Google Extends Lifespan of Chromebooks With 10-Year Update Policy (wsj.com) 29
Google is working to push back the expiration date of Chromebooks, addressing concerns held by school administrators that the laptops are too short-lived to be cost effective. From a report: The Alphabet-owned company -- which develops the Chrome operating system running on computers made mostly by others -- said Thursday it plans to provide software updates for Chromebooks for up to a decade. The new policy, which starts next year, ensures that no existing Chromebook will expire within the next two years. The disclosure of this policy change comes after an August column in The Wall Street Journal detailing schools' struggles with expiring Chromebooks. Chromebooks are ubiquitous in classrooms around the country, but some education software doesn't work after what Google calls the Auto Update Expiration date. Unsupported Chromebooks can't be used for mandatory state testing, even if the hardware still appears functional.
When the laptops expire, school districts recycle them, sometimes at a cost, and spend millions of dollars on replacements. Google currently sets expiration dates based on the release date of specific models. Newer models have eight years of support, while older Chromebooks have five. Starting in 2024, Google will support a given laptop "platform" -- a certain combination of hardware components -- for 10 years after the first device in the platform hits store shelves. These so-called platforms aren't unique to specific brands or manufacturers and can be found in a variety of distinct models.
When the laptops expire, school districts recycle them, sometimes at a cost, and spend millions of dollars on replacements. Google currently sets expiration dates based on the release date of specific models. Newer models have eight years of support, while older Chromebooks have five. Starting in 2024, Google will support a given laptop "platform" -- a certain combination of hardware components -- for 10 years after the first device in the platform hits store shelves. These so-called platforms aren't unique to specific brands or manufacturers and can be found in a variety of distinct models.
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I can't imagine a $249 Chromebook surviving 10 years in multiple students' backpacks, much less being fast enough to keep practical after 10 years.
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10 years? Maybe not, though five years happens. And since schools often buy models released a few years ago (to save money), and replace broken models with refurbs, you can run past the 5-years-from-initial-release policy.
$250 chromebooks won't age well, but $500 or $1000 chromebooks will stay fast enough for quite a long time.
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I can't imagine a $249 Chromebook surviving 10 years in multiple students' backpacks, much less being fast enough to keep practical after 10 years.
The printed book containing the century-old education material, lasts a hell of a lot longer.
I'd love to know what we're envisioning are in classrooms today as a "need". And why.
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I can't imagine a $249 Chromebook surviving 10 years in multiple students' backpacks, much less being fast enough to keep practical after 10 years.
The printed book containing the century-old education material, lasts a hell of a lot longer.
I'd love to know what we're envisioning are in classrooms today as a "need". And why.
Printed text books seem to be replaced about every three years due to a variety of reasons. (many of which are dubious and could lead one to suspect massive amounts of corruption)
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Testing. Communication with the teacher through the classlink portal. Assignments. Grading of said assignments on the teacher version. It replaces almost every text book which is a hell of a lot cheaper than paper, a wet dream for every school board. Research aid through internet searches. Text to speech for lower functioning kids. Speech to text for the ESL kids. Creation of slides to be included at the morning meetings the teacher does daily. Math games. Reading games. The list is pretty long.
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Testing. Communication with the teacher through the classlink portal. Assignments. Grading of said assignments on the teacher version. It replaces almost every text book which is a hell of a lot cheaper than paper, a wet dream for every school board. Research aid through internet searches. Text to speech for lower functioning kids. Speech to text for the ESL kids. Creation of slides to be included at the morning meetings the teacher does daily. Math games. Reading games. The list is pretty long.
That list is pretty short as to what has changed in the American classroom over the last 50 years to make it comparatively worse in just about every measurable category.
Perhaps we stop believing the marketeers for a second, and realize what's on that list.
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I guess that's one way to look at it. You do you boo.
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I guess that's one way to look at it. You do you boo.
When the end product IS the result of education in every country on the planet, there is no other way to look at it. Sorry.
Common F. Sense is going to 'do' this with facts. Reality will determine what happens to those calling for anything but.
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I think the bigger problem is that stores are selling devices that are expire sooner than you might think, e.g. when I search "Chromebook kids" on Amazon, the ASUS C203XA that shows up in the first few results goes AUE in 2027. And the Dell 11-3180 just slightly beneath it already went AUE last year. You shouldn't be able to buy a new device only to connect it to WiFi, go to get it updated and discover that it's already unsupported by OS manufacturer.
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Where the hell were the complaints... (Score:2)
...from taxpayers for decades buying books over and over again, simply because there's a new 'version'?
Spare me the Chromebook outrage when a printed book and the education within that hasn't changed in a fucking century, "needs" to be re-purchased far more often than every 10 years. I doubt a Chromebook is even gonna last that long. We don't build any tech for longevity unless it's going into space.
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Chances are they are still buy the textbooks every few years - either an electronic copy or a hardcopy. My kid has a chromebook in addition to all the text books.
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The printed books get changed too.
The college prof gets a free one from the publisher & the students follow
Publishers are switching to subscription models of electronic books too.
If you want textbooks that don't get redone for the shareholders: https://open.umn.edu/oen [umn.edu]
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Ed publishers are being allowed to fleece education departments, parents, & students for $10's billions each year. It doesn't cost that much to design & distribut
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Great idea, but the batteries don't even last long (Score:2)
Great idea, but the batteries don't even last as long as the current three-year support policy.
Source: I have a banker's box full of Chromebooks that stopped holding a charge before their three years was up.
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OK, five years, but the batteries don't even last three years.
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You can easily replace batteries even in the MacBooks (no matter how "Air", "Unibody"), I doubt that would be an issue with a clunky Chromebook if one wants to use the device. Also you can use a powerbank nowadays, there are plenty that are good even for powerful laptops, but for a Chromebook a not-that-expensive 45-65W one would do.
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Easily replaced batteries, in modern MacBooks, to regular non-technical users? :O
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"you can" in my particular case was addressed to the GP who has a 4-digits Slashdot ID; if you wish to put vague rhetorical questions you can fit any outrageous answer you fancy yourself there. You can find batteries with thousands of reviews on Amazon (albeit for some reason not on the .com one, either the search is crap or there's something generating a lot of churn through the Marketplace users so the same listing doesn't stick for long). That is for single particular batteries, sold for precisely this M
Why should the updates end for device X at date Y? (Score:2)
I mean some updates might not be GUARANTEED to work with your device but as long as updates get pushed for the same architecture why do they go out of their way to have the software behave like "you have 3 years cut off, then no update". Beside wanting you to throw away the old device and buy a new one...
And it's not like they need to do themselves much, as it runs on the Linux kernel and on main architectures like X86 and ARM. They'll still have all the same baggage and suport for them in 5 or 10 and 15 ye
Now do this with phones (Score:2)
5 More Years of Wonky Wifi Connectivity (Score:3)
what is an platform? and what decides when the clo (Score:2)
what is an platform? and what decides when the clock starts?
also is it full updates? or after X time some platforms just get limited updates that don't get all new OS stuff?
Re: what is an platform? and what decides when the (Score:2)
A platform in Chromebook speak is the board the laptop is built on.
This comes too late for my beloved Asus C302 flip, which is built on the "Cave" platform, and is already out of support.
Feels like Google never liked this strong competitor to its own premium offerings; took them forever to release Crostini for it. Studied neglect.