Apple Scores $30 Million iPad Contract from L.A. Unified School District [Updated]

[lordofthereef]

They can accept Apple's prices or take their books elsewhere. Having to spend $15/student/year isn't much different from spending $100/student/5 years - the difference is the book belongs to the student, not the school. This means the student will have an ever growing library of every book they ever needed in school. Tax payers won't balk because the price is the same, and because their children get to keep their books in addition to their notes between school years for looking back on.

As a student in college, I've had enough of this BS. I last bought a textbook from the traditional system a year ago. I've found a variety of ways of getting what I need for free or super cheap since (IE, visiting the teacher - who gets free copies of the books from the publisher - and scanning copies of the pages I need.)

The question was, whether all of the necessary books are available. If they are, great. If not, they will go elsewhere. And since there is no elsewhere to go, they will stay with the old system.

honestly don't know if they have all the necessary books. They may, they may not. What I truthfully don't see is much incentive for them to go selling books at $15 a pop when $100 a pop seems to be working just fine.

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I'd think both would be much higher. No incentive really for a kid to steal a textbook, but an iPad is a high-value item, and one more fragile.

Initially, theft will likely be a bigger issue. But with iOS7 not allowing a restore once locked, what you essentially have stolen is a paperweight. And word will get around that schools, and maybe even students, can easily lock their devices permanently.

But I agree. No matter how you look at this, you'd have to burn a lot of textbooks to come up with the deficit of destroying just one iPad. Let's not also forget though that if the iPad is broken, Apple's replacement policy is $250. Perhaps these schools are getting a better deal? A couple of posters around page 2 also claimed that the sale price to the school (600 some odd dollars) included insurance in the deal. I can;t comment much on that fact.

 

[ChrisA]

....
$678 is awfully expensive compared to competing tablets (nexus 7, surface RT at ~$200).
And does a student really need a retina display and a top of the line tablet for basic usage?

There was a pilot program. This pilot answered many questions. What they found out was that the iPad's software was better. The purpose of any computer is to run software and the way to decide which computer to buy should be based on what software you like.

I think they tried some other tablets and found they were not as useful.

At any rate we will know more in 6 or so months. i for one intend to actually go into several high school classrooms myself and watch and take good notes. (I'm in grad school studying this exact kind of thing.)

A LOT depends on policy. Can the kids take these home? If not then I don't see much reason to have them. But if they do take them home, so many will be lost or broken. We shall we.

I've talked with teachers. They don't know either unless they were in the pilot program and even then the policy might change.

My opinion. The first semister with these new iPads will not go well. They will not be used very much. Teachers will not know what to do with them. After a year it will go much better and by the third year. Most new teachers own an IOS device themselves so teacher training will go well. But every teacher will need to get their materials on the iPad. that will take time, they can only type, draw and scan so fast.

 

[damir00]

35,000 * $678 is $23M. What is the other $7M for?

 

[malexandria]

It's possible to keep an iPad for 10 years..

Not really, Apple has a history of not supporting products after 5 or 6 years.

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They can accept Apple's prices or take their books elsewhere.

I always love this ridiculous, fanboy comment. "Take it or leave it." As though Apple is some sort of cowboy tough guy who holds the leverage in EVERYTHING they do. You have zero clue how business works do you? Yes EVEN Apple has to bend to get contracts. I know it's shocking, but true.

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I don't have any kids - thank god and don't remember much from my school years but how do book distribution currently work? Do schools loan them to kids and the kids return them at the end of the year or do parents who can afford it pay for their kids books?

If it is a loaner program, I don't see how this saves money because you can bet most publishers A) won't discount their books or offer a very small discount because the cost of producing a book really isn't in the printing/paper cost and B) They will probably tie it to the child and not the device meaning schools would have to purchase new books every year or every two or three years depending on the license structure.

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Then don't use it.

Make Apps.



You miss the big picture:

We need to teach our children Information Technology skills.
iPad IS that IT, being rapidly adopted by industry as work tools.

Schools need computers to teach and students to use.


Would you rather schools pay $600 (as you put it) for a desktop that only teaches a few subjects,
and still have to carry 20~30 lb of books and note paper.

