Transcript The future of computers in our homes and schools

The future of computers in our
homes and schools
David Strom (revised 4/13)
[email protected]
Port parent, author,
Internet consultant
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
1
Who am I?
•
•
•
•
Port parent, Daly 4th grader
Co-chair Citizens Technology Cmte (‘94)
Consultant to many computer companies
Write frequently on Internet and networking
topics (former magazine editor-in-chief)
• Test lots of cool new stuff
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
2
Agenda
•
•
•
•
•
Some predictions for the future
State of our -- and other -- schools
Everyone has a web site these days
Going beyond AOL for home access
What does this all mean for the average
parent
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
3
My vision for 2002
• Laptops for kids
• Internet access everywhere: homes,
classrooms, coffee bars, stores, hotels
• Everyone is their own publisher
• Multiple email addresses for everyone
• Portable wireless contact devices: superpagers
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
4
One no-brainer: PCs get [still]
cheaper!
• Dell, HP for $999
• eMachines for $399!
• How low can they go?
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
5
Key applications to watch
• Music and home audio/theater
• Wireless gizmos
• Email and the web intersections
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
6
The next frontier: Music
•
•
•
•
•
Goal: one set of speakers to play everything
CDs
MP3s
DVD, Nintendo TV
PC games
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
7
Where is wireless going?
• Metricom looking to expand to LI (Internet
access)
• Now have six different cell systems to
choose from
• Two-way pagers are just becoming popular
• Wireless Palm Pilots
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
8
Wireless obstacles
•
•
•
•
•
Can’t build [enough] towers
Still slower than wired connections
Too many things to manage and integrate
Too expensive
Batteries never last long enough
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
9
Look ma, no laptop!
• Haven’t owned one in years
• Use cybercafes, libraries for Internet access
• Everything I need is on the Internet now
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
10
What about email and the web?
• Set up various services using web forms
• Then send notifications via email
• Useful for network-based storage,
calendars, document distribution
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
11
Examples of email/web
applications
• eGroups.com mailing and discussion groups
• my.yahoo.com calendar and stock quotes
• Amazon.com new book notification
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
12
Future computers
• Lighter, faster, cheaper
• Oodles of memory and disk
• Remember the typical PC 5 years ago
(486/50 w/ 4/300 MB) ?
• Home networks won’t be easy -- STILL!
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
13
State of Port schools technology
• 3 PCs/classroom K thru 5
• Labs, Internet access in all school buildings
• Weber to be wired + 1 PC/core classroom
this summer
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
14
The future of our schools’
technology
• Five years for universal gr. 3-12 laptops
• Two years for well-integrated curriculum
• Two years for >90% teaching training
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
15
School technology report card
• Training the teachers: B
• Improving the infrastructure: B• Computer curriculum: B-
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
16
How do we stack up?
• Neighboring communities
• Neighboring colleges
• Rest of the world
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
17
Examples
•
•
•
•
•
•
CAD lab at HS with NY Tech’s lab
Manhasset
Hilton Head High
Intel’s Lesson Plans on the web
Georgia “Write an Engineer” site
Oregon State’s Virtual Student Desktop
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
18
Port Schools web site
•
•
•
•
•
•
Portnet: www.portnet.k12.ny.us
School closing notification
School newspapers, student web pages
Class field trip pix
Board of Ed. meeting agendas
Contact info, calendars, etc.
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
19
Port Washington web sampler
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Library (pwpl.org)
Fire department (pwfd.com)
Town of North Hempstead (northhempstead.com)
Village of Sands Point (sandspoint.org) etc.
Business Improvement Dist. (portwashington.org)
Soccer Club (pwsoccer.com)
Many, many others (including strom.com!)
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
20
Typical home Internet situation
today
• AOL with 33 Kbps dial-up modem
• a few multi-PC homes, non-networked
• Biggest uses: Chat, email, word processing
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
21
What’s changing?
• Continuous Internet access
• Networks in the homes
• Applications moving towards the web
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
22
Beyond AOL for home Internet
access
• DSL (ISP + Bell Atlantic)
• CableVision
• ISDN
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
23
Advantages for high-speed access
• Always-on connections
• Free up phones for voice calls
• Avoid connection busy signals
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
24
The Internet is always on in my
house
• Wife and child now use it daily (28 MM
active users in a third US homes?)
• Search movie times in local theaters
• Calendar on Yahoo
• AOL buddy lists always available
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
25
The notion of information ondemand
• Search online encyclopedias (Comptons)
• Download software when we need it
(Shareware.com)
• Download music when we want to listen to
it (Mp3.com)
• Download books when we want to read
them (ToExcel, Xlibris)
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
26
Implications
•
•
•
•
Newspapers and TV become less important
Networks become more compelling
Finding stuff via the web is still too hard
Buying stuff via the web is sometimes too
much of an impulse
• New applications for web use (taxes,
shopping)
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
27
So what’s the average parent to
do?
• Make sure you don’t over or under buy
technology
• Consider continuous access soon
• Understand and monitor your child’s
computer use
• Take a course, pick an application (email) to
get started
• Surf with care: misinformation (Tunisia),
(c) David Strom Inc.
28
1999hate sites, and porn
Questions?
Copies of this presentation, along with links
to the sites mentioned, are available at:
www.portnet.k12.ny.us/techconference
(c) David Strom Inc.
1999
29