This letter was sent to the editor of the Grand Rapids Press on 28
June 1998.
My sons were disappointed to learn that our schools are phasing out the computers they grew up with.
The two Grand Rapids school teachers I met with were even more upset.
The public, including most teachers, may not be aware that there is a move afoot to replace the 2,000 or so Apple Macintosh computers in our schools, standardizing on Windows computers by refusing to buy anything else.
I believe this is a foolish move -- and the fact that it is being done quietly while school is out leads me to suspect someone doesn't want the teachers, parents, or students to know about the new policy until the first 400 Windows computers have been installed.
Why is this a foolish way to spend the taxpayers' dollars? Because the systems will be equipped with two operating systems, Windows 3.1 and Windows NT, neither of which are ready for the year 2000.
By now, most know of the so-called Millenium Bug, the fact that many computers and programs will think it's 1900 instead of 2000 when the date says 1/1/00. With January 1, 2000 just a little over 18 months away and with every one of the Macintosh computers in our schools fully Year 2000 compliant, I simply can't understand how our schools can afford to invest $795,000 in non-compliant computer systems so close to the millenium.
Daniel Knight
2544 Martin S.E.
Grand Rapids, MI