OR

A for the same $600 a tool that teaches IT, and has digital text books for most of their classes so they carry < 10 Lb of stuff.

The caveat is the imagination and leadership to truly leverage this technology. THAT is what I am concerned about.

Please explain how an iPad teaches IT? It teaches media consumption, but IT? Hardly. Not when 90% of IT is Windows based.

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What's the demographic of LAUSD?

WTH does it matter? IT is LA, so I'm going to assume it's a nice mix of cultural and economic diversity.

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And please explain what's the difference between a teacher who preaches a soliloquy to students about our president, past presidents, history and the like, then tells them to turn to page such and such and read about this or that person? Oh, that's called media consumption!

What is your point here? Teaching someone about Shakespeare isn't teaching someone "IT."

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For the record, while my posts may seem like I'm against using iPads in Schools, I'm actually not. I just think it needs to be handled smartly and in small case by case basis where it makes sense.

For example if schools want to start teaching kids about mobile application development and things like interactive design then having a limited number of iPads available for student use is a good thing. Or if schools want to give Teachers iPads, I'm fine with that.

What I oppose is this shotgun approach to give EVERY kid an iPad as though it will solve every educational problem within schools and how a lot of Mac fanboys seem to thing it is a great thing that their favorite toy is being "validated" in a school environment. This is a waste of money that public schools can ill afford especially when you have all these politicians gunning for cutting public education spending.

This just seems like a visible way for School Boards to show that they are "hip" and doing something "good." Similar to when you watch a teen movie and there's almost always a scene of some Hipster English teacher trying to relate to their students by "rapping" a Shakespeare sonnet.

 

[WilliamLondon]

Rumor has it one of the decision makers from the school board is a major Apple Shareholder. How convenient.

Well, that's all I need to condemn, you grab the pitchforks and I'll get the torches, let's meet across from Doc Arbor's door in the village square, right next to the stocks.

 

[Rocketman]

Here's what an at scale iPad deployment looks like. Enjoy the images.

http://www.springlakeparkschools.or...5/apple-our-students-preparing-ipads-learning

Rocketman

 

[Squeak825]

Apple iBook Textbooks are required to be $14 99 / license or less. My expectation is they'll give each student a voucher for each book they need, and students will redeem them on their own accounts.

This means the students can keep the books forever (they're associated with the student's Apple ID, not the device), schools can pay $15/student/book, and publishers don't have to worry about people reselling and so killing their sales. Everyone wins. I actually can't think of anyone who is negatively impacted by this... Maybe whoever makes the presses that physical books are printed on?

Everyone does not win.

1) Publishers lose 30% off the top due to Apple's share. So on a typical 6-year adoption where they would sell the book for $90, 6 years x $15 is the same high-level price. But, take away that 30%, and the publisher now only gets $63.

2) There is much more that is purchased than just a textbook these days. All publishers now provide LMS-type systems that have digital content, tests, ancillaries, etc. Because through iBooks Apple will NOT share the customer lists, there is no way to connect that purchase to a licenses in the publishers platform. So what use to be a great ecosystem of instructional content gets reduced to just a textbook.

 

[PracticalMac]

I am confused. You say it is easy because we already make it digital to send to the printers (which is a PDF), but then claim you want an "app" and upsells.
...
Oh, at the end of the day, we do make it cheaper. Our typical Middle School Math book is $80 for the print and digital, or you can buy it for $74 for the digital only.

I did not say only make it an app.

Choice that I can think of:
iBook
App
Reader App that displays content (ie: Good Reader)


Yes, $6 savings per book is small, but over 500~1000 books per school add up.
Then labor to distribute and collect
And storage space
Transportation.

As more TB's are digitized, the work load and time usage lessens, and value of iPad goes up.

Change is rarely cheap in the beginning, have to look 2 to 4 years for the transition and realization of cost savings.

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Here's what an at scale iPad deployment looks like. Enjoy the images.

http://www.springlakeparkschools.or...5/apple-our-students-preparing-ipads-learning

All iPads are then engraved with the district logo, district name, and phone number from the factory. District staff also engrave each device with an asset number.

+1 (the logo, not shoddy hand engraving)

I wish Apple offered that when I buy my iPad!

