Use feeds Apple publicity

Apple's iPad marketing efforts are being helped through two different public exposures, reports note. In Tampa Bay, Florida, Watergrass Elementary School has given away 16GB Wi-Fi iPads to 13 fifth-graders, a gift for the students as they graduate to the sixth grade. The tablets are also meant to help with future homework and research. An Apple saleswoman who has worked with Watergrass, Andrea Barr, says a photo from the giveaway may be used in an upcoming ad.

The mayor of New York City, Michael Bloomberg, has meanwhile been revealed to be a regular iPad user. On Tuesday he displayed his model to a Staten Island civic group, commenting that it was replacing a dense daily briefing book, saving his office time and paper. Yesterday, Bloomberg for the first time substituted notecards during a speech with his iPad.

Apps on the mayor's homescreen are said to reflect personal concerns, such as restaurants, flying jets and learning Spanish. Other items include a virtual koi pond, and an app for reporting problems to 311. Sources claim that Bloomberg is often using the iPad during meetings, and that it should indeed help the workload at the mayor's office.

by MacNN Staff