“The only state to provide laptops to public school students statewide said Thursday the contract it’s negotiating for new devices can be used by other states if they’re interested in following suit,” David Sharp reports for The Associated Press. “Maine has zeroed in on five different laptops and tablets as it prepares to replace more than 35,000 Apple laptops in middle schools and about the same number in high schools this fall. The state expects to pay between $217 and $314 annually per unit depending on which device is chosen.”
“By leveraging additional buying power, the number of companies offering bids for devices to be distributed this fall increased eight-fold compared to the last time the state put out a request,” Sharp reports. “Maine, Vermont and Hawaii selected five bids out of 16 that were offered: four-year leases with annual costs of $217 for an iPad, $273 for the MacBook Air, $254.86 for an HP Probook, $314.28 for an HP ElitePad, and $294 for a CTL 2go Classmate PC with swivel screen and stylus. That would be the cost for a state-run program, others could be more costly.”
Sharp reports, “Back in 2000, then-Maine Gov. Angus King said that providing laptops to all students, regardless of means, would help eliminate the so-called ‘digital divide’ between rich and poor kids. In 2002 and 2003, more than 30,000 laptops had been distributed to seventh- and eighth-graders and to 3,000 teachers in Maine. Late Apple CEO Steve Jobs wanted so badly to be part of the program that the company took a loss on the contract, King said.”
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