The end-of-life problem seems like it could be solved, depending on the specific model.<p>Many Chromebooks can have coreboot installed (<a href="https://mrchromebox.tech/" rel="nofollow">https://mrchromebox.tech/</a>), turning them into regular PCs.<p>And since Google bought Neverware, a regular PC can be turned into a Chromebook by installing ChromeOS Flex.
There's something core to this discussion that I feel like everyone misses. Yes, kids annihilate computers. Yes, Chromebooks have an expiration date that's pretty arbitrary. Yes, Chromebooks generally have lower end hardware that doesn't last as long. Yes, making them last longer could mean you cycle through 8,000 Chromebooks in 4 years instead of 16,000.<p>My question is, do we really need 1:1 programs for kids? I absolutely think it's important to have computer skills, but I think that's more of an issue of class offerings rather than available tech. I'm 30 now, so well removed from when I went to school, but the amount of schools offering comp-sci related classes is embarrassingly low. Wouldn't those classes in labs with proper equipment provide better computer skills than a Chromebook?<p>And yeah, this is ignoring benefits that Chromebooks have like potential to a learning environment at home. I've worked in schools in various IT positions and I still just can't see the justification in having one laptop per child, especially if it's a Chromebook.
Chromebooks reach their “death date” when they are no longer capable of receiving operating system updates. Replacing them straps district budgets and harms the environment.
This sounds weird: "DPS sends its outdated Chromebooks to an electronics recycling vendor"<p>Why would the recycler be a 'vendor'? Is the district sending them laptops <i>and</i> paying them?<p>I'd have thought competition would mean the winning bid would be offering to pay the district something (even if only $20 per device) rather than requiring payment.
Wait, the computer has a built in date where it stops updating? It's not a matter of Google dropping support, it's literally the laptop pulling an HP and saying you have to buy a new one despite it being in perfect working order?