Macs for Schools: The eBook
Dan Knight
2001.05.09
From a value perspective, it's hard to imagine a better laptop deal
than the new $1,299 iBook - unless you're an educator or school system
and can buy it for even less.
Still, there are those who find the new iBook too expensive for the
education market. That's not because the iBook isn't fairly priced, but
because affordability is a different issue. (For more on that, see
Never
mind. Apple Education probably is dead.)
Economic Realities
Schools usually dozens, hundreds, and sometimes even thousands of
computers at a time. The recent order for 23,000 iBooks from
Henrico County Public Schools is a case in point. Even at the
school price of $1,199, that's a $27.6 million dollar contract for
Apple. That's a big chunk of change.
For schools, the fact that the new iBook sells for $200 less than
the old iBook has got to be a huge plus. The "iceBook" is plenty fast,
comfortably small, and relatively affordable.
But schools are always trimming budgets. Could Apple create a lower
cost version of the iBook for the education market?
The 2001 eBook
Yesterday we suggested that Apple could trim $100 or so from the
base iMac by eliminating the internal modem and CD-ROM drive. That's
not an approach you can take with a laptop, since you want modem access
to the Internet on the road.
It might be feasible to eliminate the CD-ROM drive, especially in a
school setting. By making CD-ROM, DVD, CD-RW, etc. an external option,
Apple might trim up to $100 from the selling price.
That's a step in the right direction, but it still leaves us $99 shy
of the thousand dollar mark. Is there anywhere else Apple can trim
costs?
I think so. Although the 1024 x 768 display in the new iBook is
stunning, it's undoubtedly more expensive than the 800 x 600 display
used in the old iBook. And since both are 12.1" screens, it should be
possible to create an even lower cost iBook by using the less expensive
800 x 600 display.
Let's call an iBook with no CD-ROM drive and an 800 x 600 display an
eBook, with the "e" standing for education and economy. Otherwise
identical to the new iBook, I think Apple could sell the eBook to
schools for close to $1,000. (Yes, someone else is using the eBook
name. I'm just using it as shorthand, not as a definitive product
name.)
Selling the eBook
We've created a very cost-competitive computer for education, but we
need to sell it to schools. That's often an uphill battle, and I see no
need to rehash the Mac vs. Windows debate (John Droz has done a great
job with Should Our Schools (or Anybody
Else) Have Macs or PCs?).
Instead, we need to address the peculiarities of the iBook/eBook vs.
Wintel laptops.
No Floppy
Floppy drives are no longer considered essential in the Windows
world, especially on lightweight or low-cost laptops. They are becoming
an option on more models every month - a trend Apple began in 1998 with
the iMac. (Okay, nit pickers, Apple first did it with the PowerBook 100 in 1991.)
Floppies also make it very easy to transport files between home and
school, which may mean unwanted or illegal transfer of software. By
eliminating floppies, schools reduce the likelihood of software license
violations and unwanted software on school property.
Before the Internet, floppies were the primary means for
distributing viruses. By making the floppy an external option, it
becomes that much more difficult to move a disk- or file-based virus
between computers.
No CD-ROM (eBook only)
By not including a CD-ROM drive in the eBook, Apple would make it
that much harder for students to install unwanted/unauthorized software
on school computers. They wouldn't be able to rip MP3s from the
favorite CDs on the school laptop. They wouldn't be able to bring in
games from home.
By giving buyers the option of external CD-ROM, DVD, CD-RW, etc.,
the school can decide which technologies are available and where. A
classroom might have 2-3 CD-ROM drives for installing software and a
Combo Drive so the teacher can archive files and run DVDs.
If anything, removing floppies and CD-ROM drives from school
computers is a benefit: it protects the system setup, prevents
unauthorized software transfers, and reduces the cost of the computer
itself.
Only an 800 x 600 Display (eBook only)
Windows people live in a different world, one where fonts are much
bigger. They really need a 1024 x 768 display to see the same amount of
information on the screen as Mac users have on an 800 x 600
display.
If you have access to both Windows and Mac OS machines, run a word
processor with 12 point type and see which displays more, Windows at
1024 x 768 or Mac at 800 x 600. Do the same with a spreadsheet and any
Web browser other than Internet Explorer 5.0 for the Mac (which is
designed to give Mac users the same grossly large fonts that Windows
users are used to).
You'll find that the Mac displays more information on the smaller
screen than Windows does on a larger screen. It's not intuitive, but
many aspects of the Mac/PC comparison are not intuitive.
Mac Advantages
Perhaps the biggest plus for any current Macintosh - AirPort. By
installing one or more base stations, any recent Mac accepts a $99
AirPort card for wireless networking. No need to pull wires. No need to
put the computer where there's an ethernet port. This could save
thousands upon thousands of dollars in wiring costs. It means students
can take an eBook to the library for research, into the lab for taking
notes, or into the lunchroom to catch up on a project.
Portable Dangers
There are reasons schools might consider desktops preferable to
laptops: lower cost, less likelihood of being dropped, and reduced
portability among them. It's much harder for someone to sneak an iMac
out of school than an iBook.
Another very real danger, one we've experienced at home twice in the
past year, is liquids. Spill a soft drink into a desktop's keyboard,
and you can replace it for a song. Spill that soft drink into a laptop,
and you can plan on replacing the whole computer. (Okay, we managed to
salvage parts of the PowerBook G3 Series and may salvage some parts
from the Acer, but so many expensive components get ruined that it's
cheaper to buy a new computer.)
I haven't seen the new iBook yet, but it doesn't sound like it's any
better protected against spills than previous models. That's one thing
Apple might want to address next time around.
Portability has some benefits and some drawbacks. For cases where it
makes sense, an eBook for about $1,000 would undoubtedly find a lot of
interested school systems.
Nearly Perfect
The iBook is nearly perfect as an education computer, but it's a bit
rich for some school systems. And if you think the $1,199 (school
price) iBook is a good deal, a $999-1,049 eBook would be even more
attractive to schools.
