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Education Businesses Apple

Jaguar Free for K-12 Teachers 379

Posted by pudge from the quick-marry-a-teacher dept.
Hugh writes "It seems Apple is giving away for free its newest revision of Mac OS X, version 10.2 (Jaguar), to every K-12 teacher in the U.S."
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Jaguar Free for K-12 Teachers More

Jaguar Free for K-12 Teachers

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  • about time (Score:4, Insightful)

    by emptybody ( 12341 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @03:57PM (#4490875) Homepage Journal
    This should have been done long ago.
    MS gave hardware to schools to sway them to go M$ Apple should be giving gear away as an investment into the end users too.

    • Re:about time (Score:5, Informative)

      by Idarubicin ( 579475 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:01PM (#4490899) Journal
      Apple doesn't have forty billion in the bank. And MS isn't trying to sell hardware in addition to software.

      • Re:about time (Score:2, Insightful)

        by EvilAlien ( 133134 )
        MS isn't trying to sell hardware in addition to software.
        Maybe that is why Microsoft's business model, as repulsive as it may be to some, is much more successful than Apple's?

        • Re:about time (Score:3, Insightful)

          by MoneyT ( 548795 )
          Is it really that much more succesful though? Apple makes something like a 15% profit margin on every machine it sells. It has survived practicaly unscathed through economic downturns and contrary to popular belief at the time, survived through the 90's. They are currently growing, still innovating and are the only other OS to succesfuly hold out against Windows (linux is free, it won't go away, ever). Despite many power shifts, bad mistakes and large debts they have somehow managed to stay in business all these years. So tell me, why is Apple unsuccesful?

      • Re:about time (Score:3, Interesting)

        by thanasakis ( 225405 )
        MS isn't trying to sell hardware? What about the x-box? I think that microsoft is trying to enter the hardware market as a serious competitor. What they don't know is that controlling the hardware market isn't as easy as controlling the software market.e.g. their usual tricks won't apply here.Apple tried to block 3rd party manufacturers and where did that get them. If you have a doubt ask IBM (or sun). IBM wasn't able to control the pc which she had invented in the first place. These companies have learned their lesson and are now moving to the software side of the force. MS is going to have a hard time in the hardware market...

        • Re:about time (Score:3, Insightful)

          by benedict ( 9959 )
          I think Microsoft is probably pretty well aware
          that the dynamics of hardware markets are different
          from those of software markets. They're not exactly
          ignorant of microeconomics over there in Redmond.
      • Why does it take $40 billion to give away software?
      • Microsoft dosnt need any money, they create it.
        Giving away software licenses that they can set the price to allows them to create money as part of the settlement for many lawsuits.

      • Re:about time (Score:3, Funny)

        by shepd ( 155729 )
        >And MS isn't trying to sell hardware in addition to software.

        Sorry [microsoft.com], I [microsoft.com] must [microsoft.com] have [microsoft.com] missed [sysopt.com] that [kelkoo.com].

    • Re:about time (Score:2, Interesting)

      by OmniVector ( 569062 )
      my highschool had TONS of apple machines, and we even got more after i left. Not to mention the vocational school i went to after highschool had even more?! macs. i'm sure apple has given schools hardware discounts as well, otherwise they would have never gotten imacs over pcs.

      then again, i remember talking to the sysadmin one day only to hear him ranting about the difficulty of administrating nt4 as opposed to the mac machines.

    • Re:about time (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Gyorg_Lavode ( 520114 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:57PM (#4491182)
      My mother is a 7th grade teacher and owns a TI notebook. The school she is at uses macs almost exclusively. When she got the book, it came with OS9 and the first OSX. OSX at that time was so buggy that the person incharge of the school computer system told her not to use OSX and instead stick with OS9.

      I see this move as apple trying to convince those educators who bought an apple under OS9 or OSX / 9 to upgrade so that the students coming out of the schools are tutored in OSX helping to foster the OS.

