This photo might not be believable 5 years ago but more and more schools and universities are switching to Macs in their classroom — this one was shot in one of the classrooms of the University of the East.
This one could be for a multimedia class (I am told by one student there that it’s for mixed-use and usually for the Java programming class. I think this is an old photo from a year ago.
I’m sure a lot of Philippine schools (especially La Salle, Benilde and Ateneo) have classrooms like these for a year or two now but every time I see one, I just can’t help but be amazed. During my college years as a computer engineering student, we only had an IBM PC clone 486-DX4 100MHz (and we still had to share them!).
And to think that most public schools in the country lack enough classrooms, books and desks, it’s ironic that we get to see the other end of that spectrum.
I also hear this is one way to attract new incoming students. Now that’s a truly Apple-inspired marketing campaign.
Twitter: papatadzRN
says:
wow! envy XD
You should also research and post about UPLB’s “Mac” classrooms, considering that you UP has barely enough budget to improve its classroom,teaching apparatus or its teachers’ salaries.
Twitter: wielson
says:
You’re absolutely right! The lecture halls, and some lecture rooms (as in CEM 103), where large classes of ~200 students have an iMac on them. I know because I have classes on those rooms. Just great.
yeah, a nation of contrast. glad to see these institutions setting a trend, an apparent affirmation that the country is somehow economically improving
Twitter: allanplusdale
says:
We also have one at Malayan Colleges Laguna and it was there since it started in 2007.
how about dlsu-csb having a classroom full of iMac G3
that is in 1999
in AMA makati also have a “MAC-lab”
Twitter: richard_DGreat
says:
i dont think macs are advisable for engineering students though
I graduated a year before this course began its existence. Would’ve taken it up as an elective if I had the opportunity. Alas, I graduated on time
Twitter: rbsoriano
says:
In University of Pangasinan, we have 1 Mac Lab with 50 units of iMac, I don’t know what’s the configuration of the units though.
It’s a sign of progress. The irony is we are ten steps behind other major colleges and universities in asia. Having an i-mac is not necessarily a good thing and a good buy. If only schools started building their computer from scratch, buy parts at a factory price and assemble with their own workforce, who knows how much they could save (with better hardware and specs and price)than buying a ready made Mac. They could also include a logo of their school in it as a trademark and that would be great.
Building computers in businesses (or any form of institution) is not the same as building computers for personal use. If they purchased a bunch of hardware from a vendor, they’ll be offered with a service contract similar to service contracts given to enterprises. That is why you see Dells, Lenovo’s, HPs and IBMs on most universities and other educational institutions.
They save much more in the later years with the post sales support that’s packaged with the purchase, than by investing on a “deeper” inhouse IT department.
Other than that, they also don’t need to research on viable hardware in the future since the sales department of the vendor will likely up-sell their current hardware.
I know clearly what Ben is trying to say. And I won’t dispute that under the present conditions. There is indeed a huge difference when building a computer for personal use and building something for an entire institution. I also agree that with your point about contracts and benefits of future upgrades. But that is looking only at a viewpoint of a salesman and that of a costumer who wants a hassle-free transaction. It is perhaps the reason why the Philippines is steps behind other nation.
If you have been to India, some universities (particularly in Andhra) contract vendors for parts alone. They then assemble them according to their level of use. High-end specs for High demanding applications while just basic specs for low demanding ones. This way they just hand down the higher end spec every two or three years and dispose the lower spec computers back to the vendors for 20-50percent off their next purchase by volume. All parts are under warranty so they just have them replaced if proved defective. Students and teachers are trained to maintain and do the upgrades themselves (BIOS, firmwares, drivers, softwares, etc). The use of Linux free distributions also allows them to costumize almost everything about the system the build! The beauty of it is the government is fully supportive of this alternative style and cost-effective way of learning that they are given incentives and priority. Well you know the difference in our country.
P.S. I Love how they put their heart into it and I just know how good it is to use something you build yourself. And imagine your school logo on it!
Visit Xavier School. They have these Mac Labs
Expensive hardware isn’t uncommon for schools that you pay for a premium. I’d be more surprised on government institutions using iMacs (which they do FYI)
And since the multimedia industry prefers Apple products in their offices, wouldn’t you also want the same experience as a student?
Ha ha! I’m sure this is just an specialized class but with this type of marketing ploy it’s no wonder apple sales are up.
But really who in the right (business wise)frame of mind would prefer a mac over pc?
With mac you don’t have any choice and you will be paying a premium for their product,
with a pc its not just Windows™
There are other free os out there.
Ubuntu is one.
Offices of Behringer, Summit media, Blizzard, etc. Alot of multimedia companies integrate Macs onto their offices.
Just walk into one of their offices and you’ll see.
This is good but remember, these days it is more important to have faster net connection and choice of software at an affordable price.
This is just for “multimedia” classes only. For programming and engineering purposes, this would suck.
I disagree. Mac OS X is a fully-certified Unix operating system, making it surprisingly compatible with Linux and other operating systems traditionally associated as being ‘software developer-friendly’. If you’re a serious programming/computer science student, the choice of hardware and operating system will usually be of little consequence, unless of course you’re intentionally trying to familiarize yourself with specific platforms.
Besides, remember that Apple’s iOS platform is one of the most lucrative environments that developers can work in these days.
they should have known better putting in mac so kids wont play games on PC I bet if their engineering students are smart enough they will deploy PC with Linux OS
Twitter: Pulbobo
says:
Wow. “IBM PC clone” — didn’t know one could pirate computers back then!
no linux?
Twitter: cool_iceman9
says:
Truly I can’t believe in my eyes seeing this one, I’ve seen this around in Facebook and is indeed true, how I wish we had this one in public schools. *cough hard*
Twitter: iyansommerset
says:
WTF? IMHO, we should be using more freaking *Linux* classrooms. Ubuntu or Edubuntu!
Twitter: bibijoelan
says:
waah goodluck to all the parents whos paying the tuition fees with this upgrade on all computer natured subjects and courses.
nag pe-facebook lang ang mga yan…
I’d be partially fine if these were for media arts students, but for Java programming? Seriously? The Mac keyboard is terrible for programming, and having to use a virtualized Windows can be even more confusing to newbies.
bakit may special article dito for UE? taga-UE na si yuga? at may especially pa yung mga elitist schools like Areneoh, Lasawle, and Beneerd. marami na may ganyan, even the public ones.
Booboo ka talaga. Hindi special article ito. Regular article lang katulad ng ibang sulat dito. Siguro yung mga special articles yung may malalaking pictures sa taas palagi yung mga reviews. Magbasa ka naman.
I rarely see a non marketing/advertising/media arts company using Macs.
Ive been in 6 big companies already and there is no sign of a Mac being used.
Seriously, there are a lot of things you can do more in Windows/Linux than OSX. For serious stuff, use a windows/linux… for ease of use/out of the box usage.. use Macs… plain and simple…