"What you get is a recent college graduate loading Linux on some old system that's kicking around, and it's free, " said Dan Kuznetsky, program director for IDC's operating environments service.

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What is life like when you graduate college and start working?

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And I will say exactly why this is so: electronic books offer two major advantages: one, a lot of people would like to read books that they don't want to be seen reading, and don't want to have to move from apartment to apartment every time they get a new job in another city or graduate from college, or what have you.

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Clearly, no one expects you to know exactly what you want from your career the minute you graduate from college.

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And since half of entering college freshmen never graduate, make it clear as well what you expect if your child leaves school with debt, but no degree.

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We know that if you've got a college education, you are going to make multiples of what you would make as a high school graduate, much less a high school dropout over the course of a lifetime.

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