    • Yeah, but everytime Microsoft gives away/subsidizes MS software to Schools/Universities the whole Slashdot world erupts into riot. The cries of "Monopoly!" and "brainwashing students" and "conflict of interest" are plentiful.

      Now Apple decides to give away their next-gen OS and everyone here thinks that's a great gesture.

      Double standard? Definitely. Hypocrytical? It sure looks like it.

      • Re:Double standard? Yup. (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Incongruity ( 70416 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:36PM (#4491353)
        Yeah, but everytime Microsoft gives away/subsidizes MS software to Schools/Universities the whole Slashdot world erupts into riot.

        Seems to me that the only time that such action on Microsoft's part really brought about a major outcry was when they offered to do such as penalty/in settlement for what the government and many /.'ers deemed monopolistic practices. Now that is a completely different situation than the one that is currently at hand with Apple.

        Apple is not offering to give away their software and a bunch of hardware because they've had charges of unfair trade practices leveled against them. Apple is clearly trying to win the hearts, minds and screens of teachers, and thus students, but how is that different from anything that any marketing ploy ever does?

        So in a way, you are right, there is a similar motivation between what Microsoft offered to do and what Apple is doing but the reason that your point doesn't stand up, in my opinion, is that the context of their actions is different. Apple is doing it simply as a marketing scheme, Microsoft did it as an attempt to get away without any stronger penalty for the charges brought against them. Therefore, in light of the dramatically dfferent contexts of the two cases, it seems to me that the differential reaction by the /. masses is completely understandable and justified.

        -tcp

    • Apple used to be the standard for educational institutions from K-12 and up. Back in the day it was all about Apples. The geeks in their late 20s and 30s should remember those days well, Apple IIc and IIe were the desktop machine available in the computer labs. They only "recently" got replaced by Windows boxes... Apple had the crucial education market locked up, and were in the faces of many of us growing up.

      It didn't do them much good. Whether it was features, price, compatibility, overall usefullness, or some Evil Microsoft Trick, Apple lost this market.

  • Are they.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by 403Forbidden ( 610018 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @03:59PM (#4490890)
    Are they just giving away the upgrade or the entire package? If it's the whole OS that's a pretty good deal... heck I'm betting it will sway a lot of people who are thinking of buying a new PC into buying a Mac.

    How long till we see the switch ads saying "I got my Mac OS for free... Apple is so nice and 1337"

    I got WinXP, Frontpage, OfficeXP, and Visual Studio from MS for being a college student, why didn't we hear about this?

    • Re:Are they.. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by IamTheRealMike ( 537420 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:19PM (#4491007)
      Are they just giving away the upgrade or the entire package? If it's the whole OS that's a pretty good deal... heck I'm betting it will sway a lot of people who are thinking of buying a new PC into buying a Mac.

      How does that work? If they give you the OS for free, can you go to a shop and buy a cheaper Mac? I was under the impression that the cost of OS X is included and not optional. The only people who would benefit from this are those who already have a Mac with OS X.

    • Re:Are they.. (Score:4, Informative)

      by haunebu ( 16326 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:26PM (#4491038) Homepage
      They list the system requirements as:

      *Mac OS X v10.2 system requirements:
      A minimum of 128MB of memory and one of the following Apple products: Power Mac G3 or G4, iMac, eMac, iBook, and PowerBook G3 or G4. (The original PowerBook G3 and processor upgrade cards are not supported.)

      Note that a previous version of Mac OS X is not listed, so it must be the full package. Woohoo!

    • Re:Are they.. (Score:5, Funny)

      by alfredo ( 18243 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:32PM (#4491064)
      I got WinXP, Frontpage, OfficeXP, and Visual Studio from MS for being a college student, why didn't we hear about this?

      they are embarrassed to admit it.

