--- Forwarded Message from Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]> ---

>Date: Mon, 05 Feb 2001 10:42:52 -0700
>From: Derek Roff <[log in to unmask]>
>To: LLTI-Editor <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: #5910.12 an all-digital Mac LL
>In-Reply-To: <[log in to unmask]>

I'd like to say a few words in praise of the put-it-together-yourself
lab.  Each institution is different, and turn-key may be best for
some.  Here are a few of the benefits we saw building our own
package.  Much of this may seem obvious, but it hasn't been mentioned
in this thread.

Cost, both up front and overall, is more flexible when you do it
yourself.  At our institution, it would be hard to get the capital
funding needed for a turn-key lab all at once, and we would have to
live with what we got for about 10 years.  This is obviously well
beyond the life of computer technology.  Instead, we put in our first
computer lab, with the most requested functionality, during one
funding cycle.  We added a second lab two years later, and a third
the year after that.  Next year, we hope to add a fourth, and then
begin upgrading the oldest ones.  I think we have about three times
the number of stations per dollar, as we would have had with a
turn-key lab.

We lack much of the functionality that comes with a turn-key system.
On the other hand, we can do many things that are not offered in the
basic turn-key package.  We chose the elements that seemed most
important to our programs and our faculty.  We can upgrade and modify
at will, as needs change and new products appear.  We can also
simplify and streamline the operations, to make it easier to use the
equipment, for both students and faculty.  This has been a
significant advantage.

The downside is, it takes staff time and attention to evaluate,
select and implement any elements of our set-up.  But what we have,
we generally understand well.  It has been the right choice for us.

Derek Roff
Language Learning Center, Ortega Hall Rm 129, University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131  505/277-4804 fax 505/277-3885
Internet: [log in to unmask]