I-pods. Blog in haste, repent at leisure

Libby Spencer

I'm rethinking my position on Michigan's proposal to buy I-pods. I was rather pissed off this afternoon out of irritation over the PR debacle but the truth is, I don't even know what an I-pod does or how it works. I'm a bit of a Luddite when it comes to electronic gadgets.

It occurs to me now, that replacing hard cover books with some kind of electronic device that could be updated with DVDs or computer downloads actually makes quite a bit of fiscal sense. In the long run it would probably generate a savings and the students could get updated material on a more current basis. Not to mention it would save a bunch of trees and eliminate the need for the students to carry heavy backpacks. I'm now thinking whoever came up with this idea was a forward thinker who couched the idea using an unfortunate choice of words.

It's too bad because on reflection the substance of the proposal is sound, but it will never get a fair hearing now.

[thanks to The Moderate Voice for the link]