I just watched a Youtube video that talks about schools ditching Google for Microsoft by buying laptops that don’t just run Chrome and that don’t have the same short life span as Chrome books. Which made me wonder: could a framework targeting schools and businesses ensure the framework’s future success? Like these areas, invest in technology for the long term. They want their laptops to last for years and years. What other laptop brand could last as long as frameworks? Could schools and businesses be home to frameworks laptops and ensure their future success?
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As someone who used to work in the education sector, Chromebooks are probably still going to dominate. Not only are they cheaper (as in often 50% or more off list price after bulk and education discounts), but they are extremely repairable if you have the right technicians, knowledge, and contacts within your device manufacturers chain. The school district I worked for was actually an Acer approved warranty center. Which meant that every single part we replaced on chromebooks that got broken was free other than labor.
I simply do not see any of the PC manufacturers doing that for laptops or desktops. Plus Chromebooks are inherently easy to manage, easy to secure, and easy to operate. All critically important features for the education sector, especially for school districts with one, maybe less IT personnel.
There is definitely a chance that Framework could get in with smaller, more environmentally-conscious schools which would give them a chance to grow and thrive in that niche, and if they keep offering high quality Chromebooks I could see them being an option for teachers who want platform compatibility and better hardware, but it will take a lot more growing for Framework to be ready for those kinds of markets. They only recently started their Framework for Business program, which is really just a test for IT departments who know Framework and are willing to be beta testers for the company. Most large businesses and educational institutions want to partner with established brands like Dell, Acer, and Lenovo for bulk hardware like this. My bigger hope is that companies like these take inspiration from Framework to make their bulk computers easier to repair and upgrade, which will be possible if more companies know about Framework, and IT departments start asking “why is this small startup able to offer these features when you can’t?”. Hopefully that sort of competition leads to more companies offering repair parts to IT departments instead of sending fully new devices and telling the organizations to just trash their used hardware.
No because most high or primary or middle don’t have enough tech knowledge to know any **** about laptops and stuff unless we are talking about uni students that were given one to use for uni then the uni provides any repair parts or the staff do it for them
I think it would be a tough market to get into for some practical reasons, but also due to issues of perception. In the U.S. at least, Chromebooks are the norm for younger children. They are easy to administer, dirt cheap, and if they aren’t a rugged model that can take a kid’s punishment, they’re still dirt cheap. Framework laptops would not fit into the budget of large numbers of underfunded school districts, and they would be concerned about kids losing the adapters or other parts. Apple used to dominate education before it became the norm for every student to have a computer. Apple has lost a lot of ground in this new environment because of cost (I think U.S. schools are around 50% Chromebook these days), but still has the perception of being the “best” for education, so a lot of schools will spend the money for macbooks and ipads so that parents can believe their children are getting the best technology.
Business only if they add a hole for a Kensington Lock AND get the BIOS update stuff straight.
I went to a school that had this thing where they offered laptops and Macbooks to purchase from the school - most likely bought from suppliers in bulk - and those were almost as pricey as the Framework even back then. Not sure how common this situation is (probably not very, especially amongst underfunded public schools), but Framework may find some success there, especially given that these notebooks tend to be terrible for the price and don’t need business-level security features.