Apple loses Michigan 6th grade laptop bid

$275 per student per year. That's a great price for the district (considering it will cost that much just to replace all the defective laptops over the years). But, at least the 6th graders will now fully understand what 'real' computing is like "sorry kids, open your books and read quietly, the networks down once again". "Oops, miss Hoover, I've got something called 'Klez'. What is that, and why does everyone else have it as well?"

...that this whole program was to be cancelled as a cost cutting program? Granholm (our governor), you bitch!

You can't blame them. $275 per student is pretty cheap. I don't think Apple could match that price, but being a Mac supporter, I hope the whole thing blows up in their face :-D

...how to reset your BIOS! Ha!

Virus.

Talk about blowing up in their face. You're third, dude!

How can any company offer this at a price of $275 per pupil? What kind of crappy computer & support is THAT puny amount supposed to provide? I see this as a disaster waiting to happen. Don't worry - it WILL blow up in their faces. Unfortunately, that will set a precedent which hurts Apple as well.

It always comes down to quality vs quantity. The problem is people have a perception that computers change so fast that why pay top dollar for an apple when you can get two sort of functional computer for the same price. Yes they will have problems and yes it will probally cost them more to fix these issues but the world loves to feel like they are getting more from their money. It is a real sad world we live in. It should be about the children and what will make them think different and expand their minds not the bottom line.

Oh well, it would have been a very nice bump in the bottom line (long term) for Apple, but we should be honest with ourselves. Anything < $300 is rather amazing to say the least. We need to remember that we are talking about school administrators here. They are usually the most penny pinching people in the world (and I think that's a good thing).

We don't need to hope for the HP systems to blow up in their face. It's going to happen. Kids + very cheap laptops = MAJOR DISASTER. I also think the idea that Apple isn't known for games would have been a good thing. My old high school teacher was very adamant about the "No Games" policy.

I honestly don't know how they are going to keep the virus situation under control. They are going to be downloading every piece of spy-ware out there, coming in to school and infecting everyone.

All we need is one code red and we will have a new type of "Snow Day" on our hands.

HP wins the bid in the "Freedom to Upgrade" program!

(This whole thing is a waste of money. 6th graders do not need computers to learn!)