• To Mac or not to Mac?

    Pinellas County Schools, at the urgings of it’s fearless leader Howard Hinsley, has decided to phase out all of the Apple computers and replace them with PCs running Windows. For what reason, you may ask? Well, it wasn’t cost. Many arguments have been made as to wether the upfront savings of a Windows box make up for the down the road savings of a Mac – so I won’t waste your time here. No, the reason was “we want to prepare our students for what they will see in the real world – and let’s face it, it is a Windows world.”

    That’s not such a bad argument, is it? Ah, if you know me you know better, and I’m just getting started.

    Try this little bit of irony on for size…
    When I was starting high school my family had a Mac. Most of my friends had Commodore 64s or some other computer that ran a flavor of DOS. Microsoft Windows was just getting started with versions one and two, but I think everyone would agree that they just plain sucked. Just after I finished my schooling (high school and four years at the best damn University in Florida), I entered the “real world”. Shortly after I entered the real world, all of the computers in my office were running Windows 95. I’m about to get to the good part… I could have used what most other people were using when I was starting high school, namely a flavor of DOS (including the most popular flavor – Microsoft DOS), but instead I used a Mac. Is anyone ready to argue the point that a Mac was better preparation for Windows 95 than DOS? No?

    Isn’t that rich.

    The point here is that the operating system that most kids in school will use in the “real world” HASN’T BEEN MADE YET. Technology changes at an amazing rate. There’s no way you’re going to tell me what will be in use five or ten years from now, and don’t even get me started with kids who’ve got longer than that (re: elementary school students).

    Now it gets better…
    My wife is the antithesis of “tech-savvy”. When we started dating, you could show Cheryl a computer and she’d show you something that might as well have been a used Saturn V moon rocket – for all the use she could have gotten out of it. Of course, when we dated in college her only exposure to computers was my little Mac. When we married, her only exposure to computers was our little Mac. When she went to work in the “real world” and Windows PCs were put on everyone’s desks, her only exposure to computers had been on a Mac. Many of her coworkers had Windows PCs at home, yet for some reason still couldn’t tell a mouse from a furry rodent. In short order, she became an honorary member of tech support at her office. This young lass who didn’t have a tech-savvy bone in her body, who became the PC expert in her “Windows world”, was reared in this computerized world on a Mac.

    Now consider the fact that over 65% of the PCs currently in the school system are Macs already, that by many accounts the staff prefer the Macs, and that cost may not be a factor. If preparation for the “real world”, what ever that may turn out to be, isn’t a good reason then… why are we replacing all of the Macs with PCs?

    Alas, the world is an imperfect place run by imperfect people. It doesn’t me feel any better though.

  • Thanks, boss.

    Here’s the set up: Cheryl, Beth and I go to Olive Garden with Memmay and Peppay (I promise not to start in on the French slang thing again). The disabled parking spaces in front of the restaurant are full so Memmay drops us off so she can drive around looking for a disabled spot in the next lot over (don’t get me started).
    Here’s what happened next: Two groups arrive at the front door at the same time, ours and group from the set of just about any hip MTV show. Cheryl bursts through the door to get our names in first. Feeling the need to show some civility, I hold the door open for Kool and the gang. The last guy through the door is walking with his knees wide; either because of a lot of time spent out on the range, or so his pants won’t fall down. As he walks past, he says to me (through a bushy goatee) “thanks boss”. I feel a tingle in the air… as if some cool has been bestowed upon me. I hurry to catch up with my party, a strut in my step from the recent transfer of cool. (Dear readers: please excuse our sarcasm.)

  • Which is worse: cold or cure?

    My cold lingered into last week. Since it had been one week too many, I went to see my assigned health care professional. At this point I was given a script for antibiotics and instructions to consume probiotics. Well, the good news is that my original cold symptoms have all but abated. Unfortunately, the antibiotics have waged a savage war with my digestive system. Being the good patient, I have dutifully consumed mass quantities of active culture laced yogurt. This time around, I’ll take the cure over the cold – but it’s no slam dunk. SIDEBAR: I had an interesting conversation about “the placebo effect”. It all started with an innocent question: “do you get a placebo effect if the patient is not sure that a drug will work?” Hey, I thought it was a good question. Anyway, it turns out that placebos are not as well understood as I thought (particularly by me), and it is not always clear that the standard psychological explanation is the only explanation. I was feeling better, I had taken the antibiotic, and I was not sure it would work. I wondered if “the placebo effect” could have been the reason I felt better … and that hasn’t changed since my conversation about placebos. YOU HAVE NOW REACHED THE END OF THE SIDEBAR. Either way, the balance sheet leans towards “feeling better” so I guess I shouldn’t be complaining. But what fun is that? And just think, if I hadn’t brought it up I would know less about placebos. Can you imagine going through life not knowing about placebos? Do someone you love a favor, talk to them about placebos. They’ll be glad you did.