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2) There is much more that is purchased than just a textbook these days. All publishers now provide LMS-type systems that have digital content, tests, ancillaries, etc. Because through iBooks Apple will NOT share the customer lists, there is no way to connect that purchase to a licenses in the publishers platform. So what use to be a great ecosystem of instructional content gets reduced to just a textbook.

Apple should offer a Educational price plan, IF they don't already (don't know, could be confidential).

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

No state in the country spends less than $7,000 per student per year. The national average is about $11,000. I sincerely doubt your district spends $800.

Perhaps I left off a zero? IDK, $8000 seems really high, and I know that they mentioned our district is in the bottom 5 in the state for spending / student, but in the top 5 for scores on standardized testing, thus in my senior year of high school the state sent a bunch of people to study the way our classes were run. One of the findings was that we only have 1 laptop per 10 students, but it works out fine since the teachers don't try ramrodding them into every class.

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The question was, whether all of the necessary books are available. If they are, great. If not, they will go elsewhere. And since there is no elsewhere to go, they will stay with the old system.

honestly don't know if they have all the necessary books. They may, they may not. What I truthfully don't see is much incentive for them to go selling books at $15 a pop when $100 a pop seems to be working just fine.

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Initially, theft will likely be a bigger issue. But with iOS7 not allowing a restore once locked, what you essentially have stolen is a paperweight. And word will get around that schools, and maybe even students, can easily lock their devices permanently.

But I agree. No matter how you look at this, you'd have to burn a lot of textbooks to come up with the deficit of destroying just one iPad. Let's not also forget though that if the iPad is broken, Apple's replacement policy is $250. Perhaps these schools are getting a better deal? A couple of posters around page 2 also claimed that the sale price to the school (600 some odd dollars) included insurance in the deal. I can;t comment much on that fact.

Our school requires parents to pay a security deposit to cover damage at the start of the year. If the parents don't pay (and they're not deemed to be in a situation where it's unreasonable), the student doesn't get the laptop. If the student doesn't damage it, the parents get the money back at the end of the year. It's up to the parents to properly incentivize their children not to break the devices they're given at school.

 

[PracticalMac]

iPads teaching IT. And to K-12 students? LMFAO.

They're not getting iPad mini's. They're getting iPads. iPads that retail for either $499 (16GB) or $599 (32GB). And if some of the previous posters are to be believed, it's the 32GB iPad.

Since a $399 Dell is < a $599 iPad, my previous statement of "you can buy a basic laptop PC for 1/2 or 2/3 of that" still stands.

Also, $449 isn't the lowest HP laptop. There's the HP 2000z-2d00 Notebook PC for $349.... HP Pavilion 14z-b100 Sleekbook for $379.... HP 2000t-2d00 for $399.... HP Pavilion 15z-b000 Sleekbook for $399....

Seems like you're cherry picking things to me.

When I mean IT, it is using technology to find information, not running networks (could have clarified that)

The Dell and HP prices was cheapest I found on their web sites under laptop and desk top. I did a sincere effort, kudos you found others.

I did find that Acer for $249, BTW.


I glanced over the article, did not read it was $678 each.
Yes, I wonder why it is so much too. While I applaud getting iPads, I will criticize the model choice (for K-8, mini is far more appropriate IMHO).

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Everyone does not win.

1) Publishers lose 30% off the top due to Apple's share. So on a typical 6-year adoption where they would sell the book for $90, 6 years x $15 is the same high-level price. But, take away that 30%, and the publisher now only gets $63.

2) There is much more that is purchased than just a textbook these days. All publishers now provide LMS-type systems that have digital content, tests, ancillaries, etc. Because through iBooks Apple will NOT share the customer lists, there is no way to connect that purchase to a licenses in the publishers platform. So what use to be a great ecosystem of instructional content gets reduced to just a textbook.

1 - They have cost savings to offset for not having to get the raw materials to print the books.

2 - iBooks facilitates all of this in book. Have you downloaded iBook Author, yet? It's free on the Mac App Store. I'm quite pleased with it and am working on writing my own programming textbook. I've also encouraged a lot of my professors at school who already make and sell textbooks to consider iBooks - many of them have said they will.

