Educational Computing - The Giant Awakes

Client:

Microcomputing

Audience:

Computer users

Goal:

Explore the benefits, both intellectual and financial, of computers in the classroom

Role:

Writing

...Some people say that the large publishers are too conservative to carry the banner, however. They expect new faces to show up among the leaders of educational publishing as smaller and more aggressive companies get the jump on the traditional giants in product development. But even smaller companies have questions about the potential of the education market.

Says John Victor of Program Design, Incorporated, a small but aggressive software developer, "The education market has not been very regular. The schools have been stealing software and that's not a very good situation for developing software."

The issue of unauthorized copying, or piracy, in education is a tender topic. Most publishers have horror stories, but few publishers are willing to take on a large school district in a court of law, particularly one that may very well be a major customer for other materials. Consequently, there is evidence that some publishers have held back on investment in software development while awaiting a solution to the problem.