    • What's the difference? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by KFury ( 19522 )
      With Jaguar, Apple's never made a distinction between an upgrade and an OS purchase. Everyone who has a machine that can run Jaguar already has a version of the Mac OS, so what's the difference between calling it an upgrade or not?

    • Re:Are they.. (Score:4, Informative)

      by fermion ( 181285 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:56PM (#4491178) Homepage Journal
      As far as I know, there is not 'upgrade' to jaq. Everyone has to foot the $130 bill for the OS. It does not appear that Appled is asking for any money from the schools. They only want proof you are a teacher and a school delivery address.

      I do not think you got WinXP and extras for free. Your school likely paid a very significant licensing fee for the right to distrubute the software to all faculty, staff, and students. This fee was in turn paid by you through fees, and, if a public institution, through public taxes. I would say you got an incredible deal, but it was far from free.

      Or, as has been mentioned here before, the school was forced to license the software for everyone to avoid the dreaded BSA audit.

      • Re:Are they.. (Score:4, Informative)

        by teslatug ( 543527 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @07:23PM (#4491818)
        Are you sure it's not a good deal? Have you looked it up?

        "The membership will run from July through June each year and will cost $799 (USD) per department per year to join. The program was designed to run concurrently with the standard academic year."

        List of software:
        * Visual Studio Professional
        * Microsoft Project Professional
        * Windows XP, Windows 2000, and other Microsoft operating systems
        * .NET Enterprise Servers: Windows servers, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Commerce Server, BizTalk Server, Host Integration Server, Systems Management Server, Sharepoint Portal Server, and several others
        * Microsoft Visio Professional
        * MSDN Library (updated quarterly), documentation, technical articles, and code samples * Software development kits (SDKs), betas, new releases, and updates
        * Development tools for Windows CE
        * Professional technical support for the program administrator that includes unlimited setup and install support and 4 regular support incidents
        * Technical support newsgroups for faculty members
        * Regular CD-based software shipments with updated software

        MSDNAA FAQ [msdnaa.com]

        *Insert joke about how you have to factor in the cost of your soul[d] here*

  • Remembering one of the major markets (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NiKnight3 ( 532580 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:01PM (#4490901) Homepage
    It's great to see that Apple is still promoting their role in the educational market - that's where I started off with Macs. Learning with them at school, especially with their first experiences with computers, can really help people decide which OS to use in the future. Take Maine, for example, where every 7th and 8th grader gets an iBook. A lot of the concerns about that program have come regarding the teachers' and parents' concern with having to learn the new hardware and software. Glad to see Apple is giving teachers a chance to stay on the front lines of the OS.

  • An apple for the teacher.. (Score:3, Funny)

    by Kelerain ( 577551 ) <.moc.liamtoh. .ta. .retsampam_cva.> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:05PM (#4490921)
    So are they trying to get better grades or something? The "Apple for the teacher" thing was out of style years ago.

  • apple (Score:5, Funny)

    by martinflack ( 107386 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:06PM (#4490924)
    Brings whole new meaning to giving the teacher an apple.

  • I'm a teacher. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:09PM (#4490941)
    I'll take one.

    What? You doubt that I am a teacher? Well, come here and I'll teach you a lesson or two.

  • But, wait... it gets better (Score:5, Interesting)

    by battis ( 317725 ) <seth@@@battis...net> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:11PM (#4490953) Homepage
    The best part of the giveaway is that Apple is finally handing out some training software (for what it's worth -- totally sight unseen) for OS X. Having just dealt with transferring my mother and several friends from the old Mac OS to OS X, I can safely say that some training and support will be _VERY_ welcome.

  • Hardware Costs (Score:4, Insightful)

    by rogueuk ( 245470 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:11PM (#4490956) Homepage
    The teachers still need to buy the hardware from Apple to run this though right? Can you get a new Apple computer without the OS installed? If not, then this kinda doesn't help new users much

    • Re:Hardware Costs (Score:5, Insightful)

      by singularity ( 2031 ) <nowalmartNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:20PM (#4491014) Homepage Journal
      1) Teachers are already eligible for discounted hardware (just like almost any major computer company, Apple has educational discounts).

