This Story Posted:
March 18th

 
 

[12:57 PM]
Apple's Education Business Scores With Major Purchases
Apple has announced that it is still tops in the primary education market and is backing that claim up with major purchases from some of the largest school districts in the country. According to Apple:

Apple Computer, Inc. today announced that major K-12 school districts have recently purchased iMac computers, new Power Macintosh G3 systems and Macintosh software. Large education technology projects choosing Macintosh in New York, Texas and Wisconsin will result in combined sales of over $11 million-reinforcing Apple's leadership position in schools

In New York City, over $6 million was recently allocated for new Macintosh systems and software, including more than 3,200 iMac computers bundled with the Apple Education Series Elementary Desktop Tools software. The purchase was made as part of New York City's ongoing Project Smart Schools program, with the goal to outfit all sixth-through-eighth grade classrooms with computers, as well as to train educators on integrating technology effectively into the curriculum. The project has purchased over $50 million in Macintosh systems in the last two years.

"The schools' decision to buy iMacs was based on the Mac's ease of installation and ease of use; Apple's demonstrated product reliability; and their ongoing commitment to education," said Stephen Brown, coordinator of Project Smart Schools. "Also, iMac colors are powerful and creative and the students are excited about having these great-looking computers in their classrooms."

In Texas, the Austin Independent School District is purchasing over $4 million in new Macintosh systems, including over 1,600 Power Macintosh G3 systems and approximately 800 iMac computers for classrooms, and 300 PowerBook G3 notebook computers for faculty. Schools cited ease of system administration and management; increased productivity by teachers and students; and support for Universal Serial Bus (USB) and FireWire technologies as factors in their decision.

"Our campuses selected the Mac as the preferred system for effective classroom instruction and personal productivity," said Stephanie Hamilton, director of Instructional Technology for the Austin School District. "Our technology support staff will never be large enough to deal with unreliable systems, and we've always found Macs to be dependable and a sound investment in the future."

The Racine Unified School District in Wisconsin is spending over $1 million on new Macintosh systems and software that includes over 500 iMac computers and 100 Power Macintosh G3 systems. Apple Education Series software bundles for students and productivity tools for teachers are also being purchased along with Apple Network Assistant system administration software.

The Mac Observer Spin: Well this is great news! While US$11 million is not going to make or break Apple, purchases like this are GREAT PR! The idea is for other school systems to see these purchases and realize that if these big distrcits are doing it, maybe they should to.

The iMac, like it's all-in-one educational models before it, makes an ideal system for schools. This is due in part to the lack of cables and the simplicity of set-up and networking, but also due to he very thing that has earned the iMac the most criticism, the lack of a floppy drive. We have heard amazing stories teachers who have dealt with the most remarkable array of crap stuffed into floppy drives in schools across the country. No floppy, no stuffing. No virus installers either. For that matter, there are fewer innapropriate software installs too. Of course, some things can still find their way onto school computers from CDs and the Internet, but at least some problems are eliminated by not having a floppy drive in class computers.

We would like to hear from teachers who have had experience with iMacs in the class room. In particular we would like to hear about the lack of floppy drives and how teachers have gotten around the need to send homework or other data home with kids.

One way or another, congratulations to Apple and the Apple K-12 division!

Apple