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Top 10 Ed Tech Posts of 2010:OpenOffice Dead? Netbooks Alive?

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This year has been a wild one, for tech in general, educational technology specifically, and for me personally. On a personal note, I left my job in public education to begin consulting and writing full time. My OMG-you’re-quitting-your-job-in-a-recession-are-you-nuts?!?!? experiment has gone remarkably well and actually left me even more immersed in the various bits of battery technology about which I write. Now at the end of 2010, it’s worth a look back at the Ed Tech stories that you read and retweeted the most, as well as the ones that irritated you so much that you overcame our comment registration system and flamed like there was no tomorrow.

1. OpenOffice is dead

“You have Google Apps and Office Web Apps on one side and Office 2010 on the other. Why bother with OpenOffice when the free web-based suites are so good?”

2. Ubuntu 10.04: Never a better time to switch

“It’s fast, it’s stable, and has great features and software, not to mention that this is one of Canonical’s Long-Term Support (LTS) releases…It’s Ubuntu 10.04.”

3. Netbooks dead? I think not

This was originally published over on the Between the Lines blog, but has important implications for Ed Tech where netbook investments have been substantial, so I’m including it in my list for 2010:

“Netbooks aren’t dying at the hands of tablets. People have just figured out what they’re for and are only buying netbooks if they meet their needs.”

4. The end of my Mac journey

“It’s time to send back my loaner MacBook Pro and iPod Touch to Apple.  Were they everything Apple laptop battery promised they’d be?” (See also “OMG! I just bought 00 worth of Apple gear!”)

5. .XXX domain: A bit like Amsterdam…only different

“Does the .xxx top-level domain actually mean anything for us? Not really. Playboy.com isn’t going anywhere.”

6. Is Ubuntu 10.10 yet another chance to ditch Windows?

“Ubuntu isn’t going to displace Windows anytime soon. But it just keeps getting better. Schools owe it to their budgets and users to at least give it a look.”

7. Edu netbook shootout, Round 1

“These netbooks still represent compromises in many ways vs. traditional notebooks. However, portability and durability make them well-suited to a variety of educational environments.”

8. 9000 PCs in Swiss schools going Linux only
“Beginning this September, all 9000 computers will run only Ubuntu and free and open source software. While officials are happy to be saving money on licensing, the Department of Public instruction largely made the move out of what they considered best practices for student education”

9. Teachers: Please stop prohibiting the use of Wikipedia

“Banning Wikipedia? You’re doing students a disservice.”

10. Building your own computer is a lot like raising chickens

“Is it worth the trouble for a school to build their own computers to save a few bucks? Maybe. It’s worth the trouble for me to raise my own chickens. And yes, there is a connection.”