Linuxmon wrote a post which got me thinking ...

Kids who grow up around computers find working with these tools to be second nature. They are very comfortable with the technology. However, what discounts are students being given so that the technology lands in their hands?

It would seem appropriate for MS to consider an incentive program to target students in high schools or maybe even younger. I'm biased since I teach high school; however, it seems like a great age to attract permanent customers.

This prompts me to wonder about the best type of incentive. Options are (1) the school level - school stores or (2) specially designated resellers.

With regards to #1, I'm not impressed with the UCLA bookstore's attitude regarding the Tablet PC. Plexiglass overlays the unit, that is bolted down. It's impossible to tinker with. Worse, an error message showed on the screen. When I told this to a clerk, she responded that it was always that way. It wasn't very appealing.

To make matters worse, my own cousin didn't purchase a Tablet PC because he went to his college bookstore and the person there was negative. He then tried to write a URL and couldn't do it. He blew it off at that point. A trained person would have redirected his attention and also explained that the SP2 will make a huge difference for the Tablet PC.

With regards to #2, I'm never impressed with the resellers who look only for volume sales and are required to earn their income by selling as many units as possible. It equates to slime.

Hmm .. maybe someone can suggest a great way to get units into the hands of the high school students. What do you think?

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