      2) Most of this is going to be for the teachers that have an original iMac sitting in their classroom (or their house) that is still running MacOS 9.1 (or even 8.6) on it. No, this will not bring in new users directly, but an argument could be made "Well, if we buy new Macs, Apple might keep us with up-to-date operating system upgrades for free in the future."
    • My parents are both teachers, but I'm not about to put OS X on their Performa 5200... Not only do they need an Apple computer, they need a relatively new Apple computer.
      • I remember the 5200; it's slowly migrated away from my desk to the attic; I imagine it still works, but I absolutely despise the 603e processor they stuck in it; the 6840's seemed so much faster. Not to mention that I remember seeing one on ebay for a whole $50. And that was at the end of the auction.

  • colleges left out in the cold (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    i went down to my university's computer store and the guy there is a big machead like me. i asked him about getting jaguar, since i'd heard several answers to the question of how much the upgrade would really cost, ranging from free to 20 to 70 to the full 120. he said apple yanked their old committment to higher education faculty of a 1 dollar upgrade forcing the faculty to pay the standard educational price of 70. i wonder if this k-12 thing will extend to the universities at some point.

  • so.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:14PM (#4490977)
    Linux has been doing this since its inception.

  • Eligibility... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by singularity ( 2031 ) <nowalmartNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:15PM (#4490987) Homepage Journal
    From http://www.apple.com/education/macosxforteachers/ [apple.com]:

    Do I qualify?
    To qualify for the "X for Teachers" program you must be a K-12 teacher at a recognized school (Public, Private, Catholic, Bureau of Indian Affairs) and you must agree to have software delivered to your school address.

    I always love these descriptions. Define "teacher." I work at a residential high school as a resident counselor. True, the name "teacher" is not in my title. However, my job description (as written by the state of Illinois) involves teaching students.

    Border's refuses to give me a discount on books (even when purchased for programs with students) because they claim (at least my local Border's) that the discount only applies to people that work in a classroom.

    I work with very technology-aware students (I work at a the Illinois Math and Science Academy [imsa.edu]) and, as a big geek, I am often discussing tech issues and comparing computers with students.

    (An upcoming program I am putting together will discuss recent copyright debates that are ongoing, for example).

    I think that Apple would want nothing more than for me to have a copy of Jaguar to show off to the students.

    And Apple might very well send me a copy of Jaguar, who knows...

    Of course, being the good little geek, I pre-purchased an educational-discounted copy and got it before it was available retail. That was $75 out of my pocket that I am guessing Apple is not going to reimburse.

    I have to wonder how many teachers have already purchased Jaguar.

    I might take them up on the offer and give one of the copies to a student.

    • I think if you can get into the Teachers' Lounge, you should qualify for every teacher deal there is (there aren't enough of them anyway).
    • FYI: Illinois Math & Science Academy (IMSA) is a very famuous state funded honors high school.

      IMSA is almost certainly qualified.

      • Re:Eligibility... (Score:3, Insightful)

        by MaximumBob ( 97339 )
        With all due respect, resident counselor at IMSA is NOT a teaching job. I think the most accurate thing I can come up with is "academic support."

        Unless they've substantially changed RC's jobs in the last few years, there's really no educational purpose to giving him free software, nor does it serve the marketing purpose I imagine Apple has for this.

  • Bottom Line (Score:5, Insightful)

    by one9nine ( 526521 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:16PM (#4490994) Journal
    Yes, Apple may have an agenda but the bottom line is schools are getting free shwag. It's always good to see and I wish more companies would follow suit both in and outside the tech industry. It's also good to see that kids will get more of an opportunity to be exposed to more than just Windows.

    The bigger problem is having school districts reponsibly spend the extra money they will save.

