The Case for an Educational Mac
June 7th, 2006Years ago, when I first arrived in Arizona, I visited the Scottsdale school district, which, at the time, was a showpiece for Mac technology. It has since gone to Windows, but that’s another story replete with the usual amount of political byplay. In the end, they were hoodwinked into thinking that kids should be using the operating system they would be using when they were adults, forgetting that you’re supposed to use a computer to run applications, and the operating system shouldn’t get in the way.
Anyway, even the school districts in reasonably affluent neighborhoods are strapped for cash these days, although I’m not sure about Beverly Hills High. No doubt Dell and other PC makers have made deals largely on price and the promise of cheap replacements if a computer fails. Into this environment, what does Apple have to offer? Well, the iBook has been popular with many districts, and I’m sure you’ve heard about some of the deals involving thousands of computers.
