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In a somewhat uncommon move, Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is live video streaming today’s event at its Town Hall Auditorium, in which, ostensibly, it will introduce the long-rumored-but-unconfirmed 7.85-inch iPad Mini, quite possibly along with new Mac Minis, iMacs, a new MacBook and perhaps an updated iPad.
Keep in mind the vendor hasn't even hinted let alone acknowledged any of this, so it’s quite possible something unforeseen could sneak into the proceedings. Could we see something about Apple TV, as suggested here? The latest reports have Apple shipping the iPad Mini Nov 2, pricing it somewhere around $329 and offering it in three versions, the highest capacity of which will cost north of $500.
You can expect the iPad Mini event to have an education bent with Apple execs stressing its utility in the classroom, according to new reports that contend the vendor will renew a push to win school district contracts to place the device in classrooms, the idea being that not its smaller size but rather its more attractive price point will make it a more alluring purchase. While final pricing for the iPad Mini won’t be known until today, it’s reasonable to figure the tablet will be priced below its larger, more expensive cousin, thus making it more suitable for cash-strapped school districts.
Indeed, while schools across the country took to the iPad, budget crunches have curtailed IT spending even though using mobile devices as a teaching aid has gained in popularity, initially owing to the fact that, on average, they cost far less than laptops. And, as schools move more in lockstep with the BYOD trend, it’s easy to see how the iPad Mini quickly could gain a toehold in the classroom.
As an example recounted here, James Ponce, superintendent of the McAllen Independent School District in Texas, said, “We’re moving away from desktops and laptops. Ninety percent of the work is now being done on mobile devices.” The McAllen school district now pays Apple about $3.5 million a year, about half of its annual technology budget, for some 25,000 iPads, according to Ponce, a deal you can easily see moving to iPad Minis after today.
Keep in mind the vendor hasn't even hinted let alone acknowledged any of this, so it’s quite possible something unforeseen could sneak into the proceedings. Could we see something about Apple TV, as suggested here? The latest reports have Apple shipping the iPad Mini Nov 2, pricing it somewhere around $329 and offering it in three versions, the highest capacity of which will cost north of $500.
You can expect the iPad Mini event to have an education bent with Apple execs stressing its utility in the classroom, according to new reports that contend the vendor will renew a push to win school district contracts to place the device in classrooms, the idea being that not its smaller size but rather its more attractive price point will make it a more alluring purchase. While final pricing for the iPad Mini won’t be known until today, it’s reasonable to figure the tablet will be priced below its larger, more expensive cousin, thus making it more suitable for cash-strapped school districts.
Indeed, while schools across the country took to the iPad, budget crunches have curtailed IT spending even though using mobile devices as a teaching aid has gained in popularity, initially owing to the fact that, on average, they cost far less than laptops. And, as schools move more in lockstep with the BYOD trend, it’s easy to see how the iPad Mini quickly could gain a toehold in the classroom.
As an example recounted here, James Ponce, superintendent of the McAllen Independent School District in Texas, said, “We’re moving away from desktops and laptops. Ninety percent of the work is now being done on mobile devices.” The McAllen school district now pays Apple about $3.5 million a year, about half of its annual technology budget, for some 25,000 iPads, according to Ponce, a deal you can easily see moving to iPad Minis after today.
