Why are you at all surprised that school districts are moving toward Dell and Windoze type machines. The initial reaction I got whenever I mentioned anything on these boards (because I'm a PC person and hadn't completly adopted the mac mantra) was negative. Mac users are elitist and extremely zealous about their favorite computers.
Whenever the subject of PC versus Mac comes up, invariably friction between the PC user and the Mac user generates flames. I can't tell you how many times I got the sh** flamed out of me because I said something commonly thought among PC users. Rather than encourage PC users to try macs (Hey Apple, put some computers in retail stores for a change!), mac users give us a hard time because we like what we are used to, and have no way to know any different (unless we happen to know a friend who will let us use their mac - lord knows apple has major problems with public exposure of their machines -- no stock and few retailers).
So, pc users have misconceptions which pisses off mac users. Thus, pc users rarely cross over without some sort of impetus from Apple. For example, prior to the new imac, the battle lines were pretty stable, but after the new imac, many switched sides.
In my opinion, after extensive research, I believe macs are a better product. The problem isn't the product, it's the lack of available hardware for exposure and palpable tension between mac and pc users whenever the subject comes up.
As such, there is a real rift between the mac world and pc world.
Why is that relevant? Most politicians are over 40 years old. Why is that important? Well, most 40+ year olds were not members of the cutting edge into the PC technology that we have today. They are people whose first exposure to computers came when they went to the local computer store to buy junior a computer (everyone else was buying them, so why not).
Well, Gateway would ship a computer to your door, as would Dell. Compaqs and HP's were at the local stores. Where's apple? So, you now have all these people whose children have run off to school and left their older compaqs, gateways, dells, and hp's at home for mom and dad to use for email.
Mom and dad are members of the school board, and when the time comes to vote on computers, what do you think the odds are that they are going to vote for a computer they've never used, never seen (most likely - again as a result of apple's terrible market exposure -- no stock in stores) and rarely ever have a civil conversation about with someone who actually uses them.
Apple is by far the better machine for educational use, but the people who control the purse strings won't ever know that until mac users make a concerted effort to expose all of their friends and friends parents to the hardware they own in a very civil manner, until apple starts increasing its retail exposure (not only apple stores, but other retail outlets), and until mac users take a more active role in politics.
Ok, that was far more that I intended, but I got going. Yes, I'm sure the above warrants a flame or two, but you can't argue that pc users and mac users have trouble discussing the differences between their machines in a civil manner, and you can't argue that apple's retail exposure is anywhere near sufficient.
So, mac users, flame away at this poor schmo who's stuck with his Compaq until the new TiBooks come out.
