[LINK] What is the proportion of desktops to laptops in schools?

[Tom Worthington]

Computers Off <http://www.computersoff.org/> is attempting to 
estimate how much power will be saved in Australian schools by 
implementing power saving features in computers, between now and 
2010. This will then be presented to the Education Minister to make 
the case for including energy saving measures in the Digital 
Education Revolution <http://www.digitaleducationrevolution.gov.au/>.

Does anyone have any estimates on numbers and proportion of types of 
computers in schools now and in 2010? Even if it is just a guess, as 
long as it is a guess by a school expert (ie: teacher) that might do.

I got asked to help as one of Computers Off's honorary experts. To do 
this we need an estimate of the number of computers in schools, and 
the proportion of desktops, laptops and thin clients in schools. 
There are some Gartner Group figures which suggest that in Australia 
desktop versus laptops is currently about 60:40 and will be about 
50:50 by 2010.

I suspect that thin clients and laptops will prove very popular in 
schools (perhaps 70% versus 30% desktops), but have nothing to base 
this guess on. I can make things up as an expert witness in court, 
but not in a submission to government. ;-)

Complicating the calculations, devices like the  Desktop Eee PC 
<http://www.tomw.net.au/blog/2008/08/desktop-eee-pc-in-australia.html> 
will use much less power than a regular desktop computer. The LCD 
monitor it is plugged into will therefore use a much higher 
proportion of the overall power than with a regular desktop computer. 
So when the monitor is switched to power saving mode, the overall 
power saving will be proportionally greater.




Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd            ABN: 17 088 714 309
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617                      http://www.tomw.net.au/
Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Australian National University