Comment Nothing Cheap about EDU software (Score 1) 557
Most universitys are being put under threat by microsoft and apple to enforce piracy issues by forcing the universities to pay micosoft and apple so much money per term per student out of their computing fees instead of facing potentially (and i suspect some what unmerited and unproveable)million dollar lawsuits!!
At my university we pay $60 a semester for computing fees - now- no thanks to Gun Toting Microshaft and Apple - $12 every semester is going to Microshaft and Apple - that's $12 that previously went to our departments to provide students with advanced computing tools (for film students final cut pro - newer machines - for engineering students more clusters - for cs students more clusters etc!). So if you are here for 4 years (or 5 as most) and $12 a semester gone - that's $96 - now you think awesome - for $96 I get free and reduced cost copies of office, xp, mac office, etc - but in the end microsoft is making a lot of money it doesn't deserve for all those other students who don't have the need for a computer(it's cheaper to use campus resources) or those suites - or for those of us who use linux and will never buy office products.
I'd rather my department get the money in the face of huge budget cuts and fewer classes and resources for students. for our university alone there's 25,000 students - in one semester microsoft is scamming out $300,000 - $600,000 for the year. now every state school controlled by our regents is part of this deal - so the other big university has 25,000 students approx too - so let's see - 1.2 million just from two university a year in the middle of the midwest. great scam.
Microsoft and Apple are using scare tactics and threats of expensive legal action to bully universities across the country out of a lot of money to partake in giving the edu's cheaper software - but is it really?
At my university we pay $60 a semester for computing fees - now- no thanks to Gun Toting Microshaft and Apple - $12 every semester is going to Microshaft and Apple - that's $12 that previously went to our departments to provide students with advanced computing tools (for film students final cut pro - newer machines - for engineering students more clusters - for cs students more clusters etc!). So if you are here for 4 years (or 5 as most) and $12 a semester gone - that's $96 - now you think awesome - for $96 I get free and reduced cost copies of office, xp, mac office, etc - but in the end microsoft is making a lot of money it doesn't deserve for all those other students who don't have the need for a computer(it's cheaper to use campus resources) or those suites - or for those of us who use linux and will never buy office products.
I'd rather my department get the money in the face of huge budget cuts and fewer classes and resources for students. for our university alone there's 25,000 students - in one semester microsoft is scamming out $300,000 - $600,000 for the year. now every state school controlled by our regents is part of this deal - so the other big university has 25,000 students approx too - so let's see - 1.2 million just from two university a year in the middle of the midwest. great scam.
Microsoft and Apple are using scare tactics and threats of expensive legal action to bully universities across the country out of a lot of money to partake in giving the edu's cheaper software - but is it really?
