I recently bought a new iMac for my mother and was surprised to walk out with a free iPod nano and printer/copier/scanner as well! This is part of Apple’s back-to-school special. However, I can only find the free nano offer on the web. If you are in the market for a new Mac, I suggest you go to an Apple store with your education ID and attempt to get the full package.
We walked off the street into an Apple Store and got:
- $100 off the iMac (education discount)
- Free iPod nano (by mail-in rebate, $200 value)
- Free HP inkjet printer/scanner/copier (by mail-in rebate, $100 value)
- Microsoft Office Student/Teacher edition for $100 (after $50 mail-in rebate)
The printer was the most pleasant surprise. It’s the fastest inkjet printer I have seen, it includes a small flatbed scanner, and the one-touch copier is simple to use and provides black & white and color options.
I wish mail-in rebates were illegal. I wonder what proportion of customers fail to submit the rebate forms? In addition, both the printer and iPod rebate forms ask for the original iMac UPC. Apparently, the iPod offer will accept copies.
Now if only my parents didn’t want the free iPod!
Richard Kassissieh is Director of Information Technology at 
Richard,
While the concept of "laptops for all" undoubtedly facilitates some educational opportunities, I’m not sure it is the most effective way of using either school or student resources. In my own experience, the vast majority of the laptop *use* in class fell into the category of "doing other things". At least for myself, a laptop is not the ideal note-taking device – that position still being held by the notebook for the simple fact that diagrams, additions, arrows, and the like are trivial with a pen and paper as opposed to the much more complex formatting necessary in computerized form. Obviously, some people disagree with me (Zach probably would) and use notebook computers to great success in note-taking. However, the vast majority of UHS appears to do just fine using paper and pencil to take notes.
What I find most interesting in this debate is the number of students who have laptops but choose not to bring them to school, or not to use them in class. While they use them in the library, around school, etc. the same functionality can, and is, accomplished by the desktops the school has for this very purpose. So it seems that the only advantage to the 1:1 ratio is in class work. Perhaps I’d have to actually try it to understand the advantages, but it seems that the advantages of everyone having laptops are far outweighed by the tremendous initial cost and ongoing technical support burdens. My 2 cents.