From VTs to iMacs: Moving Public Computing Access into the 21st Century

In a Collegiate setting, technology must be functional, effective, and highly visible. In the fall of 1999 the CIS department at Bowdoin College saw the need for a greater number of publicly available computers. A "Technology Kiosk" was needed where members of the community could have walkup access to e-mail, the Internet and other applications in an easily accessible non-lab setting. The existing stations represented a mixture of VT Terminals and older Macintosh computers. The proposed upgrade of systems allowed not only for hardware replacement but also rethinking the entire paradigm. Cutting edge technology such as thin client and wireless could be considered, and the design of Kiosk spaces themselves could be reworked in the process. There were a number of factors that need to be considered in this Kiosk, including cost, security, speed, manageability and ease of use. This paper will follow the decision process from start to finish and discuss how each of the factors wer...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2000
• Where: SIGUCCS
• Authors: Robert Denton, Patrick Jensen
• Keywords: Accessible Non-lab Setting, Information Management, Older Macintosh Computers, SIGUCCS 2000, Technology Kiosk