Actually, thinking about it, this is doing the same thing to textbooks that Apple already did to apps - killing the middle men and allowing authors to bypass publishers and retailers and just sell to students. Publishers have to justify their continued existence to schools/students/authors.

 

[PracticalMac]

You do realize DROPBOX is Blocked in most properly run networks because of pirating/torrenting through it and firewall avoidance?

OK, drop DropBox and replace with GoodReader.

Or Google drive.

Or MS SkyDrive.

Its status quo people like you that hinder our kids.
Break the system, think of new ways to make the system work.

and more important

TRY

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They can accept Apple's prices or take their books elsewhere. Having to spend $15/student/year isn't much different from spending $100/student/5 years - the difference is the book belongs to the student, not the school. This means the student will have an ever growing library of every book they ever needed in school. Tax payers won't balk because the price is the same, and because their children get to keep their books in addition to their notes between school years for looking back on.

As a student in college, I've had enough of this BS. I last bought a textbook from the traditional system a year ago. I've found a variety of ways of getting what I need for free or super cheap since (IE, visiting the teacher - who gets free copies of the books from the publisher - and scanning copies of the pages I need.)

Completely agree.

Text book publishers can sell lessons piecemeal!
When was the last time a student used the ENTIRE book??

Sell each chapter for $1~2.
Schools and students save becuase they use what they need.
Publishers still make a tidy profit without being vilified.

Stop thinking inside the box, ye nay sayers!!

 

[honguqia]

I wish I could move to another planet.

 

[calaverasgrande]

What a stupid waste of money. When Public Schools are struggling to keep teachers and are always under the gun for money. THIS is what they spend it on?

That was my first impulse, but then I remembered that physical textbooks can be $100+ each.
This can be a cost cutting measure if.
the iPads are in a nice sturdy case so they don't break constantly.
the learning materials on the iPads are cheaper than their paper counterparts.

The thing I do not like about this is that it is another example of the emerging divide between the content consumption platform (IOS, android and other mobile platforms) and content creation platforms such as Mac OS, Windows etc.
These may be great for the three R's but at the end of the semester none of the kids is any more computer literate. They will just be more handy with an iPhone.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

So what's wrong with chalk and slate?

What's wrong? They don't cost 600 dollars.

 

[gkarris]

Isn't it illegal for companies to almost "give away" their goods to grab a foothold in companies and organizations?

I remember when Apple was starting loose a lot of share in education (the 90's) because Dell and MS were essentially giving away their goods to education institutes...

The main difference NOW is that Microsoft CANNOT GIVE their stuff away... Nobody WANTS it. They burned so many bridges in the last 3 decades and never really delivered on making education better.

Don't forget about Dell...

 

[donutbagel]

Not really, Apple has a history of not supporting products after 5 or 6 years.

So what? It doesn't die once they stop supporting it. Oh gee, the iPads won't have the latest multitasking features!

 

[LagunaSol]

Stop thinking inside the box, ye nay sayers!!

Amen brother. It's amazing that on a tech-focused website (MacRumors) so many people are vociferously arguing for the status quo.

 

[malexandria]

So what? It doesn't die once they stop supporting it. Oh gee, the iPads won't have the latest multitasking features!

Apparently you know nothing about the IT world. A school district is not going to make this huge investment and just say "Oh, well" once Apple STOPs supporting their iPads. Once locked into this deal this district will be at Apple's mercies and whims for quite awhile. The whole point of the initiative, supposedly, is for kids to stay up on technology, do you really think if they make it so that Apps or a new version of IO7 no longer supports the device they won't be pressured to upgrade?

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Amen brother. It's amazing that on a tech-focused website (MacRumors) so many people are vociferously arguing for the status quo.

It's not arguing for the status quo. It's arguing for being smart with your money and innovation. Not just wildly flailing away and gloming onto the whatever fad of the moment is.

 

[charlituna]

Microsoft is willing to charge only $199 per tablet and thinks the L.A. Board of Ed. made a big mistake.

