Taking Back the Schools

For years, Apple has held a dominant place in the educational market. It wasn't just the Macintosh - the Apple IIe and IIGS were incredibly popular machines for schools in the 1980s and early 1990s. In fact, schools continued to buy the Apple IIe and IIGS after the Mac had already come out.

After the Apple II series was phased out, schools came to a divide: They could purchase new PCs and software or new Macs and software to go along with them. At that time, Windows 3.1 was gaining popularity, but it still didn't have the wide variety of educational software that the Mac had, so even though the Mac cost a little more, most schools went that route.

Then came the time to upgrade again in 1996-97. With Windows 95 available and many applications to go along with it - not to mention the low cost of high-megahertz Pentium-compatible PCs - the choice was a little harder. Yes, the Mac was out there with the software schools needed, but the PC was also there - with most of the software and at a lower price.

Still, Apple had the machines better suited to education, such as the 5200-5500 models, which had options such as a connection for a TV, video in and out, connections for video editing and capture, and even a TV tuner.

This would not last long, though. As great as the iMac was, it faced some serious competition from PC companies (such as Dell and Gateway) that were able to offer machines with more features for a lower price. Since the iMac didn't feature some of the "extras" that the previous all in one Macs had (such as expansion slots and a floppy drive), it was tougher to compete with the PC offerings.

It wasn't just that - PC manufacturers "reminded" schools that most businesses use Windows PCs, so developing skills on them was essential. This, combined with low price and a new abundance of software, convinced many schools to start purchasing PCs.

This trend is continuing. Dell PCs are among the most popular (if not the most popular) type of computer in schools.

How can Apple replace some of these Dells with Macs?

Today Apple doesn't just face schools thinking of switching from the Mac to the PC; it faces those that have switched years ago and may soon be looking at new computers. These schools have the software they want - for Windows. In these cases, Apple needs to really push their product. The eMac, iMac, and iBook need to be aggressively marketed to schools, emphasizing the reliability of Macs over PCs, the stability and compatibility of Mac OS X, and the low cost of maintenance. Apple needs to show the schools that Macs may cost a little more at the beginning, but they are cheaper to maintain in the long run. They also need to demonstrate how the Macintosh works seamlessly with the PC by connecting to PC networks, printing to PC printers, and even running Windows applications with Virtual PC.

Of course, there are also the schools who are contemplating a change from the Mac to Windows. Apple also needs to step in here to show the advantages of the Mac over any PCs the school might be looking at.

Schools want a computer to be compatible. If a student can't type a document on their PC at home and open it on the Mac at school to continue working on it, what good are the Macs? Fortunately, the Mac does a great job of recognizing file types - Mac OS X recognizes creator codes and file extensions.

Schools also want a dependable computer, and a recent survey suggests that the Macintosh is the most reliable computer. Of course, that doesn't mean that every Mac is going to be perfect (there are always some that never work right, no matter what you do), but it does give Apple a strong advantage.

The other thing schools need are affordable computers. They don't have the budget to spent $2,000 on each computer for a lab - and this is where Apple is behind. While Dell can sell a decent PC for $700, Apple charges $1,000 for their low-end eMac.

If Apple can't reduce the price, they need to convince schools that buying a Mac is worth the extra $300.