Apple launches low-end 'education only' $999 iMac with Core i3 CPU - Page 2

Originally Posted by scrummy

This is awesome, well done! I hope more school systems do intelligent things like this. I also hope that educators pass on this stripped down model. Why save 10% now and make kids suffer with a computer that will be slow and nearly obsolete a few years down the road, making them suffer for years to come?. Classrooms don't update computers until they're run into the ground three times over, so it makes more sense to invest in something with some longevity.

Originally Posted by Futuristic

I'm reluctant to even bring this up because I sound like a troll even as I'm thinking this, but...

I'm fairly certain that the $999 price point with those features (or even slightly better) could easily be beat by volume purchasing (which is what schools would be doing) from Dell, Asus, HP, etc. Yes, those machines are crap and would be a nightmare to administer but school decision makers will place a higher priority on the bottom line than usability.

I mean, $100/$200/$300 savings per machine by going with "the other guys" will add up if you're ordering 100/200/300 machines.

Seems like the better thing would be to offer a complete "educational solution" to schoolsMac mini server ($799), a Thunderbolt RAID ($499) and "dumb" 17" iMacs (4GB RAM, 0 GB storage, shared video memory$699 each). Optimized of course, so that students could have fast internet access and application services, but couldn't play Starcraft 2 (which would be my temptation!). A school could purchase a full lab (mini+RAID+30 iMacs) for a little over $22,000, which will look better to a school administrator than $29,970 (30 "education only" iMacs). And, as nothing could be stored locally on the iMacs, school IT managers would have full control over the content.

Drop margins down to the barest minimum, and Apple won't make a whole lot of money, but they could regain the top spot in the education market again, and everyone in education is a consumer as well, which is Apple's main target.

Originally Posted by wizard69

This is what I object to in the strongest possible terms. As I've indicated it is a throw back to thinking decades ago. I'd even go so far as to say that many schools are burning tax payer money with their approach to computers in schools, simply because the hardware isn't leading to enhanced academic achievement.

I stated in another response that in many cases computers are doing nothing more for students than the typewriter did years ago. In many schools this is very much the case. I really don't see the value in learning to use a word processor or spreadsheet at least not as a 1-12 educational experience. Computers will be valuable in education when they can effectively replace books AND increase a students ability to learn a subject.

As an aside, one of the guys at work was asking all sorts of questions a couple of months ago about laptops for his kids in high school. While I tried to get him to consider Macs (Admittedly pricey) his biggest concern was finding a version of MS Office that was cheap. Apparently the whole mindset is that compatibility eases a students ability to submit homework. Nothing about educational software to enhspance the educational experience was even brought up. Rather it is pretty obvious that the school sees a PC as a typewriter replacement. Mind you a computer can be a tool just like a typewriter but let's face it that is hardly inspired usage of a computer in an educational environment.

Originally Posted by jkgm

Looks like the part code is MC978LL/A.

Originally Posted by cloudgazer

Yikes, there's a sheriff in town!

On a non religious war note, I wonder whether the remarkably rapid penetration of iPad into the education space is motivating Apple to pay renewed attention. Seems we've gone for a long while without any significant education-only models and then two come along at once.