Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!bionet!agate!ucbvax!BRL.MIL!abc
From: abc@BRL.MIL (Brint Cooper)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: Re: Reply to a school-system purchaser
Message-ID: <8901310058.aa17175@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>
Date: 31 Jan 89 05:58:44 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 39


Re:

	>From: Dick O'Connor <blake!djo7613@BEAVER.CS.WASHINGTON.EDU>
	>Subject: Micro setups for elementary schools

>>Pricetag for this setup including some level of support (that the
>>teacher in charge was *very* pleased with) was $70,000.
>
>	Gag! Choke! $70,000? If you can invest that kind of money,
>why not buy a micro-vax and workstations- something that was designed
>with networking in mind? You could probably port all kinds of neat
>applications in.
>

	OK, a simpler setup, and one that works VERY WELL in elementary
school situations, high schools, and teacher workshops uses one Apple II
machine as a file server, usually from a floppy drive although a hard
drive can be used, I think.  Ten to 16, perhaps more, "workstations" are
connected to this network.  Each workstation is a full Apple II (e or
GS) with a single disk drive.  Each workstation can stand alone, booting
from the local drive, or can boot from the OS on the file server.

	Unfortunately, I don't know the cost and have forgotten the
price.  Typically, it's sold by Apple dealers although it is not an
Apple product.  I provided info to someone else on Info-Apple about this
at one time.  Perhaps someone can help?

	Incidentally, this setup didn't cost anything like $70,000.

	There's a WEALTH of Apple II software, free and very modestly
priced, that's useful in the classroom.  An important source of
well-written stuff seems to be the "Minnesota Educational Comput(ing,er?)
Consortium."  The school district joins MECC for a modest annual fee.

	Write if you can't find info on the network file server, and
I'll try to get some product info for you.

_Brint