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Wisconsin spending $3.4 million from Microsoft settlement to buy Apple iPads for students

Wisconsin spending $3.4 million from Microsoft settlement to buy Apple iPads for students

Posted: 28 Jan 2012, 22:09, by Alan F.

Categories: AT&T AT&T Apple Apple Tablets Tablets Bookmark

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Wisconsin spending $3.4 million from Microsoft settlement to buy Apple iPads for students

The capital of Wisconsin is buying a total of 1400 Apple iPads units from money won in a settlement against Microsoft. This spring, Madison will buy 600 of the tablets with the remaining 800 scheduled for purchase this fall. In the case that brought the money used to buy the devices, the state argued that Microsoft had overcharged customers for software and the Redmond based firm ended up agreeing to pay the state $80 million. Of that total, $3.4 million is being used by the entire state to buy the tablets from Apple. The district of Madison is paying an average price of $479, which includes an educational discount. Bill Smojver, Madison's director of technical services for the school district, says that the new iPads will enable students to wirelessly share their work and enable schools to replace textbooks with digital textbooks which he calls a "significant development". The announcement of the purchase comes days after Apple inroduced its iBooks 2 as an attempt to re-invent the textbook.

Apple iPads in the classroom

While Wisconsin schools are being allowed to spend the settlement money on technology ranging from iPads to laptops or other items, it seems the Madison School Board was impressed with the results of a study in Chicago which found that students using an Apple iPad were more "engaged" in the classroom instead of getting engaged outside of the classroom. Technology consultant Naomi Harm says her firm has worked with more than 50 school districts in Wisconsin on using the iPad in the classroom.

The state was part of a lawsuit against Microsoft that claimed the company used its monopoly position to hurt the competition. At the time of the suit, which was 1998, those competitors included Netscape. Class Action suits followed and Apple tried to get the claims dismissed in a number of them. At the end of the day, the company paid 17 states to settle the suit.

source: AppleInsider

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1. biophone posted on 28 Jan 2012, 23:50 8 3

"The district of Madison is paying an average price of $479, which includes an educational discount."

Apple really cares about students.

3. jcpwn2004 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 01:02 2 0

so true, I know steve jobs hated charity but how hard is it for this company sitting on 90+billion dollars of cash to give a little back.

10. biophone posted on 29 Jan 2012, 09:05 0 1

You mean only have 90 billion and look at the huge discounts they are giving stusents. They really care.

31. Lucas777 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 19:11 2 1

what do u want them to do? free ipads for everyone? they are giving the same, fair educational discount they do for every other educational facility… if the school thought apples products were too overpriced for their tastes, they would go buy something else.. obviously they are not

38. biophone posted on 29 Jan 2012, 22:16 0 0

My point is whats the point of the discount in the first place.

39. Lucas777 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 22:22 2 0

to make it easier for the state to pay?

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2. speckledapple posted on 29 Jan 2012, 00:31 1 1

My state is buying iPads huh. Guess my children may be using something different.

4. Bluesky02 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 02:17 1 9

iPad for urrghh... Students? I would rather give them something like an Android tablet, which they can use to express their creativity by customizing, hacking, rooting, change ROM, try out new stuff.

5. bigboy029 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 04:46 3 0

Ya cause that what kids know how to do and care about.... hahahahah

6. thebikerboi2 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 04:47 0 0

dude the ipad is still a nice tablet, and its good for students. i highly doubt that the user in this case would really care about custom roms, rooting, and hacking. plus any of this would probably go against the terms of use set out by the school.

12. deepinsideyourmom posted on 29 Jan 2012, 09:18 1 0

Hello, you just got trolled

43. thephoneguy92 posted on 30 Jan 2012, 13:34 0 0

I'm pretty sure this was sarcasm, and I laughed. Although, if it wasn't sarcasm, I would say this guys kids are going to be pretty badass when they grow up if this is his standards.

7. Leo_MC posted on 29 Jan 2012, 05:13 0 0

That could end up to be lobby for the kids parents to buy them iPad to use at home.
Just like Windows did years ago.

8. JGuinan007 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 07:52 7 2

The Ipad is old Apple is selling it off to employees for $250, and ripping off the state selling them for $479!? The State should sue them. Apple should give them Ipad 3, or sell them for $250, or better yet sell them the Ipad 3 for $250 it's for the children and they are the future.

14. deepinsideyourmom posted on 29 Jan 2012, 09:47 1 1

Yes I couldn't agree more, I mean the audacity of Apple to sell an obsolete tablet for basically full price to our schools while their employees enjoy a huge discount, all Apple cares about is making money which includes screwing over our children. I just want to screw their Moms but you could say that's not relevant. Message to apple how about donating those ipads for free.

41. Paden posted on 30 Jan 2012, 10:47 0 0

Obselete tablet? I still have the original iPad and it works fine for what I do on it: Web surfing, e-mail, ebooks and some gaming. It even received iOS 5 and will probably get iOS 6 when the time comes. I mean, even the iPhone 3GS got the iOS 5 update.

I doubt these CHILDREN are going to need the highest spec thing out there. They need something that has been widely adopted, is stable and has a large enough ecosystem to provide them with ebooks and educational apps that they need for school.

44. thephoneguy92 posted on 30 Jan 2012, 13:36 0 0

Yeah but have you ever used a 3GS with iOS 5? I have plenty of customers trading them in for iPhone 4/4S's and it is the slowest thing ever. Takes me ten minutes just to get into about to get the Model #. Just because it can, doesn't mean it should.

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32. Lucas777 posted on 29 Jan 2012, 19:16 0 0

if the state of Wisconsin is that stupid to check apples product page then we seriously have a problem… somehow i doubt they are buying them for that amount-- its probably the ipad 2

9. Droid_X_Doug posted on 29 Jan 2012, 08:55 4 1

The iPad in the picture looks like an iPad 1!? If the iPad 1 is being unloaded for an average price of $479, Apple is really f*cking them over. But then again, you don't build up a $90+ billion pile of cash without f*cking someone over.

11. snowgator posted on 29 Jan 2012, 09:18 0 0

Okay, I am hoping it is just a stock picture, and that as is usually the case a State Government is just referring to an iPad 2 as an iPad due to them releasing generic responses on press releases. Doesn't hurt to hope, right?