Apple beats Microsoft in bid for Plainfield Board of Education

How did Apple become the first company to hit ONE TRILLION DOLLARS? I am sure winning a recent $2.7 million bid for a proposal submitted to the Plainfield Board of Education in Plainfield, NJ, The city I was raised in. Go Cardinals!

Thanks to the hyperlocal news site, TAP into, specifically, TAP into Plainfield, this great story can be known.

I remember when my middle school getting "two computers in every classroom" was a big deal. I don't remember them ever both working. When my teacher wanted to show something on the web, we all huddles around a CRT with a burned in image.

Now 5000 iPads will be available along with 400 Apple TV's great for casting to a projecter so everyone can see!

Apple's proposal includes: 

• 5000 Apple iPads with a 3-year AppleCare service plan 
• 5000 Logitech Rugged Combo Keyboard Cases 
• 1582 Logitech Crayons for iPad
• 400 Apple TVs 
• 133 Evo Charging Carts to hold iPads 
• 22 Days (minimum) of Apple Professional Learning, ongoing training, and support 
• Related Apple Professional Services

Apple beat out bids by Microsoft and Google, who have had and will be completing a previous bid with the city to supply Chromebooks to students.

I wonder if these units will be fortified with Office 365 for Education or G Suite for Education. It would be great if students had an email account which could be blocked from external domains. I would also like to see each teacher with a site containing links for more info and daily homework.

In October 2013, Apple announced that iOS devices purchased from September 2013 onwards would be granted a free download of iWork (Apple's alternative to Microsoft Office Suite). I like the ease of Pages, Keynote, and Numbers (Word, Powerpoint, and Excel respectively) but prefer Google Docs for my personal and freelancing use. For students, I would recommend they get familiar with Office 365's iPad apps / browser edition as I see many business move to Office 365's A1 (or on cloud) deployments.

Full article by Kenneth Simmons: https://www.tapinto.net/towns/plainfield/sections/education/articles/plainfield-learning-initiative-with-apple-to-brin