Posted on 02/12/2005 8:22:21 AM PST by groanup
Cobb County wants to spend nearly $70 million for 63,000 students and teachers to get state-of-the-art Apple laptop computers, complete with Microsoft Word and iTunes.
After months of negotiations, Superintendent Joseph Redden announced the cost and scope of a potential deal with Apple Computer. If the school board approves the first phase of the four-year, $69.9 million proposal, the first iBook G4 laptops would be distributed this spring.
By fall, four high schools would be outfitted as demonstration sites. Within a year, high schoolers could be working with a computer that, at 5 pounds, weighs less than most textbooks. Within three years, each of Cobb's teachers and middle and high school students could have a laptop.
The iBooks would come with Apple's latest operating system, plus Microsoft Office and wireless capability. Software would include Apple's iLife, which could be used to make digital movies, photos and music for school projects through programs like iTunes and GarageBand. The iBooks would be compatible with the school system's existing PCs.
"The kinds of things the students will be using out in the work force today, they'll be using in our schools," said Deputy Superintendent Donald Beers. Part of the cost goes to build a wireless network for schools countywide.
If fully implemented, it would be one of the largest school laptop programs in the country.
Apple would provide seven employees dedicated solely to training and operations, and operate a repair facility in Cobb. The laptops would have a four-year warranty, and the deal includes extra batteries.
Parents would be responsible for insurance, expected to be $50 a year. Redden said the school system's education foundation would work on fund-raising to help low-income families pay for the insurance.
The Cobb school district, which spent months negotiating with companies including IBM and Dell, claims the best price per laptop of any school system in the country: $271.26. Michigan paid $275 per machine in its recent laptop contract with Hewlett- Packard.
Add in the extras Cobb negotiated for — including support, training and maintenance — and the total cost is about $350 per person. For comparison, the cheapest retail price of the same computer loaded with the same features was $1,248 on apple.com.
John Seral, who has children in Cobb County middle and high schools, said he was "personally convinced this thing will be successful." He learned the details while working on an advisory panel for the school system.
Seral said he believed students would gain skills that have become invaluable in business. "Voice mail is virtually dead in our company," he said. "You have to have a laptop to function."
The Cobb deal would boost Apple's efforts to capture the k-12 education market. Vice President Barry Wright would not say what Apple's market share is, but the company has landed other major initiatives, including the nation's first in Maine and one in Henrico County, Va.
Mark Weston, who worked for Apple three years ago, when it provided laptops to 37,000 students and teachers in Maine, said the Cobb County deal would have people talking.
However, "the technology is just one piece of the equation for enhancing learning and teaching," he said. "The ultimate test will be how everyone uses these incredible tools."
Cobb County will pay for the program's start-up through a 1 percent sales tax voters approved in 2003 and which will expire in three years.
Most school board members seem comfortable with providing teachers with the laptops, but need assurance about the students.
Questions from the public include concerns about online security and at-home use. School officials have set up a Web site and e-mail to address questions and will conduct four information sessions before the board's March 9 vote.
The school system still needs a provider for wireless connectivity, as well as an Internet partner in the community, Redden said.
Proponents of "one computer to one student" point to reports of increased school attendance and fewer discipline problems. They say laptop programs bridge the "digital divide," putting cutting-edge technology in the hands of young people who otherwise could not afford it.
Some researchers, however, say more time is needed to understand the long-term impact of such programs. Critics say the money could be better spent on smaller classes and teacher development.
I bet over 95% of all Apple users wouldn't have the slightest idea what to do if they saw:
| $ |
No, that isn't true... Microsoft acquired some non-voting preferred stock several years ago but it has long since been sold.
Yes, it is. And if the schools want to teach UNIX it is one of the best platforms for that purpose. In actual usage, the best thing students can do is learn how to write their essays on computers and do their research on the internet.
Gotcha.
I can tell you that the internet has mildly embellished my daughter's education. It has made research faster and easier on occasion. She is a straight A student, top of her class in a high school that has the highest SAT's in the state. But her accomplishments are not dependent on computers or the internet. She is a classroom note taker, late night studier, hard worker, and practical approacher of her schoolwork. Most of her computer time is spent instant-messaging or using MS Word.
