are planning to announce notebook computers with fully integrated wireless networking like the Apple integrated AirPort.

"Sylvan, Aether form MindSurf" by Ray Bolger published in LocalBusiness.com on July 17,2000. Sylvan Ventures and a wireless technology company are investing $29 million each in Mindsurf, which will develop and market wireless networks for school grades K-12.

"IBM, Edison Join Forces To Develop Wireless Device" originally published in the Wall Street Journal  on June 19, 2000. "IBM signed a five-year agreement with Edison Schools, a company that currently manages 79 schools, under which Edison will switch to IBM computers, servers, and technology and IBM will create a wireless computer device than can fit inside a student's backpack."

"Lucent is a cut above 3Com, Cisco 802.11b wireless systems" from ZDNet Reviews published May 3, 2000.  "The Lucent Orinoco line not only performed as promised but also was more extensible and flexible than 3Com Corp.'s AirConnect and Cisco Systems Inc.'s Aironet and had the best set of administration and configuration tools."

"Wireless within corporate reach" from the ZDNet eWeek published April 17, 2000.  "For organizations of many kinds, 802.11b finally makes wireless networking fast (enough), cost-effective.  Wireless technology is finally ready for prime time—for a price that won't bleed companies dry."

"Wireless LANs" published March 28, 2000 in ZDNet's PC Magazine.  "Once expensive, slow, and proprietary, wireless LAN products are now reasonably fast, standardized, and priced for mainstream business use. Typical office users can stay connected even as they roam from office to office to meeting room with their notebooks."

"Open your notebook" by William Gallagher published in Educational Computing & Technology in the June 1998 issue. The author "considers whether notebooks are worth the fuss and which models are the best buys."

To Schools and Their Use of Laptops on the Web