It is their money and their choice. If Microsoft is actually saying this kind of thing they will burn bridges rather than get contracts.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, if Microsoft wants to get these contracts they need to focus in how they fill the needs of students and teachers with full systems. And not piss and moan and claim to be better than the other choices

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Jesus $500 million on THIS? Makes this an even WORSE story. They could build or renovate schools for this kind of money and they buying ***** IPADS?

Unless that bond was specifically earmarked for texts and tech. In which case they legally can't use it for anything else. And it is possible that it was since voters here in LA rarely agree to give LAUSD free reign over tax money so they can't use it to give district officials perks and shaft the kiddies.

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Is there special software or iOS installed that would keep kids from playing angry birds all day while in school? I hope it's better than that easily crackable At-Ease software they had to keep us kids out of the system back in my days of using computers in the classroom.

Shut out the App Store via configuration or restrictions with it being instant in school suspension to a tech free classroom set up if you try to hack it or restore it. And force teachers to get up off their duffs and pay attention to what the kids are doing

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It's possible to keep an iPad for 10 years.

Given that the iPad hasn't existed for 10 years you can't really say that. You have no facts to back it up

 

[donutbagel]

From what I've seen, within a 15 mile radius of downtown L.A., it's mostly working class minorities (mostly Latinos, with some African Americans, and some Asians).

You can check ethnic breakdown here: http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=cbeds

http://search.lausd.k12.ca.us/cgi-bin/fccgi.exe?w3exec=cbeds3&which=location_code&info=8845
Hmm, I wonder if I could go there and accuse them of racism if I get a detention XD

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Amen brother. It's amazing that on a tech-focused website (MacRumors) so many people are vociferously arguing for the status quo.

Yeah, it's actually really good that the public school near where I live got a Nexus tablet for every student.

 

[Apple and PC]

Microsoft was totally pissed over this Apple contract. Microsoft feels that Apple products are way overpriced and iOS is a crap OS for children to use. MS claims the Surface RT is a more useful tablet than any iPad could ever be. Greedy Microsoft has tens of thousands of education and business contracts and has had them for many years. Microsoft basically cornered that market. They feel Apple doesn't deserve to have any. Honestly, how badly could a small contract like this hurt Microsoft? This is probably a one in ten thousand fluke and unlikely to ever happen again. Microsoft is willing to charge only $199 per tablet and thinks the L.A. Board of Ed. made a big mistake.

Two mistakes you make in your comment. MS didn't offer a tablet at $199. No one did. Apple offered the cheapest price of everyone at $678 with everything included. See my first response in detail. Second, this is the first purchase of a 1/2 billion dollar LAUSD purchase to get 660,000 teachers and students an Ipad with in 1.5 years (last 300,000 to be purchased Dec 2014). State of Maine schools have been an Apple house solely for the last 9 years and just two months ago decided to move away from being an Apple only state and now have started purchasing both Apples and PCs. Both are behemoths. Both are Multi-Billion dollar enterprises willing to do anything to win more.

 

[Apple and PC]

Nice try, but with the over 300,000 made for iPad apps I'm sure they'll find something educational for the students.

Update for you. As of last October, both Apple and Android reported 700,000 apps on each of their sites now available for download. Microsoft is behind in the game but will come close within one year.

 

[HenryDJP]

Update for you. As of last October, both Apple and Android reported 700,000 apps on each of their sites now available for download. Microsoft is behind in the game but will come close within one year.

Thanks for that update! Keep in mind one thing, tech generally doesn't stop (at least not with Apple and Google) so if Microsoft is currently behind the game how in the world would they catch up unless Apple and Google completely stop? If Apple and Google keep going then Microsoft won't catch up. It's only logical. . And to be honest about it, Microsoft is kinda done at this point. They never got the Zune off the ground, the Surface isn't selling well, Windows 8 is a flop and Windows Smartphones just aren't the people's choice. It's going to take more than just "catching up". They should create something totally new to the tech world that isn't a phone or a tablet and doesn't run on Windows. That will raise eyebrows.

 

[LagunaSol]

A school district is not going to make this huge investment and just say "Oh, well" once Apple STOPs supporting their iPads. Once locked into this deal this district will be at Apple's mercies and whims for quite awhile.

At least those iPads are assured of some OS updates. Unlike, say, buying an Android tablet from some Asian conglomerate.