Google Advances Online Software Crusade
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE
Dec 3, 11:39 PM (ET)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20061204/D8LPQDDO0.html

(AP) Palo Alto High School journalism teacher Esther Wojcicki helps  
student Allison Wyndham at a...
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PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - Google Inc. (GOOG), a company synonymous  
with searching the Internet, hopes to define far more of the world's  
computing experience with a helping hand from schoolchildren.

For several months, it has been giving away to all takers an online  
word processor, spreadsheet and other programs that can perform tasks  
usually handled by desktop software. Offering a convenience that  
worries some privacy experts, the programs automatically store  
everything in Google's vast data centers so the information can be  
retrieved on any Internet-connected computer.

As it tries to usher in a new era in computing, Google is promoting  
its software applications in kindergarten through high school  
classrooms, where kids who have grown up with the Web are more likely  
to experiment with different technology.

...

Microsoft offers a discounted version of Office to students and  
teachers for $149 - significantly less than the $400 for the full  
standard edition.

But free software is tough to beat. Wojcicki spent about $4,400 to  
license 70 copies of Microsoft Word earlier this year, before Google  
launched its educational push.


-> http://apnews.excite.com/article/20061204/D8LPQDDO0.html

and

-> http://www.google.com/educators