    • Yes, Apple may have an agenda but the bottom line is schools are getting free shwag. It's always good to see and I wish more companies would follow suit both in and outside the tech industry.

      So you're for the type of school privatization that we're seeing in the UK then, where companies pay for textbooks, buildings, teaching materials in return for students using only branded stuff, and only being able to buy new stationary etc from one location?

      I'd think it's pretty easy for local authorities to turn a blind eye to corporates giving schools free stuff, only to later find that their budgets are now dependant upon corporate aid.

    • Re:Bottom Line (Score:2, Interesting)

      by foyle ( 467523 )
      The bigger problem is having school districts reponsibly spend the extra money they will save.

      That is a huge problem. One of the local schools near where I live just finished spending $12 million to upgrade the sports complex. Astroturf football field, bigger stadium, clay running tracks, etc. The best part is that they've always had a parking problem and they built a bigger stadium where the parking lot used to be and didn't build any more parking. Doh!

  • Its Called Keeping the Edu Market (Score:3, Insightful)

    by jeramybsmith ( 608791 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:38PM (#4491083)
    Apple once owned the edu market but nowadays it actually has to compete. Now, a teacher with a lab full of os9/osx.1 computers from a year ago wont be able to get budget moey to buy the jaguar upgrades. So apple is offering free jaguar to keep them happy. Jaguar is what osx.0 _should_ have been. Don't assume its just a bugfix upgrade.
  • This is ironic, the Gates Foundation [gatesfoundation.org] gave a $1 million grant to fund the project in Maine... Gates (Bill) gives money to Maine to buy Macs? I just thought that was slightly amusing...

    (btw, check the site [apple.com] for refference, it's on the right)

  • Give the gift of X (Score:5, Informative)

    by bobdotorg ( 598873 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:44PM (#4491118)
    I did this for my mom about 10 minutes after Apple made the announcement. I felt authorized, given that I'm her sysadmin.

    Go to:
    http://www.apple.com/education/macosxforteach ers/i ndex2.html

    fill in the zip code of the school of your favorite teacher, and then enter their name and email. OSX will be sent to them. Takes 90 seconds.

    P.S. This was announced days ago. What took it so long to make /.?
  • I am a 8th grade student at a Middle School who is running the yearbook team. I am the sole user of a G3 with the 21 inch CRT display. I love the computer for what it is, and I am even gladder now that I can ask my advisor to order Jaguar from that site for me. Right now the G3 is crashing twice a week, and i want to have some more peace of mind, espcially so I do not have to upload the pictures and templates every night. THANK YOU APPL!

  • Microsoft has a similar program in place already (Score:3, Informative)

    by CLinCH ( 517691 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:46PM (#4491129)
    Microsoft already runs a program similar to this called the MSDN Academic Alliance [msdnaa.net]. It's geared more toward college-level computer science-related departments than K-12 teachers, but it does include a lot more software. For a relatively low price ($799), Microsoft essentially gives the department a volume license to the entire MSDN package (pretty much every Microsoft product except Office). At my school, I know they waived the $799 fee and just gave MSDNAA to us. They also allow the department to give the software out to their students for free, which is a nice benefit. The program is obviously geared toward getting CS students programming in and using Microsoft products, but hey, it's cheap and I certainly won'to turn down free software.

    Granted, Microsoft's program isn't as broad or open as Apple's, but it certainly is worth noting.

  • Perks of the job... (Score:5, Funny)

    by slipgun ( 316092 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @04:48PM (#4491138)
    Jaguar Free for K-12 Teachers

    I know they want to attract people to the teaching profession, but surely giving them a free sports car is overdoing it a little?

  • Re: (Score:2, Flamebait)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 )
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Did they buy Atari? (Score:4, Funny)

    by sharkey ( 16670 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:01PM (#4491195)
    Apple is giving away Jaguars? [classicgaming.com]

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:05PM (#4491209)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • I am disappointed that this program expires in December. If I were a teacher and wanted to buy a Mac, it would make the purchase much more attractive if I were given free upgrades for the life of the machine.

