Apple Supplying Henrico Middle Schools with iBooks

I guess they found out Dells SUCK

You have to wonder why they took a bid for $171,000 more. I guess the Dell purchase at the high school level has proved less than successful.

iBook updates

Apple may have said that iBook updates were imminent. Apple may possibly have let them in on what the future holds. Also the county would probably have to purchase mass amounts MS licenses. Apple may offer iWork for cheap... who knows.

Nuc

$1246 is expensive for 12" iBooks, no?

And they better be getting the new Intel based ones. Maybe Herlico could purchase the G4 ones for less money.

Nuc said:

Apple may have said that iBook updates were imminent. Apple may possibly have let them in on what the future holds. Also the county would probably have to purchase mass amounts MS licenses. Apple may offer iWork for cheap... who knows.

Nuc

Click to expand...

That is possibly true. Lower total cost of ownership has always been lower for Macs. Also very likely to have factored in the decision is Apple's student information system, PowerSchool.

Abstract said:

$1246 is expensive for 12" iBooks, no?

And they better be getting the new Intel based ones. Maybe Herlico could purchase the G4 ones for less money.

Click to expand...

They've probably got some updated specs (RAM, HDD) and some extra software on top of the stock model. Maybe Apple's given them some .Mac access too, who knows?

Abstract said:

$1246 is expensive for 12" iBooks, no?

Click to expand...

I think it's even expensive for a 14" when buying over 12000.
They know something we don't.

D'ya reckon there'll be a stampede if they flog off the old Dells ?

I like my iBook.. But I wish I could have been in on this deal..

this after June 30th signals in the new Intel iBooks.

this put a smile on my face , i highly doubt their will be a riot for 50 dollar dells.

redeye be said:

I think it's even expensive for a 14" when buying over 12000.
They know something we don't.

Click to expand...

Well apparently they don't know about economies of scale.

So lets assume that the iBook is getting new specs, but a price hike. Or we can just assume that they got something else in the deal that made each computer worth $1260, maybe AppleCare or something.

Yeah, US$1111 Dell's are expensive too. They must have added some serious software/AppleCare support to sweeten the deal. I don't think Dell can offer the kind of integration with software and .Mac-style hosting services that Apple can.

i think they saw cheaper Dell's a false economy. They pay less now but they'll have to pay more in upkeep etc. in the future.

Anybody know when these are due to be delivered? I keep forgetting the US isn't starting it's school year now. Uni starts back for the new year next week and the schools have already begun their new year's.

ibook + office + applecare

Considering:

1. All the useful software iBooks ship with (iWeb, iPhoto, etc)
2. The extra productivity software Apple might be throwing in (iWork)
3. The lesser resources needed for maintenance and fixing software problems

The Apple deal must work out to be significantly cheaper for the school than the Dell deal. Imagine buying all those copies of Office, some good anti-malware software, and then having to fix Dell bricks with hosed registries or spyware infestations.

At best, Dell was probably offering Celeron-based 600m's with integrated video, XP pro and office basic and they wouldn't be taking any hit on cost for that price. More than likely, they were offering the Inspiron 3000's that they could hardly give away over Christmas at absurdly increased prices and hoping that the school would take a 14" in screen with "proven intel technology" over anything that Apple could offer. I'm glad they were wrong.

This is pure speculation...from someone who worked for Dell up until recently. I am ashamed, but it was decent money where and when I needed it. I got a haircut and now I make twice as much waiting tables in a much more organized environment. Dell sucks in every way possible.

Good news, but...

I'm sure the $1246 is mostly due to the spread-out cost of support, repair parts, infrastructure overhead, etc., and *possibly* the aforementioned software add-ons and hardware upgrades.

man what are those clowns smokin in this county?

Abstract said:

$1246 is expensive for 12" iBooks, no?

Click to expand...

Maybe that cost includes Apple Care and possibly some other goodies such as a site license for MS Office.

Yeah, I wouldn't get too excited because of the price. It doesn't mean an Intel iBook, however, why would Jobs sell them iBooks in June? I think they might keep the iBook name rather than using "MacBook." Who knows, it just seems weird to me that Apple is selling them these computers for this much, especially if they're going to be replaced soon (likely - It IS Apple) at which point the new iBooks would probably be considerably cheaper than the price listed here...

dropping Apple for Dell... what a bunch of DUMB-ASS'.

two things to remember:

1) The june date has (ostensibly) nothing to do with new machines, it is simply the time when the current middle school contract runs out (that said, who knows if there were promises of new hardware or "whatever the latest release by June 1" or something like that)

2) This contract is still just for the middle schools, whereas the iBooks that caused the riots (which I attended) were for the High School contract. And they will still be using Dell machines at least until the new contract they signed expires.


--So really this has less to do with a victory for apple in the EDU market, but more of not losing another contract with Henrico schools.

wish my school in northern va was that smart, we get dell laptops for class

Lose the Dells and go with the Macs!

*psst* Do I sense another stampede?