"The solution put forth by Cybersource is certainly an interesting one. In a nutshell, it says each pair of students is provided with a new netbook computer. Each individual student is given a USB memory stick.
"Now, the storage on the netbooks themselves are irrelevant; they could even be removed. Cybersource's plan is to put a self-booting Linux operating system plus applications on the memory stick and the netbook is booted from this.
"Cybersource have thought about most all aspects; their solution covers back-end servers and synchronisation of student data, recovering from disaster, cabling requirements and the like.
"Yet, they are deficient on several points. Firstly, the proposal assumes schools already have wireless or wired networks in place -- and specifically, networks that can cater for the dramatically increased load of 197,000 computer-carrying students."
