Apple's Phil Schiller Bashes Chromebooks, Says They Can't Help Kids "Succeed"

[Tsing]

Chromebooks for education? They're worthless; get an iPad or MacBook instead. That about sums up the thoughts of Apple's marketing chief, Phil Schiller, who was pressed by CNET today regarding Google's growth in the education market. Schiller believes that Chromebooks are merely "cheap testing tools for required testing" that don't have the performance or software to help kids succeed.

Kids who are really into learning and want to learn will have better success. It's not hard to understand why kids aren't engaged in a classroom without applying technology in a way that inspires them. You need to have these cutting-edge learning tools to help kids really achieve their best results.

 

[toast0]

Most of the technology in classrooms is a waste of resources. At least Chromebooks aren't that expensive, so it's not that big of a waste. For classes that actually use a computer to learn things about computers, or to learn skills that use computers, I could see a need for something better.

 

[JosiahBradley]

Wow what an ***. A Chromebook is basically a spaceship compared to what we had in schools. No one's needs a shiny fruit themed laptop.

 

[Brian_B]

I think today there's some level of computer literacy that is good for kids to have, so I can see value in computers in the classroom... at least if they are used as more than just throwing money at them in a hope they magically teach kids without needing good teachers.

I can also see a push against Google in general. I do worry about my kid using Chromebooks at school (and he does). Not because I don't think a Chromebook could be a good tool --- a computer is just that, a tool, and no matter what you get it's only going to ever be as good as the teacher using it --- but because I know how Google treats privacy and monetizes data mining.