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http://www.insanely-great.com/news.php?id=1406
Education: One little contract at a time
By ron carlson, Insanely Great Mac
December 16th 2002
Apple nabs a small contract. Now it needs to repeat this feat again and again
Inland Valley Bulletin reports that the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of
Education approved a contract last Thursday with Apple to provide an Internet site
where Chino Valley students can work on homework assignments from home or library
computer.
Dubbed the "Electronic Backpack/Universal Locker" program, the contract is worth
$375,206 and was unanimously approved by the school board.
Board Clerk Dave Black, who works for IBM, voiced his excitement for the potential for
this new program. "This is a pretty significant effort that has been lead by our
Information Technology department," he said.
A changed heart?
This minor tidbit of news brings to light what may be a broader initiative by Apple.
Earlier this year, IGM brought you the story of Apple's .Mac for Education. This
program's $59 per-user price tag, minimum ten unit order ($590 per shot) and reduced
service offering (only 50MB of disk space) didn't attract much attention at the time
and hasn't featured in Apple's marketing since its announcement.
Today's news casts a new light on what otherwise is a forgettable and over-priced
program: A school district has purchased what may amount to rejigged .Mac services for
its study body.
The backpack program likely isn't a replacement for .Mac for Education, but it's
probably built around the same technology. Moreover, the program is likely not
Mac-specific and this bodes well for its appeal beyond Apple's dwindling core of
education loyalists.
Day in, day out
Programs such as the Electronic Backpack/Universal Locker could go a long way toward
ingratiating Apple with students and educators while still giving off a veneer of
platform independence, which is something I think the company desperately needs to do.
Apple's continued creation and reliance on "only from us" technologies and products
has done little to maintain education buyers' loyalty let alone win back defectors.
It's small victories like the Chino Valley deal that Apple needs to repeat every day
in order earn win back education market share. Further, it's tools like the Electronic
Backpack/Universal Locker program and its (I assume) platform agnostic services that
the company needs to replicate across its product line to regain leadership.
What's your take?
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