Bad, then better news for Apple

From eSchool News staff and wire service reports - May 5, 2005

It's been a bad-news and better-news couple of weeks for executives at Apple Computer.
First Apple's ed-tech nemesis, Dell, wrested away a major contract with a high-profile school division in Virginia; then Apple got a solid win in Georgia, but at a sharply lower initial threshold than had originally been envisioned.
On May 2, the Cupertino, Calif.-based computer-maker announced final approval of a contract that will supply more than 17,000 iBook G4 laptops to students at four pilot high schools in and every teacher within Georgia's Cobb County School District.
If all goes as planned, by 2006, the three-part project called, "Power-to-Learn," could provide as many as 63,000 machines to every middle and high school student in the school system, making it the largest student laptop venture in the nation. But the local school board on Monday approved only the first phase of the program.
"The Power to Learn program represents a giant step forward for education in Cobb County," said district Superintendent Joseph Redden after the official contract was signed.
That development in Georgia also marked a step forward for Apple, which late last month suffered a major setback when school board officials for Virginia's Henrico County Public Schools (HCPS) parted ways with the company and agreed instead to purchase machines from one of its fiercest competitors.
Citing reasons ranging from maintenance and technical support to software and price, school division officials inked a new four-year agreement with Round Rock, Texas-based Dell, bringing to an end HCPS's one-to-one initiative with Apple, which began in 2001.
Four years ago, HCPS hooked up with Apple to deploy more than 23,000 laptops to every middle and high school student in the system. The deal, part of a four-year lease program with the company, had an estimated cost of $18.5 million during the first two years and became one of the most publicized and closely watched one-to-one computing initiatives in the country. (See "Laptops to transform learning for 23,000 Virginia students.")
Though the project endured a number of growing pains--especially during its first year, as administrators struggled to update antiquated security policies and equip the network infrastructure for the transition--the program has become something of a blueprint for ambitious districts and even a couple of states (Maine and Michigan) seeking to pursue similar projects.

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