(For those new to the column, Forward Migration is our term for companies moving from Wintel machines to Macs — or at least adding or increasing the number of Macs they use. A Forward Migration Kit is an overview of Mac OS products for a particular occupation, such as photography, optometry, etc.)
Treadwell High in Memphis, TN, recently wrote a requisition for a 15-unit wireless lab from Apple.
According to MacCentral sources, this had been a totally Wintel-based grades 7-12 school and had been considering Dell and its wireless technology. However, when the technology coordinator saw Apple’s iBooks, AirPort technology, Microsoft product compatibility, and Virtual PC, the school system ended up comparing prices and going with Apple products.
Meanwhile, as we reported on Jan. 30, Maine is considering a plan to allocate US$50 million to get laptops for every seventh and eighth grade student. And at least one of schools has gone with iBooks. According to a “Portland Press” article, every eighth-grader at Piscataquis Community Middle School in Guilford has a laptop computer.
Crystal Priest, the computer/technology teacher/repair/support person at the school, said the students have iBooks and the teachers have PowerBooks G3s.
“We’re able to and we are able to run around the school on a wireless network using Apple’s Airport Base stations,” she added. “This equipment is working great and the amount of real learning going on is incredible!”
Finally, the Los Angeles Unified School Districted recently started a program to install a total of 13,000 new computers in its schools. According to the local news (KNX1070 AM), the first batch of computers has arrived — and they’re Indigo iMacs.