My son is an A-B student who hardly ever uses the internet. He knows how to because of my wife and me. I'm sorry but the computer does not greatly influence the accomplishments of my children.
That and the constant software upgrades and the inevitable obsolescence of everything hi tech. I had a long conversation with a Cobb County school teacher. She was outraged over the whole thing. They never consulted the teachers on this at all. She thinks it is a disaster.
Go ahead. Show him templates, transitions, slide masters, animations, photo import, movie import, and how to do technical drawings in 10 minutes. And then lets do some overlays which show the light paths through a 12-channel distance measuring interferometer.
Within a month the number of laptops crippled with spyware and viruses will overwhelm the County's IT department.
Yep. See #110.
Uh, read the article... maintenence is included in the contract amount... probably what makes the difference in the $350 per student cost of the computer and the $271 price quoted. That is for the computer without the Microsoft products... now add that stuff in at probably about $150 per for MS Office.
If the experience of the last four years of OSX is any indicator, the number of student's laptops crippled by spyware and viruses will be ZERO.
True, but prepare to duck, because you're about to get hit with the 'market share' argument.
= )
I live in Cobb also. I think the schools and the kids are a whole lot better off than in Dekalb or Fulton. I don't think the local politicians are any less corrupt, though. I still remember the prisoner who was on a work-release which put him in Fulton jail to do a rap-video shoot.
Hmmmmmm. Let's see.
Mac OS V 10.3 ~$180-200 plus 4 upgrades in the last 3 years.
Windows XP ~$30-90
Case closed.
1) MacOS 10.3 comes with the Mac Mini at 499$ I very much doubt the hardware for the mini was only 299$. Now the 30-90$ you were quoting is the OEM cost, to go to comp USA and buy a copy of WinXP professional for 299$ (or the really underpowered home edition for 99$). After you buy your Windows OS dont forget to go pick up a 50$ virus suite, and some firewall software, want decent CD/DVD burning software go shell out for that as well. Overall OSX provides a good bang for the buck.
plus 4 upgrades in the last 3 years.
Aww dont be so sad that longhorn just keeps getting pushed further and further back. Look 10.1 runs just fine and Apple still releases security upgrades for it, just because Apple has a living system that gets better from one year to the next does not mean that the one my mother got in 2001, or the one my wife got in 2003 does not work fine today.
Hmmmmmm. Let's see.
Mac OS V 10.3 ~$180-200 plus 4 upgrades in the last 3 years.
Windows XP ~$30-90
Case closed.
Hmmmmmmm. Let's REALLY see with the actual facts instead of prices you made up!
In the Mac world
Mac latest version OSX OEM free with any Mac purchase.
Mac OSX.3, retail price = $129
Mac OSX.3 five license "Family Pack", retail price = $199.99 or $40 per computer.
Upgrades
Upgrades from X.0 to X.1 = free!
Upgrades from X.1.0 to X.1.6 = free!
Upgrades from X.1 to X.2 = $129
Upgrades from X.2.0 to X.2.8 = free!
Upgrades from X.2 to X.3 = $129
Upgrades from X.3.0 to X.2.8 = free!
Each .1 step includes MAJOR software upgrades and NEW applications easily worth the $129. Each .x.1 step includes security, speed, and application enhancements. That's 25 upgrades of whoch only two were charged for.
In the PC Windows world
Windows XP Professional OEM suggested retail $199.99
Windows XP Professional OEM street price $129.99 - $159.99
Windows XP Professional suggested retail $299.99
Windows XP Professional Upgrade suggested retail $209.99
Windows XP Home Edition suggested retail $199.99
Windows XP Home Edition OEM suggested retail $129.99
Windows XP Home Edition OEM street price $59.99 to $79.95
Incremental upgrades = free!
CASE CLOSED
You're the one that's made up prices, but you can have the last word on that one. It doesn't really matter, since the Mac is dead at most real companies.
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