Why Freed-Hardeman's iKnow program is crap

[Posted to Xanga 9/2/10]


I started working for the IT helpdesk when this semester started. I'm taking Web Design, Programming II, Visual Application Design, and Statistics. But I like the helpdesk better than any of my classes. I like my job. I work from 8-9:30 and 1:30-3 MWF, and then I stay behind till 5 on most days because I've nothing better to do and we're understaffed for the beginning of the year. All of the freshmen are coming in telling us their iPods and iPhones won't sync because they apparently don't know how to run Software Update. So we run it for them and send them away happy.

I like working with MacBooks. They're well-made and they're pretty. But...

It has come to my attention that whether or not I think they're pretty, the iKnow program is a Bad Thing. Did you know that starting next year, everyone at Freed is REQUIRED (you cannot opt out, ever; I work for IT and I know) to receive a MacBook and an iPod Touch or iPhone from the school? And of course you have to pay for it. And you have to either pay it off fully when you leave or give it back and receive no refund for it. (This year, everyone except seniors is required to participate. Yesterday afternoon a transfer student came in and wanted to opt out because she didn't think she'd be here longer than a couple of semesters. They made her get a MacBook along with the rest of us.)

Yes, Apple is pretty, but why should an entire college campus be required to use their computers or required to pay extra to get one even if they don't use it? Apple is probably the most expensive choice they could have made. And I would have zero objection if it weren't mandatory, but it is. Half the people I know had a computer sufficient for college purposes when they left Walton. I certainly did, although it was a desktop.

The iPod thing is worse. Almost everyone I know had an mp3 player already when they came into college, generally one that was either on a par or almost on a par with the iPod Touch. I had a 30 GB Zune when I came in. That's TWICE as big as the iPods. Oh, and you know how your MacBook and iPod will inevitably depreciate as college goes on? Freed's still going to make you keep paying the full purchase price and more.

The worst is that they insist we need the iPod or iPhone in class to participate. And we don't. I have never seen a teacher, to this day, use the system we have on our iPods in class. I've been taught about it in University Foundations, but there's been no mention of it since.

So, you force us to buy expensive products from you (you can't even buy it straight from Apple yourself, you have to go through Freed, and it remains their property until you pay it off) and then you don't even use the system you set in place, thereby making the iPods and iPhones totally unnecessary?

Not cool.

Also, my opinion on Apple stuff has been gradually developing over the past few months. I've come to the conclusion that while I like their products, while I find them aesthetically gorgeous and very usable, while their operating system has been unrelentingly stable for me, I hate their company. They charge through the nose for their stuff, and they try to entrap their users (I'm talking to you, App Store). Since I have no choice but to receive a MacBook and an iPod, I might as well enjoy them and admire the aesthetic that went into making them. But because I won't stand for the company's nonsense...I have jailbroken my iPod (it's legal now, wooo, I can admit it without caring if Freed notices!) and my MacBook dualboots Ubuntu. Take that, Freed and Apple. Those of you who have a particular dislike of Apple might be amused that they and Freed-Hardeman are in league to squeeze money out of a bunch of college students. Control freaks teaming up with control freaks, right?

In other news, at work yesterday, I was called out to an office to fix a computer that wasn't turning on. The computer in question belonged to a grad teacher (she taught education I think) who had left the office. Her colleague took me to the machine. I brought a loaner with me and began to swap out the hard drives, but the screws on the teacher's computer were being ornery, so I held down the power button as a form of diagnosis, trying to figure out whether it was a video problem only or whether it couldn't get power at all. Guess what? The MacBook booted normally. I told the colleague to tell the grad teacher to hold the button down until the chime. So much fail.