Okay, here is my question of the day. What the FUDGE are you doing in the woods where you want a Cell phone on all the time? Smart phone at that (feature phones can last days on a smallish battery)? Additionally, you should likely be carrying a battery backup that actually holds a big charge (10,000 MA min), the unit you have won't run my Andoid phone for more than 5 hours. While the battery backup I carry will run it for 40 hours of normal use. Hell, my spare batteries (size matters) are more 600MA bigger and a lot smaller in size. Here is the key to the failure ...

Takes longer to charge than it lasts under normal conditions of my phone. Weighs more than several spare 2100MA batteries for my phone. More expensive than same several batteries or a nice big external battery pack. You might want something like this instead.

Anyways, here is my points, in a nutshell

1) Camping; Defeated the purpose of "gettting away from it all"
2) Hunting: Scaring game away every time you get a txt/call (Vibrate makes noise). Silent mode works, but unless you're checking every three minutes. See also #1
3) Logging; You're busy working, get a feature phone* (not smart one) and be done.
4) Out in the middle of nowhere; No cell signal or 2g at best. Feature Phone* is better choice.

*Feature phones work better in areas of sketchy cell service. Their battery life is very long. The battery requires less power.

Actually, of those millions of trucks, how many of them are hauling anything more than people around 95% of the time? Most trucks aren't used as trucks most of the time. Most are cars with empty beds in the back.

Google Car (Or similar) based Taxi Service coming to a big city near you, and using Tesla Electric cars (or similar) will provide most of the "local" transportation needs in the future. Imagine, being able to hail a cab, get in (and share??) and get to your destination quickly and efficiently.

Human Taxi drivers will go the way of buggy whip makers.

So, what you're saying is that you are in favor of giving technology to low income people even though you don't believe it will give them "those benefits". Which is either too vague (I have no idea what you actually mean) or mutually exclusive "waste of money"

My whole point was that Technology gives access to knowledge and Education in ways that people cannot see, because we are stuck in "industrial" education model (Factory schools). Electronic computing devices, including Chromebooks, iPads/tablets, and full function Laptop/Desktops DO provide all sorts of benefits, and easily and affordable as we want, even mostly "Free" (for content). AND That will give students (teachers, parents etc) the ability to break free from Industrial Education into highly specialized and intensive education, at the pace every student can select for themselves.

Lastly, your mistaken about my viewpoint, because either I am not articulating it well, or that you are simply still stuck in "Industrial education" mode. YES you have all those things, and yet you still see them as a benefit to "industrial education" rather as an opportunity to extend education in a way that benefits everyone, based on ability, rather than the parents wealth.

The only way to make sure that we have a society that is well educated, is to provide equal access to Education, apart from industrial education model we currently have. We currently spend a great deal of money on the Politics of Industrial Education and funding our failing schools because we have failed (as a society) to realize that the educational needs of our society have change. We do not need robot industrial workers, we need knowledge based workers who can learn new tasks and acquire new skills quickly and efficiently. Something our current school design cannot do, because it wasn't designed for that purpose.

I still feel sorry for your kids, because you've given them tools, without teaching them how to use them to learn, and create.

I can see how you mistake passion to make everyone the best possible person as "Irrational Emotion". Our schools will have to change. I see that change is needed, and because I am in front of the curve, I appear to be crazy. I accept that.

With Most Crypto Currency, there is a finite amount of coins that are possible, not infinite. Once the diminishing returns on Mining Happen (happening now) it becomes harder and harder to create new coins, and thus the inflationary pressures actually turn into deflationary. This gives a very distinctive advantage to working hard and earning coins, savings, and long term outlook. However, this doesn't play well with our disposable goods economy.

I rather doubt Bush was stupid as the Left made him out to be. And I rather doubt Obama is as smart as the Left wants him to be.

What I can tell you, is that as bad as GWB was (awful), he at least tried to pretend to do his job, while Obama seems to be going from Fundraiser to Vacation to Fundraiser to Golf to HipHop to Basketball, while the world is burning around him.

Rome is burning, and he is the new Nero.

"At-Risk Schools" is bullshit misnomer. These schools get ALL sorts of extra money other schools don't. Let me tell you, money is not the issue, the issue with "At-RisK" is the parents of the kids who are "At-Risk". These people are lower educated because many (most?) do not value education. They are lower Economic, because they are lower educated. And because they are lower economic, they don't see a way (even if you tell them) out of their situation. I am not going to say they are lazy, because many of them do very hard labor work.

