$100 Laptops? Try the $48 Laptops!

How’s that for a bargain. So what’s the catch? The state of Maine paid off nearly all the cost of fixing up 30,000 laptops (not exactly new, most are worn out) for distribution to individual schools if they agree to cover the remaining balance of $48 per laptop. Another option is to offer them to families of students.”They are four years older, half of them, and a little slow,” said one of the schools who availed of similar offers previously, “but they are still functional and for $48 apiece they are a good investment. The majority of (repair needs) were from accidents, the laptop being bumped off a desk or dropped somewhere.” The laptops were acquired through the Marine Learning Technology Initiative, an innovative program that gained national attention for distributing Apple iBooks to all of the state’s seventh- and eighth-grade public school students.

How’s that for a bargain. So what’s the catch? The state of Maine paid off nearly all the cost of fixing up 30,000 laptops (not exactly new, most are worn out) for distribution to individual schools if they agree to cover the remaining balance of $48 per laptop. Another option is to offer them to families of students.”They are four years older, half of them, and a little slow,” said one of the schools who availed of similar offers previously, “but they are still functional and for $48 apiece they are a good investment. The majority of (repair needs) were from accidents, the laptop being bumped off a desk or dropped somewhere.” The laptops were acquired through the Marine Learning Technology Initiative, an innovative program that gained national attention for distributing Apple iBooks to all of the state’s seventh- and eighth-grade public school students.