SUN MICROSYSTEMS: Classrooms across Maui County embrace the new economy with Sun
Microsystems leading-edge Sun Ray systems; Maui County deploys 1400 Sun Ray
systems in 30 schools, the largest U.S. K-12 installation to date
JUL 14, 2000, M2 Communications - WAILUKU, MAUI, Hawaii -- During today's
kick-off press conference at the Mayor's Office in Maui, Hawaii, Sun
Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW) announced an exciting agreement with Maui
County to provide Sun Ray 1 [tm] enterprise appliances to every teacher and
public school classroom in thirty primary and secondary schools across Maui
County's three islands.This initiative is the largest deployment of the Sun Ray
systems in primary and secondary schools in the United States to date. The Sun
Ray systems will also be distributed to every public library and youth center
throughout the County.
On behalf of the community, the mayor of Maui County pledged to help raise the
funds needed in order to provide Maui's next generation with the leading
technology they need to thrive in the new economy.
By affording the technology skills needed for Hawaii's future workforce, Sun
Microsystems is working with Maui County to enhance the computer literacy skills
for the County's students and tackles both workforce and education issues in the
community.
"We are excited about providing teachers and students with the latest model of
network and web-based systems for tomorrow's computing needs, said James "Kimo"
Apana, Mayor of Maui County, Hawaii."The Sun Ray 1 enterprise appliances were
selected because of their simplicity, zero desktop administration, session
mobility and inherent resistance to obsolescence. With our schools located on
three different islands, this system will provide the needed access and
networking while saving on the cost of remote administration and maintenance."
The Sun Ray systems, with their rich multimedia capabilities and revolutionary
Hot Desk technology, provide students and teachers with the computing
flexibility needed to access the Internet and a variety of applications,
including Sun's[tm] StarOffice [tm] productivity software suite. In addition, as
part of Sun Microsystems' commitment to education, Sun provides the StarOffice
productivity software suite to schools worldwide at no cost.The Sun Ray systems'
Hot Desk technology enables session mobility, allowing students and teachers to
move from desktop to desktop, instantly accessing their personal session
anywhere within the school or on campus without having to log on/off.Other
benefits of the Sun Ray systems include a sleek design which allows more desktop
space, a noise-free environment, and centralized management which eliminates
client administration and upgrades at the desktop, keeping administrative and
resource costs to a minimum.
"The innovative technology of the Sun Ray systems is an excellent fit for K-12
schools, providing students with a new way to learn and keep pace with changing
technology," said Kevin Pon, sales development manager, Sun
Microsystems."Simplifying the process of integrating technology into everyday
teaching methods, the Sun Ray systems provide teachers with a new learning tool
and access to a wealth of new resources to expand learning beyond classroom
walls.The community effort of local businesses, along with Sun Microsystems,
provides the technical foundation to launch Maui's education system and
workforce into the 21st Century." The Sun Ray systems are being installed in
July and August, so every classroom in Maui County will be equipped with a Sun
Ray 1 enterprise appliance by the Fall semester, giving access to Lotus
Notes/Domino student information applications, Lotus Notes email, StarOffice
productivity suite, and Netscape [tm]/IE browsing.The Sun Ray systems complement
the Lotus implementation which was decidedly deployed on Sun Enterprise [tm]
Servers due to the reliability and robustness of the platform.The Maui schools
will reap the benefits of the 1400 new Sun Ray systems, but will only require
one additional person to maintain the servers.
Maui County represents Sun's first major installation of the Sun Ray systems
within Hawaii. In addition to Maui, schools in Saskatchewan, Canada and
Amsterdam, Netherlands are among the most recent educational institutions that
are leveraging Sun's simple to use, zero desktop administration, reliable
platform, and alternative to the costly personal computer.The Carrollton School
System in Carrollton, Georgia, and the Newark Unified School District in Newark,
California, Stanford University, University of California at Berkeley, The
University of Western Ontario (Canada) and the Universitat de Barcelona in Spain
are just a few of the other educational institutions that have already begun
using Sun Ray systems.
Sun Ray Enterprise Appliances
Sun Ray 1, Sun Ray 100 and Sun Ray 150 enterprise appliances, with their Sun Hot
Desk technology, are simple, low-cost networked devices that have helped bring
innovative technology and applications to classrooms around the world. The
recently announced Sun Ray 100 and Sun Ray 150 enterprise appliances, providing
more desktop space for educators and students with all-in-one CRT and flat panel
displays respectively, have further established Sun's dedication to the
education sector. Unlike personal computers which require an operating system
and applications running locally on the desktop, the Sun Ray systems allow for
instant access to existing applications and resources on the network, regardless
of the underlying platform -- including Sun's Solaris[tm] Operating Environment,
Java[tm] technology-based, multimedia or Windows NT applications.For more
information about the Sun Ray enterprise appliances, please visit
sun.com Sun In Education Sun is a leading provider of open
network computing solutions to colleges and universities around the world,
powering academic, research and high performance computing systems, campus
administration, digital libraries and student instruction systems.
In addition, Sun is committed to connecting the world's students to the
Internet, beginning with primary and secondary schools and extending to all
levels of higher education. For information about Sun in Education, please visit
sun.com About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision - The Network Is The Computer[tm]
- has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUNW), to its position as a
leading provider of industrial-strength hardware, software and services that
power the Internet and allow companies worldwide to dot-com their businesses.
With $14.2 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170
countries and on the World Wide Web at sun.com. |
