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Apr 12, 2001
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Apple announced today that they will be supplying iBooks to Broward County Public Schools in Florida.

"We're excited to work with Broward County to provide students with the best learning tools available," said Tim Cook, Apple’s executive vice president of Worldwide Sales and Operations. "Thousands of schools across the country have improved academic achievement with the help of Apple's education solutions, and the addition of 30,000 iBooks will do much to help provide students with necessary 21st century skills."

Apple will be providing 1.33 and 1.42GHz iBooks which were just released yesterday. The news comes not long after Henrico Schools (Richmond, VA) had decided to switch from iBooks to Dells. Henrico's iBook program received much press when it was initiated in 2001. Of note, Henrico is selling the used iBooks for $50 each.
 
Great news for Apple! I wonder if this will generate a lot of publicity or not. Normally I'd say no, but the way the media is focusnig more on Apple nowadays, you never know.

I wonder if any of the kids will be whining about no widescreens... :p ;)
 
I wish my school district would do this. All of our computers are IBM that are around 4 years old. The Think Pads are the worst, those are around 5 or 6 years old! Now all our computers are slowly being phased out with stinking Dells. Sometimes I wish I could live in Florida just for that school district!
 
Sirus The Virus said:
I wish my school district would do this. All of our computers are IBM that are around 4 years old. The Think Pads are the worst, those are around 5 or 6 years old! Now all our computers are slowly being phased out with stinking Dells. Sometimes I wish I could live in Florida just for that school district!

When I was in school I wish we would have had Macs as well, that would have been so much better! Instead, I had to deal with IBM PS/2s and good old 486s. I feel happy for those kids, they're very fortunate!
 
iMacSE500 said:
How can i buy one of those old iBooks for $50?
My thoughts exactly. ;)

Edit: They must be selling them in bulk. There is almost no way they are selling them for $50 dollars each to random people. Even in bulk, if they put all of them on eBay they would do better than $50. That is just insane. If they really are selling them at $50 to random people though, then the iBooks will all be sold extremely fast.
 
Did you see that originally the Henrico School District had bought 25,000 ibooks?! I dont know what the going rate for them was in 2001, but if they were about 1k like today, thats 25 MILLION dollars!! I mean, I am certainly an advocator of technology in the classroom, but I doubt they got 25 million dollars worth of education out of them in 4 years. Especially since selling them at $50 each will put them at a loss of $23,750,000.00. YOUCH! additionally, I am also interested in how I can get one for $50.00??
 
If there is anywhere that the new Sudden Motion Sensor technology will come in handy, it's in K-12 schools.

Gee, just this past weekend I was daydreaming about going back to school because I heard about some interesting university research that is in progress. Maybe I should move to Florida and go back to high school instead!
 
~Shard~ said:
When I was in school I wish we would have had Macs as well, that would have been so much better! Instead, I had to deal with IBM PS/2s and good old 486s. I feel happy for those kids, they're very fortunate!
HA! I feel old (though not as bad as some). Macs weren't even around when I was in grade school, although we did have the Apple ]['s! Oh, and a TRS-80 :p

Luckily, when I went to college I got a "loaner" SE while a Resident Advisor. Been a Mac guy ever since.
 
Remember with the original iBook how Apple was saying how great a handle was for the education market (so it doesn't get dropped) and how great it was to not have corners (so it survives being dropped better). What ever happened to that?
 
You too emw?!?! :eek: ;)

Sounds like a plan to me, though I don't see why most of these kids need iBooks. I would rather see teachers get a pay raise, but hey, good for the kids... :)
 
RJP31484 said:
Did you see that originally the Henrico School District had bought 25,000 ibooks?! I dont know what the going rate for them was in 2001, but if they were about 1k like today, thats 25 MILLION dollars!! I mean, I am certainly an advocator of technology in the classroom, but I doubt they got 25 million dollars worth of education out of them in 4 years. Especially since selling them at $50 each will put them at a loss of $23,750,000.00. YOUCH! additionally, I am also interested in how I can get one for $50.00??


I think that is the question. We have looked here at putting laptops into the hands of students. I have pushed hard for Macs, I will most likely lose.


I am the only teacher with a Macintosh. I am also the only teacher that uses the computer (Keynote or Powerpoint) in the classroom. SO much nicer then slides.

Have my students received the $1000 worth of extra education because of my Mac. Yes and they would agree... printing out slide notes alone is worth it for them.

Being able to take notes on the computer is a great asset. No more stray pencil marks. No more unable to read your own writing. Can they be abused, yes.

The question I think needs to be changed. Did each student receive the $1000 worth of extra instruction / help / lack of problem on average. If we used iBooks in our school the answer would be yes. I cannot tell you how often I hear the problem of... my computer is down... my floppy is dead... the computers in the lab can't print... etc etc etc.

SO what do students do... last year I pushed for a switch jump drives from floppies. Guess what happened... "Mr. Isaac, your computer is the only one that actually is useful and works can you print out my english homework for me?" Me to student, "Did you try the lab or somewhere else?" Student: "Your computer is the only one that will not wreck things and is the only one I trust."

If they had an iBook... hook up to the Airport and print. Wham bam thank you Apple.

I bet the students rcvd 25M in not pulling out hair. I personally pity the VA students next year and I am glad I am not there.

PS. I wish I was there I would load my van up and we would buy as many as could.
 
Gorbag said:
Well apparently THEY seem to like the new updates to the iBooks!

IIRC, the Atlanta deal was also for iBooks. Apparently, the iBook is the new eMac. When, oh when, will Apple EOL the iFugly eMac?
 
Henrico deal falls through

Everyone should keep in mind that only the deal for Henrico high school students was cancelled in favor of Dell. The Elementary and Middle school iBook programs remain in place.
 
Henrico county who? ;)

Do a search on richmond.com for info on buying, it's first come first serve, one per person, and you must pick it up yourself in Richmond, VA.

Thank god I'm out of that school district (and i have a new PB to boot!)
 
Henrico laptop sale

Since some people seem to doubt that they are selling these laptops for 50 bucks each to random people, here is a quote from their website:

1,000 laptops available

Limit: one per person

First-come, first-serve basis
 
Plan to go to sale

I plan to attend this sale and pickup an ibook for myself. I have invited a few friends, and only one of them wishes to keep the ibook. The others are more interested in making a few dollars on it.

Therefore, if you are interested in purchasing one of these and cannot make it to the event, perhaps my friend(s) can pick one up for you.

I've now recieved more than enough responses. Thanks.
 
MacIke said:
The question I think needs to be changed. Did each student receive the $1000 worth of extra instruction / help / lack of problem on average. If we used iBooks in our school the answer would be yes. I cannot tell you how often I hear the problem of... my computer is down... my floppy is dead... the computers in the lab can't print... etc etc etc.

Well, as a current student, recent high school graduate, and future teacher, I can tell you, and I think many others would agree that 98% of the time, these excuses are just that, excuses, and could be solved by better preperation on the student's part, as long as not waiting till the last minute. However, you are correct in that it is vital to have up-to-date technology in the classroom, I just dont think EVERY STUDENT needs a 1000 dollar laptop. Maybe 5 brand new emacs in the back of the classroom would work better than 25-35 ibooks per room.
 
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