“Two significant events occurred this week that have relevance
to the implementation of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) by
Massachusetts, one of which was little noticed, and one of which
was duly noted in the press. The question is whether or not these
two dots are connected–and whether there’s a back story that no
one has yet noticed at all. (Here’s a hint on the back story: it’s
harder to connect dots, when they can be removed from the public
eye.)“The event that was much remarked upon was the announcement by
Microsoft that it would make a very substantial donation of its
software–with a market value of at least $30 million–to
Massachusetts high schools and universities. Mass is a small state,
and that amounts to something like $800 per student, and $2,400 per
college student–a princely sum to be sure, and a very significant
boost to local education budgets…”