On Episode 136 of the K12 Tech Talk podcast, Chris, Josh, and Mark discussed Google’s announcement about Chromebook support being extended. This article is a recap of that conversation!
Josh – Chromebooks’ automatic update support is going from 8 years to 10 years for devices released from 2019 and later. Chris wasn’t here for the last episode, so we felt like we needed to talk about this again. They announced that Chromebooks made in 2021 will now have 10 years of support and updates, which is huge news. It went from 8 years to 10 years. And, you know, you can make comments about okay, well, “Will they still be alive if they’ve been with a middle schooler for 10 years?” Google also said that devices that were manufactured prior to 2021, you’ll have to opt in to 10 year support.
Chris – I’ve been thinking about that we do have some Chrome devices in our cafeterias and Chrome devices with some TVs that do announcements. We have Chrome devices that really they get light usage. I think I can be excited about those to stay alive for longer than what we were thinking. Mark, what do you think?
Mark – When we started buying Chromebooks about 10 years ago, we were like “There’s no way those things are going to last.” I mean, a few of them will, but, in all honesty, I think the only thing that really is going to benefit us is that the resale value will be higher; they will retain some value. Other than that, we’re not banking on a Chromebook lasting 10 years.
Josh – I want to continue buying what we’re buying – two grade levels a year. This will allow us to get rid of some devices that are having problems and stick with some devices that have shaped up. We’re going to use those longer. So yeah, this announcement has definitely changed our trajectory a little bit or our plan a little bit.
Chris – Right, we do a 3 year rotation plan. And, Lucas, if you’re listening, like I’m sorry, because we’re big contributors or ewaste, right? Because we’re hearing this great news, and we’re not changing anything, ha! We should be excited about this. I’m excited about this, I am!
Josh – The statement that they had about if it was a device manufactured before 2021, you’re going to have to opt in – It’s interesting. There’s been some discussion online. What does that really mean? Are they going to make you rebuy the license? To pay to opt in? What does that really mean? So, they did kind of clarify that statement on their blog post. It more or less comes down to the fact that the devices that were made before 2021 have certain chipsets in them that may not support new features going forward. So yeah, in closing, I think this could do wonders for school districts.