Apple Polishes Its Image in Education
When it comes to education, Apple has learned some important lessons. In 1999, the company was overtaken by Dell as the top supplier of computers to the education market. A poorly timed reorganization of Apple’s education sales force last year only made matters worse.
But its grades are improving. Last fall, Apple created a new vice president of education position to focus on a market it historically has dominated. In March, Apple bought PowerSchool, a developer of software that handles everything from attendance records to parent-teacher communications. And in May, Apple introduced a revamped iBook portable whose small size and rugged construction are ideal for students.
As a result of these moves, Apple’s education sales in the most recent quarter were up 7% over last year. According to International Data Corp., Apple again has moved to the head of the class, with more than 27% market share, compared with 14% for Dell. Last week, Dell returned fire with its own numbers that put it in first place. What’s indisputable is that Apple is a major player in educational computing.
Addressing educators this year, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the education market is important to Apple. There may be some self-serving sanctimony there, but it is true that of the top five players in the education market--Apple, Dell, Gateway, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard--only Apple has lavish Web sites aimed at educators and students.
Apple’s education Web site (https://www.apple.com/education) contains articles and multimedia content for teachers and parents. Many articles are thinly veiled sales pitches, but there is some real content here too. The QuickTime TV for Learning section is especially impressive, containing interviews with researchers and short documentaries.
Equally impressive is Apple’s EdView search engine (https://edview.apple.com), a directory of 110,000 educational Web sites selected by teachers and librarians. You can search for sites in dozens of categories and restrict searches to specific grade ranges.
So which Macs are leading the classroom charge? The iMac is popular in computer labs, but the new trend involves scattering laptop computers throughout schools rather than segregating them to libraries or labs.
The iBook is helping fuel this trend. Apple sells a system called iBook Wireless Mobile Lab: a lockable, wheeled cart that includes as many as 16 iBooks and a Hewlett-Packard printer with wireless interface. A fully stocked Apple cart costs about $23,000.
Some school districts are buying iBooks for each of their students and teachers. One example is the Henrico County, Va., school district, which bought 23,000 iBooks--one for every middle- and high-school student and teacher.
If your school still hands out pencils on the first day, consider picking up an iBook yourself. If your budget allows, skip the $1,299 entry-level model in favor of one containing a CD burner ($1,599); a CD drive that also plays DVDs ($1,499); or best of all, a CD burner/DVD hybrid drive ($1,799). These models also contain 128 megabytes of memory, twice the base model’s 64 MB.
If you’re buying for dorm-room use, consider Harman Kardon’s $199 SoundSticks, whose sub-woofer is sure to annoy roommates. For wireless networking, add a $99 AirPort card. And throw in the $60 Willow Design (https://www. willowdesign.com) Wumph carrying case.
Dell Computer recently launched an anti-Mac offensive, claiming in a media release that “it’s important to educate students on the technology they’ll use later in life.” Baloney. Any technology that kids use today will be different when they enter the workplace. What’s more, educational computing isn’t about learning specific programs and operating systems--it’s about applying computers to learning.
Although a Windows computer would be a good choice for a class on trouble-shooting.
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Jim Heid is a contributing editor of Macworld magazine.
