Similar arguments can be made for cheaper or more expensive machines, more or fewer students, or for maintenance costs. It must be remembered that students spend a significant portion of their time attending class, reading, sleeping, eating, and even recreating. They only spend a fraction of their time at the keyboard, so unless they all select the exact same fraction of the day, different students can use the same machine at different times. If a school must pass the cost of computing off on the students, mandatory computer ownership is not a good way to do it. It presupposes a level of integration for which the policy is unsuited.
Platform dependence causes serious problems.
Making each student buy his or her own machine is just not an efficient way to allocate student money. Assessing a computing fee, while providing means for students to use their own machines if they wish, is a much more egalitarian and fiscally responsible way to solve the same problem. In A Christmas Carol , Scrooge demonstrates that he is able to change his ways, avoiding the fate that had awaited him. I hope responsible schools will realize that imposing mandatory computer ownership is similarly avoidable. A Christmas Carol.