4,500 iBooks To Florida Students; Henrico Co. Likely To Continue iBook Program

by , 2:00 PM EDT, July 28th, 2004

The Miami Herald is reporting that 4,500 students in the Broward County School District are going to be receiving iBooks during the next school year. The program is part of a pilot program in the school district, and has so far cost US$5 million. All told there are some 210,000 students in the school district. From the article:

School officials caution they're still working on details of what's called one-to-one computing, which is planned for Monarch High in Coconut Creek, Miramar High, Attucks Middle in Hollywood and Broward Estates Elementary in Fort Lauderdale.

The article offers further details on the program, as well as comment from some in the school district who are opposed to the program.

Also included in the report is a quote from an official from the Henrico County School District in Virginia. That district made headlines in Mac circles earlier this week when it turned down an early offer from Apple to renew its contract on 23,000 iBooks for its district. According to the official, her district is likely to continue with the program, which doesn't actually come up for renewal until 2005.

Stewart Myers, chairman of the Henrico County School Board, told the Miami Herald, "We're going to do an exhaustive analysis, but I don't think there is any movement to go away from one-to-one."

There's more in the full article, and we recommend it as an interesting read, especially for those following Apple's education efforts.

The Mac Observer Spin:

Apple won a flurry of one-to-one school contracts two years ago, but the headlines have since slowed down. Today's news from Miami, however, suggests the company's sales efforts are continuing apace.

Of course, a bigger story would be if this pilot program is a success, and the Broward County School District went for a one-to-one program for all 210,000 of its students. That would be a massive coup for Apple, and a big boost to the Mac platform as a whole.

Such a deal is likely years away, however, if it ever comes to pass. Pilot programs have to run their course, and then the results of the program have to be studied. After that, the debating, lobbying, politicking, and arguing beings.

So, we'll settle for today's news, point out that 4,500 iBooks to students (plus a few hundred more to teachers) is great news, all by itself.

Miami Herald Article