    As many people note, Macintoshes are not cheap machines, and may be out of the price range of the average teacher(and do not tell me it is out the price range of all or most teachers, because I know that that statement is false). Apple is also losing market share in the education market mostly due to better marketing by Dell. By offering teachers free OS, they reduce future uncertainty over cost, give then a reliable simple OS, and free them from the MS licensing nightmare.

    If Apple were to give away the OS to teachers, that would help a lot, and would not cost them a lot. An apple will generally last through 2 to 3 major upgrade cycles, which may be a couple hundred dollars lost to Apple. That seems a small price to help convince millions of teachers to make their next computer a Mac.

    BTW, one issue sometimes brought up but not often fully discussed is the licensing of software to schools by MS. For many people the cost of the computer is only a small part of the total IT cost. Buying software can easily get to be 2/3 of the cost over the life of the machine. Part of the reason that MS is gung ho to force schools to license MS software is so that the software will appear free to the end user, thus artificially reducing the cost of the wintel machine, and increasing the number of student who will buy wintel machines. Although MS also licenses software it makes for the Mac, there is far more 'free' software available for the PC. I have known several people who would have and should have bought Macs, but bought Wintel machines because of the 'free' software.

  • Boy, would I like to run OS X at home... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Pemdas ( 33265 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:19PM (#4491276) Journal
    But the numbers just don't work. From Apple's website, I would want a 2-processor 1Ghz G4 Powermac, 17" LCD, 512MB of memory, 80GB hard drive. Pretty reasonable specs.

    That computer would cost me over $3000. Looking over at Dell's website, a similary configured PC, which a better video card, and a 2 Ghz P4 instead of the 2x1Ghz G4's, would run me about half that.

    Some specifics that jump out at me: Apple wants $400 for 512MB of PC2700 memory. Dell wants $200. I can get the appropriate module from crucial for $170, so Apple's markup is well over 100%.

    The LCD is similar; apple's 17" LCD display runs $1000. Dell will charge me $500. I can get a nice samsung model for about $590 online.

    I really, REALLY like what I've seen of OS X, but I won't pay 100% premiums on hardware just to be able to run it.

    • Re:Boy, would I like to run OS X at home... (Score:5, Informative)

      by benedict ( 9959 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:49PM (#4491423)
      Don't be an idiot. You can use your Crucial RAM
      and generic LCD screen with a Mac. I just bought
      256 MB of RAM for an old iMac for the princely
      sum of $42 -- from Crucial.

    • Re:Boy, would I like to run OS X at home... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by JoshWurzel ( 320371 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @07:53PM (#4491915) Homepage
      I have to know...which fantasy world do you live in where you have to buy everything from Apple? The only people I know who pay that 100% markup are people who honestly have nothing better to do with their money and so much constraint on their time that they can't be troubled to search around.

      Don't want 512 from Apple for $400? Fine, buy it elsewhere. Don't want to pay $1000 for an Apple LCD? Fine, buy one elsewhere. Suddenly your $3000 machine is $2500. And why do you need dual-GHz for OS X? It runs fine on my dual-800, and fine on my roommate's dual-500.

      Switch to a base dual-867, and we're down to $1700 plus tax.

      Quit yer bitchin and do your research.

  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @05:40PM (#4491388)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • I hope the i386 port is on the CD! (Score:3, Interesting)

    by teknikl ( 539522 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @06:04PM (#4491489)
    I'm a high school computer science teacher teaching PASCAL, C++ and Java - using Linux of course. I'd *like* to switch (or at least DEMO) for the kids to see that Unix is now underlying a retail desktop OS. But I've got a room full of Intel PC's. And every Mac you can buy now comes with Jaguar on it already. So I guess I'm wondering, "Whats the Point, Apple?"

