However if I was kitting out a school I’d certainly prefer the Asus – it is more robust and will last longer. So what if it looks rubbish – schools have to pay for this kit themselves so durability does win out over trendiness.

Offline Wikipedia is handy – it has been around for other devices as well. It’s a useful product and perhaps might spur schools to add in topics that are relevant to the current syllabus.

@Anthony — no need for BitTorrent, thanks to the kind folks at HEAnet who are mirroring it. (I do, however, need a more reliable DNS host — but that’s another story.)

@Sinéad — “The education world has pursued new technology with an almost evangelical zeal,” she said. “Too many students don’t use their own brains enough and just cite something they see in a ‘book’ or a ‘journal.’ We need to bring back the important values of critical reading and net forum discussion. Young people are finishing education with shallow ideas and need to learn interpretative skills before starting to use technology.” (http://davidgerard.co.uk/notes/2008/01/13/lecturer-bans-students-from-using-paper-and-pens/)

Also, teachers and lecturers do not condone using Wikipedia as a learning tool. At least, the ones that understand WHAT it actually is don’t condone it. Besides, will you actually find much information on topics from the irish secondary school sylabus on wikipedia?

iPhone 8 gig – $399 or €275. Phone, touchscreen, fits in pocket. Doesn’t look shit.

Both devices will run head-on into Irish schools’ policies of locking down their broadband against redistribution by wifi access points.