Why isn't apple back in the schools?

[mdnky]

It all comes down to $$$. Most schools are publicly funded entities and thus required to be "fiscally responsible". They use tax monies after all. There's no way to really justify purchasing a Mac when you can purchase two or three Dells for the same amount of money. If you ask the average Joe or Jill, they'll demand that their tax dollars being spent at a school (or any other entity) get the best bang for the buck. Buying the Dell seems more logical to them.

I don't like that any more than anyone else here. I'd much rather see Macs in the schools, but that's the way it is. If Apple wants back into that market, then they're going to need to figure out a way to make an inexpensive Mac for the education market that can compete with offerings from Dell and IBM/Lenovo.

[limike28]

I agree. It comes down to money, deals, and perception.

Apple hasn't made the types of deals that Dell and other companies have made to get into schools. Deep discounting can help, but Apple hasn't done much pf that.

The other part is the perception that a lot of people have about Apple.

[MrTAToad]

Its the same when all schools had Acorn machines (BBC micros or Archimidies) - because PC's were cheaper and "are used in business" everyone changed to PC's

Its a shame, as RiscPC's are very nice (both have a similar desktop layout) and its very easy to program.