  • i am a seventh grade teacher (Score:4, Insightful)

    by b17bmbr ( 608864 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @06:31PM (#4491595)
    apple needs to do something about the hardware. it is just too expensive as far as schools are concerned. it is an example of being pennywise and pound foolish, but my district sees a dell for say $600 and an imac for say $850, and they'll choose the dell every time. plus, most district people, like mine (ARGHHHHH!!!) can't even spell unix.

    i bought an ibook a couple of weeks ago. it has 10.2. i love it. but the problem is more hardware than software. a few years ago, schools began moving toward PC's, and os x is just not going to work.

  • Why they're doing this (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Gilmoure ( 18428 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @07:53PM (#4491911) Journal
    Apple's doing this because there are a lot of iMacs out there that can run OSX 10.2 but were bought before hand. Anyone playing with previous versions of OSX were likely told by their tech specialist (usually media center/Librarian with yet another job to do for the same money) to pass on OSX until Apple got it more usable. Even with copies of 10.2 floating around schools (I do warranty repair at several county's schools) they're not about to go and risk thousands of $$$ for a version of OSX that might not be up to snuff. Hence, the give away.

    Apple's not hoping to push hardware sales with this; any new Macs will come with 10.2 on it. They just want people to get away from OS9.

  • Missing the point COMPLETELY (Score:4, Insightful)

    by moosesocks ( 264553 ) on Sunday October 20, 2002 @09:22PM (#4492344) Homepage
    I'm not sure that you all are understanding this correctly.

    Apple is giving away OSX to TEACHERS, not schools. There is quite a big difference here; the teachers get a copy of it, and can do whatever the heck they want to with it.

    This does NOT mean that Apple is giving OSX to schools for the use in classrooms, labs, etc. Microsoft's products for K-12 teachers/students are licensed so that they are for (educational) use by the teacher or student, but not the school, as sepearate (more expensive) versions exist for schools. The copy of the software belongs to the teacher, and unless it's being installed on a computer which is property of the teacher, it's a copyright violation (and rightfully so - the school is essentially "stealing" the software from the teacher). I'm sure apple has a similar clause in their agreement. Still, I think it's a great offer.

    Besides, isn't product placement one of the most effective forms of advertising?

  • The likely motive(a highschooler's perspective) (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Kaboom13 ( 235759 ) <kaboom108@@@bellsouth...net> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @09:52PM (#4492434)
    I'm a high school senior right now. Being a geek, I help out a lot with our school's highly overworked IT people. I've seen a large resistance throughout the district to change over to OS X. These people don't like change. Change requires retraining teachers and changing infrastructure. Its a great effort just to teach most teachers how to check their email. Now when we change to OS X, a lot of things are going to be done differently. Apple has probably seen this resistance in action. Apple has shown they want to completely get rid of classic as soon as possible. To smooth this transistion it makes sense for them to give it away along with training materials. It will also help cash strapped districts create a homogenous OS enviroment. OS X runs a little slow on older g3s, but it runs it fast enough for most educational purposes. This is a sound business and PR move for apple in my opinion.

  • Giving educational institutions a break (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Morgahastu ( 522162 ) <bshel ... fave bands name> on Sunday October 20, 2002 @09:52PM (#4492435) Journal
    It seems that apple has always had a strong connection with schools until I started working at a college. Apple barely offers any deals to colleges. Even if you go for a student discount (and spend about an hour filling out the forms) you'll only get about $50 off a new macintosh (too bad they don't tell you that BEFORE you fill out the forms).

    How is apple supposed to expect support from the developer community or the student community when no one is being trained on using macs in school (other then graphics design people)?

    The only people I know who know anything about macs are the graphic design people who will probably never own a mac because they will be supplied one from their employer.

    Apple should really try and get the techies into macs at school. For example, a local college here offers a 3 year "Computer Systems Technician" Diploma and not once do any of their students touch a macintosh.

    Graphic designers won't be developing software for your macs Apple.. clue in.

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