If you’re a computerless kid in Maine, an education proponent, or an Apple shareholder (or some hideous, deformed combination of the three), good news! Maine’s Department of Education has “ordered more than 64,000 MacBooks for students and faculty, with an additional 7,000 that will be ordered in the coming weeks.” This is part of a program to give every minor in the state’s public school system a Macbook. For education, the benefits are pretty obvious: students who have good resources at their fingertips do better, and laptops are a great way to help kids learn. But what’s more important is now that the Macs are going home with the kids, we can expect the state of Maine to raise a whole generation of Apple faithfuls.
People like things that they are used to, which is something Apple realized long ago. My elementary school and high school was a more or less PC-free zone. But I’m a PC user largely because that’s what I had at home. If my school had given me a portable Mac to use at home, there’s a pretty good chance that would be different. Apple is set to try and take advantage of this pretty simple aspect of human psychology, and they’re improving education while doing it.
It’s the younger students in whom Apple probably has the most interest, as these are the people who will be easiest to grab. Assuming these kids are not either already die-hard PC users or are given lemons, they presumably will be Apple users for life. Steve and the others in Palo Alto headquarters should give themselves some well deserved pats on the back.
