PENDLETON IT NEWS

Welcome to the Pendleton School’s IT News page. Visit us here often for all of the latest on technology at The Pendleton School and in the industry.

IT Store

We are excited to announce that we will soon open the Pendleton IT Store! Once the store goes “live” we will also unveil two more laptop options for our students. In addition, we will begin offering new types of software and accessories at a discount to Pendleton students and families.  

Computer Lab Upgrades

Windows 7 has arrived at Pendleton! 14 lab computers have been replaced by Windows 7 machines. The new computers will have the same software as the old ones, just backed by a better operating system.  The old computers, which are only a year old, will be cycled out to some of our admin staff and teachers to replace their even older computers. This is step one in the Pendleton IT upgrade program. In this program we are focusing on upgrading our existing systems and equipment. While this year has brought many exciting developments in the world of technology, there have not been any real strong strides in bringing new technology to the academic arena. This combined with our aging equipment has prompted the Pendleton IT staff to think about existing systems instead of adding new ones. As we move forward, we believe that technology will be an increasing advantage to academic deliveries, not only at Pendleton, but at schools across the world. Just as IMG prides itself as a leader in sports training and development, Pendleton strives to be the best at delivering academics and life skills. Advancements in technology at Pendleton is only one piece of the puzzle, but will always be a very important one.

APPLE NEWS

It’s almost time for Apple's newest creation to flood the market. The reviews are all over the internet and emotions are all mixed up once again!

Apple has been the leader in technology for a few years now. They took a huge jump ahead of the market when they released the iPhone and iPod touch. So they have a firm hold on the hand-held market and introduce a powerful line of laptops, the Mac Book. Many say that once you go Mac, you never go back! I can’t say I blame them. So now where does Apple go in order to stay ahead of the rest? What part of the market have they missed? Netbook and Kindle users can now join the ranks of the Apple “army.” 

Apple’s new iPad was designed to compete directly with netbook and Kindle users. With a starting price of $499, the iPad offers mountains more than the Kindle. Why pay for a device that does one thing, even if it does it well? For a little more, the iPad will do exactly what the Kindle does and so much more. With the release of the iPad, Apple also released its third store, the iBook store.

While the iPad is in no way a phone, it does have the ability to carry a dataplan for 3G use. Unfortunately for Apple and the iPad, this will only be offered through AT&T again. This, according to reviews, is one of the biggest mistakes that Apple made with the iPad. The unlimited data plan for the iPad is only $29.99 a month and does not have a contract!

Many people are saying that the iPad is just a glorified iPod Touch. I strongly disagree. Where the iPad succeeds is in the ability to do almost everything that a Mac Book would do. Another downfall of the iPad is that is does not multi-task like an Mac Book. The iPad is missing a few features that we all thought would certainly be included. The iPad does not have a camera, nor does it have any USB ports. I would think that if Apple had wanted to compete with the netbook, these are features they should have seriously considered.

Those who are avid Hulu users or use applications which require Flash should think twice about purchasing an iPad. Apple’s new creation does not support Flash at all. Apple claims that the security risks are too high to support it on this product.

Overall, I think the iPad will be a great success for Apple. You can view Apple’s release announcement here:
http://images.apple.com/ipad/

We hope that we will have an iPad here at Pendleton soon to test out. Then we will have our own review to post.

*Reference within this site to any specific commercial or non-commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer or otherwise does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by Pendletonschool.org. The views and opinions of the authors of content published at Pendletonschool.org does not necessarily state or reflect the opinion of Pendletonschool.org or its owners, and can not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.*