I think once XS is working well and software update works we can provide similar maintenance advantages with centralized updating of our systems. I am worried about the fact we don't have a way to restrict internet usage and/or to force all the computers in a class to the same page. I think schools will want this feature. If we provided it so students or teachers could use it, it might be a good tool for students to present their work. Interesting article. Thanks <div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, May 21, 2009 at 12:10 PM, Sean DALY <<a href="http://sdaly.be">sdaly.be</a>@<a href="http://gmail.com">gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/05/dell_takes_netb.html" target="_blank">http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/05/dell_takes_netb.html</a> A short article by someone who understood Dell's key differentiators: * the blinky LED bar in the cover, software-configurable (but no info yet on how) * the services, especially preloaded custom image, to reduce school admin workload. Dell is not "announcing" the price of the 24-bay cart charger/switch... because it is said to be nearly US $4000. Clearly, their business model is to scrape profit in the notoriously unprofitable netbook sector by: * making the base price of the netbook fairly low ($369), but with useful options like 802.11n, touchscreen, webcam etc. price climbs quickly to > US $500 * making a very tidy profit on the charger bay, which every school admin will want to have... for every classroom. The Dell service proposal of custom preloaded images - so school admins are freed from lengthy individual setp - is another differentiator which most netbook vendors (in the developed countries at least) will have difficulty matching. Sean _______________________________________________ Marketing mailing list <a href="mailto:Marketing@lists.sugarlabs.org">Marketing@lists.sugarlabs.org</a> <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/marketing</a> </blockquote></div> -- Caroline Meeks Solution Grove Caroline@SolutionGrove.com 617-500-3488 - Office 505-213-3268 - Fax