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 schools?Mac 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.
Netbooting 30 systems off on sever is not a good idea at lest put small hdd's in each system and have the /home on the sever.
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.
Just curious... in what capacity have you come to this conclusion? Believe it or not, I think there really are some smart people in education who have a working knowledge of what's possible, practical, and achievable when it comes to computers and educating students. That's not to say there aren't a lot of poorly thought out solutions that have been implemented but to say they all are doesn't seem right.
The hardware and network installations are not the key to success in these endeavors. Instead, it's content, IMHO, and content doesn't come from Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc. Where much of where it comes from is the World Wide Web and so using computers for internet access as a primary goal seems to make a lot of sense. That they are quite useful for smart typing is icing on the cake. Wish I had them decades ago when I was in school. I wouldn't have had to buy and struggle with all of those bottles of white-out.
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.
Yes it could be a factor. Then again, it's likely they were getting the sales just on the low end iMac model selling to the general public which makes one wonder why they bothered with a separate unit (that is likely custom order anyway). Publicity stunt seems like the most likely reason as you suggest. Makes the schools feel special because they are getting something created just for them.
Comments
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 schools?Mac 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.
Netbooting 30 systems off on sever is not a good idea at lest put small hdd's in each system and have the /home on the sever.
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.
Just curious... in what capacity have you come to this conclusion? Believe it or not, I think there really are some smart people in education who have a working knowledge of what's possible, practical, and achievable when it comes to computers and educating students. That's not to say there aren't a lot of poorly thought out solutions that have been implemented but to say they all are doesn't seem right.
The hardware and network installations are not the key to success in these endeavors. Instead, it's content, IMHO, and content doesn't come from Apple, Dell, Microsoft, etc. Where much of where it comes from is the World Wide Web and so using computers for internet access as a primary goal seems to make a lot of sense. That they are quite useful for smart typing is icing on the cake. Wish I had them decades ago when I was in school. I wouldn't have had to buy and struggle with all of those bottles of white-out.
Looks like the part code is MC978LL/A.
Good find.
On SFSU Bookstore:
http://sfsubookstore.com/catalog/pro...cts_id/4677963
Not available on Online Apple Store for Education or Apple Retail Stores yet.
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.
Yes it could be a factor. Then again, it's likely they were getting the sales just on the low end iMac model selling to the general public which makes one wonder why they bothered with a separate unit (that is likely custom order anyway). Publicity stunt seems like the most likely reason as you suggest. Makes the schools feel special because they are getting something created just for them.
so what's the point?