"If a science textbook doesn't have a chapter on AIDS, what good is it?" demands Jack Christie, the Texas State Board of Education chair who proposes replacing textbooks with low-cost laptops. While books are quickly outdated and expensive to replace, Christie argues, computers could provide access to a vast, interactive, online curriculum that is easy and inexpensive to update.
"I'm not a techie," says Christie. "I just see the big picture." Already in talks with several computer manufacturers, Christie hopes this picture will become reality by the fall of 1999.
This article originally appeared in the February issue of Wired magazine.
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