The issue is, they would rather spend what little (if any) extra money they have on things that do no provide opportunity for their families. The families who figure it out, are out of poverty in one generation, maybe two. IF you want to fix "At-Risk" schools, you'll have to start with the Parents.

Actually there is. I refer to you Google Classroom (using Google Apps for Education). http://classroom.google.com/

This provides interactive access to the students up to 24 hours every day. The teacher gives feedback and the student receives it immediately, regardless of whether or not they are in class at the time. With Hangouts a "sick" student can be in class, and participate without having to infect classmates with Virus of the year. And so on.

What is a waste of money, is spending it on is old style industrial education items like "Chalk and blackboards", 35 MM movies/VHS', and Books that are obsoleted every time Pearson and Congress comes up with the latest greatest version of Education (e,g. NCLB, Common Core). Imagine being able to get Creative Commons Licensed material/media/books that are Free and edited on the fly to conform to every Jurisdiction's lame-ass requirements, which ultimately will leave politics out of education (once it shows how silly it a lot of it really is). Tie in Khan Academy, and MIT courseware and ..... and you have EDUCATION that goes through PhD level work available ... for free ... for anyone.

I foresee the time when we dump Industrial Education and start providing kids all the education they can handle at any age and quit trying to pigeon hole them into "age" segregated classes, and start putting them into online sessions with educational peers.

And at $200 ea. Chromebooks offer even the lowest income people a chance to own technology that can help bridge the education gap. $200 buys one, maybe two textbooks these days, something school districts have to do every year or two. Are they as capable as a Laptop? Probably not, but they are usable for 85% of what kids need in school.

To be honest, I don't know whether or not to feel sorry for your kids, or you. Here we live in an age where the world is at your fingertips and you spouting off like it is a pure scam. Kind of hypocritical of you being on /. (using a computer and all) don't you think?

Because Every Student Needs AutoCAD and Photoshop!

Well that and yes, you can do Photoshop and AutoCAD on Chrombooks, via VDI infrastructure like VMWare View Desktops, like we are. It isn't as nice as $1500 specialized workstations and 22" monitors but it works in a pinch (and at home). So, you have VDI for remote work, a Lab full or real Computers for classwork, and not spend a shit ton of money on laptops that are used 85% of the time as IM and Typing stations.

Spending money is easy when it isn't yours.

Created under GWB, and the left hated it, extended under BHO, and the left goes silent. I'm trying to figure out at what point does principle gets put aside for politics?

Likely it has to do with the prize laws in those locations. Goofy Laws designed to protect the population, does exactly the opposite!

Just design it to be 64.1 times more dense. I'm not an electrical engineer, but i would think a little advanced materials application should move the ball at least half way towards to goal, and I'm sure that there is already non-commercially viable means to do just that. Applying engineering to get the rest of the way should push the cost of the first half down further.

Unless someone is pushing the ball, progress may stall. I see this as Google pushing the ball, and that by itself might be worth it.

Business is neither moral, nor immoral but AMORAL. People are either moral, or immoral, they are not amoral. Everyone is a hypocrite, at some point will violate their own moral code. This is called situational ethics, and is popular in politics.

If your personal code of ethics prevents you from doing business with people who are hypocritical(evil, bad, immoral etc), then you'll be doing business with nobody, The best you can do is do business with people who support your ideals more often that the other guys.

Personally, I would say buying iOS devices is a mistake generally, but not necessarily in every case. I'm in Educational IT (K-12), and have seen quite a number of pilots in our district trying to decide what is "best" option. The answer is, "it depends".

Personally, I see much more value in Chromebooks in education, especially when tied to Google Apps For Education (GAFE). Have you heard of Google Classroom? https://classroom.google.com/s... Having taken a look at the promo videos (yes, I understand) but if it is half as easy as it looks, it is going to change how we do education.

Add in things like Khan Academy, and other "online" educational material, the world is our oyster field. I see, in the future, customized education for every student, where we break free from the industrial model of Education.

Actually, most teaching is done between K-8 schools, is simply basics. And some of it is really basic, even in 8th Grade. You don't start getting interesting until High School. Then again, Math and science is "hard", and therefore isn't really promoted. Higher level math and science (Calculus, Physics, Chemistry etc.) are so hard, that most teachers don't know the subject well enough to actually teach it.

But then again, I remember my college roommate's girlfriend going for her teaching credential, and couldn't do basic math in her head, and used a calculator and still got the wrong answer. Teaching seems to be the last resort for certain people, after all, you don't need a PhD to teach kindergarteners?

But when you pay a K-6 teacher the same as a HS Math and Physics teacher, you start to see the real problem.