Last year, I blogged about the apparent waste I see in the actual utilization of the processing power, storage capacity and memory size in the combined computer fleet in LPS.  I know the industry dogma is that chasing cost-savings in thin client is a fool's errand, but I nonetheless assert that most of our use of computers is for office productivity and accessing the web.  The computing power of our new computers just feels like overkill.

While Citrix licensing makes that form of thin client difficult to realize savings, the nComputing thin client seems to work well.  Take Runyon Elementary where Principal David Hilliard took me on a tour with his staff to see how they've installed several systems to essentially expand their cyber-space access for kids.  I saw children choosing the nComputing stations over other stand-alone computers and they reported no degradation of performance.

At Euclid Middle School Principal Gary Hein took this a step further and found a classroom with no cooling vents, minimal power and only a couple of data network drops... sounds like a "total cost of ownership" lesson in the making right?  Well, using nComputing, the staff have gamed the TCO concept and successfuly deployed without upgrading power, data or cooling services to the room... over 30 stations fully operational and kids don't know the difference.  I have a slide show here:

The key to all this?  Go web-based.  If you try client-server architecture, you may face challenges.  If you try to hold on to software more than 5 years old, you may face challenges.  If you go web (like using ALEKS for math tutorial and remediation), you're golden.  Don't get me wrong, this is not a silver bullet.  But when a system uses 1/100th the electrical power, produces 1/1000th the heat, requires no new wiring and saves a school principal 200-300% in refresh costs... I have to be a fan.