Microsoft shows two-edged generosity to schools

KIND-HEARTED creatures at Microsoft have set up a pot of cash for the poor schools who cannot afford to get computer skills.

Reuters hails Redmond's generosity in giving more than $235 million over the next three years to expand its educational programme that includes getting more computers into classrooms to help bridge the digital divide.

The move is part the second stage of its Partners in Learning programme. The difference between stage one and two is that stage one was conducted with a similar investment over the last five years.

It is this scheme that is the cutting edge of getting VoleWare in schools often installed on its chum Intel's cutprice classmate computers.

Microsoft offers to train teachers and influence education policy in favour of.... you guessed it, Voleware.

The only way a poor school can take part in the programme is by spending money on Microsoft software in the first place.

These are the same sorts of schools who are currently targeted by the OLPC scheme with its free Linux package.

What the cunning Vole can say to government's thinking of the OLPC machine is that if they buy the Wintel product they will get educational programmes for their teachers. This is something that the Linux based movement cannot match to the same standards.

But the numbers do not really add up. $235 million over three years is supposed to reach 275 million people. That means Vole is spending less than a dollar to reach and train each person. The software that Microsoft is hoping to sell these schools will retail for considerably more than a dollar a head.

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