Like others are saying, what are these people thinking? Even if half the stuff on it is broken, an iBook is probably worth $50 in parts.

If the logic is to let locals get a little "return on investment", then restrict the sale to people with some simple proof of residence, and liquidate everything that doesn't sell later.

If the logic is to just get rid of them, double (or quadruple) the price and then you'll both make way more money and reduce the number of nitwits like the guy claiming he's going to fly in from CA to save $300 on a beat-up laptop.

Or (shockingly logical) have somebody do a quick visual triage and seperate them into "trashed", "workable", and "pretty good" piles, price them at $50, $150, and $250, give the locals a crack at it then dump the remainder on eBay or sell them to a liquidator at a reasonable price.

Taxpayer waste aside, the logistical hassle of creating a free-for-all firesale at way below market value is nuts.

There seems a great irony that is lost on the citizens of this county and the administrators of this school district. They hold their noses and cannot wait to get rid of what are perhaps the best designed, most innovative computers in the industry in favor of returning students to the prosaic Orwellian drudgery of Wintel boxes. I wonder if the news of people willing to fly vast distances to acquire these laptops at a bargain would even make them pause for a second to consider the mistake they are making. If this is not an inditement of the quality of decision-making among public school administrators, I don't know what is.

The under the table deal is not all that under the table. We (a school district in Minnesota) have both HP (workstation) and Dell (laptop) computers. We pay for our employees to get certified by HP and Dell and for every warranty replacement they pay us $75.00.

And let me tell you, these machines get broken. The deal is, the $75.00 is still cheaper than them sending out an employee and based on large enough numbers - they still make a profit.

Dawho9

Morals aside, if anyone in the Richmond, Virginia area would like to a favor and act as my proxy, that would be great. I am a college student from Illinois and could REALLY REALLY USE one of these iBooks. My email address is kefkakrist at gmail dot com. I would be willing to compensate you up to $100 shipped. Please email.

To basically give away assets is shameful. Educators are always complaining that they don't have enough funds, and here these guys are throwing away money.

The AirPort cards in these iBooks are worth more than $50. So are the LCDs. Even if the drives are trashed and the motherboard is fried, the thing is still worth more than $100 in parts.

They could sell them for $250, even if they have problems. That would net them a quarter of a million dollars, instead of a measly 50 grand.

The taxpayer waste issue is mute. An extra $100K in the $200M school budget might buy a couple rows of bushes for one of the schools. They just want to get rid of them with minimal hassle. If the price was higher they might not get rid of them as quickly. $100 would have been better for sure - it would have reduced the road trippers, but another $50 in the budget is peanuts.

The move to RIR is significant. Not the nicest neighborhood. Those of you coming from out of town it would be like parking your car in NYC. No iPods or valuable on the front seat.

Of this "the taxpayers, the taxpayers" c***. Almost everyone in the U.S. Is a taxpayer ofd some type; I don't pay taxes to Henrico, but I pay to my county and state, as well as federal.

Until Henrico seceedes from the U.S., you're no more special than I am.

Instead of spending all the money on a sale venue, security, etc., if I were in charge of the sale I'd simply offer the iBooks for sale to local district residents (the ones whose taxes paid for theme). I'd make the offer by a web site on a first come, first served basis and require proof of residence to be submitted.

Then If there were any iBooks remaining I'd auction them on eBay.

Or if they really want to make a profit on the deal, offer all the iBooks on eBay incrementally. A larger profit from the sale would benefit the district budget, thus indirectly benefiting the local taxpayers.

Hey, you Henrico county people, the iBooks weren't good enough for your kids' education, now you want first dip on them in the sale. Give me a break, p-lease!!! I think they should limit them to sale for people OUTSIDE of Henrico country.

I was about to give up, but the Henrico website says no camping or overnight parking. So, maybe I can sneak in at the last moment and grab one :)

Why is it that the students in Henrico county schools have access to a superfluous array of technology, and can afford to sell it for $50 a computer, when just 10 miles away the students at Richmond city schools must supply their own toilet paper. Maybe Henrico county should offer this bargain to Richmond city schools, for kids who really need them, before they start selling them to people from California!

What difference does it make now? I will gladly take Henrico county's tax money in the form of grossly discounted iBook(s). They made a decision - I have no complaint!

Drupa - Maryland

Well I'm from California and I bought a condo at Henrico County just so I can buy a $50 laptop. Beat that.

This futher proves to me that Virginians are stuck up and worthless. I was going to drive 6 hours and buy fuel in the state, go to Kings Dominion and spend my hard earned North Carolina money in their state.. but now I'm boycotting it because of a stupid political move. Perhaps next year when the other 20,000 go on sale, if they wisen up, I'll consider going back to it. As for now, I'm planning to go around the state for my trip to Canada, because I'm that angry about them and it's my subtle way of protesting. (no I don't care that it's adding miles or time, I enjoy the drive ... i just can't stand virginia any more)