School district allows handful of students to pick Dell Latitude 10 over Apple iPad as official tablet

“Recently, several school districts decided to take the plunge and institute a 1-to-1 distribution of tablets,” Jen Bosier reports for Forbes. “You might be thinking education’s old buddy, Apple, came out ahead, but you’d be wrong. This year, Dell Latitude 10 tablet, which runs on Windows 8, was the clear winner.”

“How was this decision made? Well, in the case of Clear Creek Independent School District, CTO Kevin Schwartz said the best way was to put the tablets in the hands of students,” Bosier reports. “Several students were asked to handle a variety of tablets and judge them on a number of factors. The catch was that none of the students were briefed on how to use the tablets before entering the room. Schwartz said they wanted to see which tablet would have the easiest learning curve.”

Bosier reports, “Of all the tablets offered, the students preferred the Latitude 10 because of its ease of use and accessibility. Additionally, students specifically noted they felt the Latitude 10 would best prepare them for college and the work force.”

“Clear Creek is set to distribute 30,000 tablets once the school year starts,” Bosier reports. “With endorsements like this and a surprisingly low price point, the Latitude 10 could be looking at a handy sales boom come August. Right now, depending on model and options, the Latitude 10 is priced between $579 and $849.”

Full piece here.

MacDailyNews Take: There is so much wrong with this, from Bosier’s piece sounding like a Dell press release to a clueless CTO to a handful of kids being allowed to choose something that they most certainly will not ever even see when they enter the workforce (unless they’ll be working at some tech history museum deep within in the dead-end tech wing) that we’re not even going to bother beyond a simple “Stupid is as stupid does.”

Our sympathies to the students and teachers of Clear Creek Independent School District League City in eastern Texas.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ian” for the heads up.]

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