Last year Apple quietly started building up its educational program by implementing more and more iPads within schools across the countries. Some tablets were donated and some were acquired by headmasters and the teaching staff. But these are not isolated incidents. Apparently schools are starting to give up purchasing PCs in favor of the Apple tablet and a new study is here to prove just that.

Needham & Company analyst Charles Wolf wrote in a note to investors that relevant data has been collected showing the iPad is replacing computers in educational sales. He states that computer sales in the education sector have been falling dramatically by 265,000 units which makes up 13.9%. In the iPad camp things couldn’t go better – as about 1 million tablets have been shipped to K-12 schools around the country.

"Clearly, a significant portion of iPad sales represented an expansion of the market. But in view of the fact that Mac sales held steady at around 520,000 units but overall PC sales declined by 265,000 units from 1.90 million to 1.64 million units, we believe the inescapable conclusion is that the iPad is beginning to cannibalize a material portion of PC sales in this market."

Apparently only computer sales have deteriorated but not Macs sale. Apple Chief Financial Officer, Peter Oppenheimer stated that Macs had a great quarter in education, maybe their best so far. He gave the example of the Rutherford County, NC school that just acquired 6,000 MacBook Airs.

By Radu

Source: Apple's iPad now definitively replacing PC sales in education

I think it is not tablets it the mac...

I thought so

While it is true that the decline of Macs is pronounced, there is no denying the potential of the iPad for education. As a former student who had to pay bucketloads for textbooks, I am quite thrilled about how the iPad will topple that particular industry.

Originally Posted by Alan Tsui

While it is true that the decline of Macs is pronounced, there is no denying the potential of the iPad for education. As a former student who had to pay bucketloads for textbooks, I am quite thrilled about how the iPad will topple that particular industry.

If you read the article, you will see that Mac sales held steady. Only PC sales have declined.

Originally Posted by Alan Tsui

While it is true that the decline of Macs is pronounced, there is no denying the potential of the iPad for education. As a former student who had to pay bucketloads for textbooks, I am quite thrilled about how the iPad will topple that particular industry.

IME, textbooks cost just as much in digital form as in hard copy. The real advantage comes in the weight and space savings. Also, people who write textbooks aren't getting rich by any means. In most fields, the price if books is not really that bad, though that may not be so in all fields.

Also while I'm a big fan of the iPad I think overall a pc is a better option for kids, from a skills standpoint. Better that they learn how to use a real pc (including Macs) than an iPad. The the best if all worlds, they'd have access to both.

Originally Posted by AQ_OC

IME, textbooks cost just as much in digital form as in hard copy. The real advantage comes in the weight and space savings. Also, people who write textbooks aren't getting rich by any means. In most fields, the price if books is not really that bad, though that may not be so in all fields.

Also while I'm a big fan of the iPad I think overall a pc is a better option for kids, from a skills standpoint. Better that they learn how to use a real pc (including Macs) than an iPad. The the best if all worlds, they'd have access to both.

There are some educators and others working on creating free textbooks because of the move toward digital books, and some rentals of e-texts, so there can be savings. But I agree that it's not necessarily a cost savings to go digital.

There are other advantages, though. With a digital book, you can make corrections and updates, and incorporate multimedia and add access to info on various layers. You also can share info more easily, as when people can share highlights and questions, join in online discussions, etc. So there are cummulative benefits that don't just boil down to dollars.

Also agree that it shouldn't be either or as far as tablets vs. PCs. Depends on what you're trying to do, and what's within your means, vs. benefits.

Originally Posted by AQ_OC

IME, textbooks cost just as much in digital form as in hard copy. The real advantage comes in the weight and space savings. Also, people who write textbooks aren't getting rich by any means. In most fields, the price if books is not really that bad, though that may not be so in all fields.

Also while I'm a big fan of the iPad I think overall a pc is a better option for kids, from a skills standpoint. Better that they learn how to use a real pc (including Macs) than an iPad. The the best if all worlds, they'd have access to both.

I would think going green would be one of the biggest benefits of digi textbooks.

So this's difficult. Apple tablets are quite expensive.

Originally Posted by iJamesH

I would think going green would be one of the biggest benefits of digi textbooks.

I'm all for going green...but as an engineering type, I find that digital books leave a lot to be desired when you need to dig into a subject. I guess you can always print the relevant pages, but being able to flip back and forth just has some advantages. I find too that there are plenty of times when I want both a hard copy and a digital copy. It depends. I recently bought this:

Amazon.com: NIST Handbook of Mathematical Functions (9780521140638): Frank W. J. Olver, Daniel W. Lozier, Ronald F. Boisvert, Charles W. Clark: Books

and was happy to see that it came with a CD that has a PDF version on it (which can also be searched). All textbooks should include both, IMO. I don't know how publishers can justify not including a PDF version or worse yet, selling it separately from the hardcopy and trying to induce you to pay for both! Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I'm still dubious about students learning only from digital copies, in some subject areas. And if you let them print, I think that could potentially be more wasteful long term than just having the hard copy, which can be shared and reused.

I would be nice if digital versions of book were treated like software, so you can get updates with corrections and new features.