I was reading an online article, "Educators Weigh iPad's Dominance of Tablet Market" in Education Week. From the article: "From Los Angeles to Illinois to Maine—where Apple products far outpaced Hewlett-Packard in districts’ choices through the state’s bulk-purchasing program earlier this year— iPads are hot. In fact, they command nearly 94 percent of the tablet market in K-12 schools, according to Tom Mainelli, the research director focusing on the tablet market for IDC Research, a San Mateo, Calif.-based firm that provides market analysis of technology. By the end of this calendar year, total shipments for tablet computing devices in the U.S. education marketplace are expected to exceed 3.5 million units—a 46 percent increase over 2012, indicated Mr. Mainelli, who explained that the research is proprietary and declined to name the runners-up in the tablet race. The figure covers tablets in higher education and K-12, but colleges and universities account for a much smaller proportion because, at that level, most are personal devices."

Our College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota issues an iPad to all incoming students. As a faculty member in the college, we have integrated use of the iPads into all our first-year courses. I bought an iPad for personal use about a week after the first ones were available for sale. Why do I prefer the iPad, even at its expense? Like the old saying, I think you get what you pay for. I wanted a slate computer that did it all and had the largest number of apps. When I think about how much money I spend throughout the year, paying a premium for the iPad seems insignificant. I am not a snob. Most of the clothes I buy come from WalMart and JC Penny. I buy my jeans at Goodwill (jeans never wear out and the price is pennies on the dollar). I drive a 1997 Ford Explorer with some dings and dents in it. But I want the best technology. I am a value shopper, not a low cost shopper for technology (everything else falls into the low cost category). Anyway, that my story why Apple products are my choice. Plus, I think Google is evil.