There is nothing that the education department might want to do that could not be done on an android tablet as well as the iPad. The big difference is there is competition for the public money when you select the open system. There is no competition when you pick the iPad. I agree there are other solutions other than the tablet format, and I think any education material should support open solutions to make them available to the wider industry accepted forms. However for 30 million dollars of public funds to be spent on an closed industry solution is just dead wrong. I would be open to a voucher solution where the student is provided with a fixed amount to get an approved solution of their own choice, and let the companies compete by bundling packages for the voucher amount.
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There is nothing that the education department might want to do that could not be done on an android tablet as well as the iPad. The big difference is there is competition for the public money when you select the open system. There is no competition when you pick the iPad. I agree there are other solutions other than the tablet format, and I think any education material should support open solutions to make them available to the wider industry accepted forms. However for 30 million dollars of public funds to be spent on an closed industry solution is just dead wrong. I would be open to a voucher solution where the student is provided with a fixed amount to get an approved solution of their own choice, and let the companies compete by bundling packages for the voucher amount.