Chromebooks Were Once a Good Deal for Schools. Now They’re Becoming E-Waste.

[Mockingbird]

Quote

Low-price, easy-to-use Chromebooks were once a boon to cost-conscious schools. Educators say the simple laptops are no longer a good deal.

Models have shot up in price in the past four years. Constant repairs add to the cost. Google imposes expiration dates, even if the hardware still works. This year, Google ceases support for 13 models. Next year, 51 models will expire. 

These surging costs are presenting a predicament for anyone who runs a school and wants to educate children. Some administrators say they are throwing precious funding at a product that just doesn’t last long enough. Doubling the lifespan of Chromebooks could save public schools—and taxpayers—an estimated $1.8 billion, according to U.S. PIRG, a public-interest research group that analyzed Chromebook data.

Chromebooks have no second life. When they expire, they become e-waste. By contrast, Macs and PCs can run apps even after their native software is no longer supported. They can even be repurposed into Chromebook-like devices.

 

Chromebooks Were Once a Good Deal for Schools. Now They’re Becoming E-Waste. - WSJ

Edited September 1, 2023 by Jim K
cleared formatting to make it easier to read

[macoman]

Why not replacing chrome OS for Linux instead? it will be great if Google provide a step by step in how to replace the OS for those schools that would like to continue using these chromebooks.

[adrynalyne]

On 31/08/2023 at 06:53, macoman said:

Why not replacing chrome OS for Linux instead? it will be great if Google provide a step by step in how to replace the OS for those schools that would like to continue using these chromebooks.

Schools would spend more money on training people to use Linux than to replace them.

[Good Bot, Bad Bot]

It's hard for me to believe Chromebooks for kids would ever physically last seven years.

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 31/08/2023 at 18:13, adrynalyne said:

Schools would spend more money on training people to use Linux than to replace them.

Won't kids just use it for school work, not gaming?

[adrynalyne]

On 31/08/2023 at 18:16, Mindovermaster said:

Won't kids just use it for school work, not gaming?

I don’t recall mentioning anything about gaming. 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 31/08/2023 at 21:04, adrynalyne said:

I don’t recall mentioning anything about gaming. 

So, umm, what else are they going to use it for other than Office-like software and the browser? I'd really like to know.

[adrynalyne]

On 31/08/2023 at 19:16, Mindovermaster said:

So, umm, what else are they going to use it for other than Office-like software and the browser? I'd really like to know.

What does that have to do with my comment? I’m not really interested in playing guessing games right now. If you have a point, get to it. 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 31/08/2023 at 21:39, adrynalyne said:

What does that have to do with my comment? I’m not really interested in playing guessing games right now. If you have a point, get to it. 

Why are they paying money to teach kids how to use Linux?

As intended, it is used for school work. It's not hard to use Linux..

[binaryzero]

On 01/09/2023 at 12:48, Mindovermaster said:

Why are they paying money to teach kids how to use Linux?

As intended, it is used for school work. It's not hard to use Linux..

Errrr he wasn't referring to the kids, he was referring to the support staff...

[adrynalyne]

On 31/08/2023 at 19:48, Mindovermaster said:

Why are they paying money to teach kids how to use Linux?

As intended, it is used for school work. It's not hard to use Linux..

Come on man, use some critical thinking. Nobody was talking about students being paid. 

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 31/08/2023 at 21:50, adrynalyne said:

Come on man, use some critical thinking. Nobody was talking about students being paid. 

I never said that.. That's just your assumption.

[adrynalyne]

On 31/08/2023 at 19:57, Mindovermaster said:

I never said that.. That's just your assumption.

 

Why are they paying money to teach kids how to use Linux?

Are you really going to lie when we can read what you said?

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

On 31/08/2023 at 22:05, adrynalyne said:

 

Why are they paying money to teach kids how to use Linux?

Are you really going to lie when we can read what you said?

Why did I say kids. Damn my brain.. I meant the staff.. Geez, that's what happens when my hand goes faster than my brain..

[+InsaneNutter MVC]

I've mixed feeling on Chromebooks. I think as a tablet that can run Android apps some of them are a great buy due to the eight years of guaranteed updates.

My Mum got a Lenovo IdeaPad Duet and loves it. She gets the full Chrome browser the same as on her PC and all the Android apps she had on her Nexus 9 work great, the detachable keyboard is also a great bonus she really likes.

When you think her previous Nexus 9 got two years worth of updates from Google and cost more without a keyboard, its hard to knock it from that perspective.

On the the other hand when you think of it from the perspective of a Laptop eight years is neither bad or amazing. I suppose with the x86-64 based ones you could install Linux on them presuming they last that long in a School. The ARM ones would sadly be e-waste at present as Linux support is not great from what I gather.

[domboy]

A few years ago my employer (higher ed) got a few chromeboxes for evaluation, and I got one of them to see if we could either use them a kiosk or possibly a vdi client (zero/thin client) etc. I was unpleasantly surprised on how quickly support was dropped for the model I had, meaning now OS or browser updates.

Yeah, I turned it into a linux box thanks to community firmware available, but that's no guarantee it will run well or stable, or that any particular model will be supported etc. To me it seems Google uses the phone planned obsolescence model for ChromeOS. Shame really... it's just a step away from being a proper linux distribution. 

[neufuse Veteran]

On 31/08/2023 at 20:40, Good Bot, Bad Bot said:

It's hard for me to believe Chromebooks for kids would ever physically last seven years.

we have chrome books in our district that have been there since 2012..... their update cycle was every 8yrs but... covid