I don't know how much better this would be than a password or the pattern unlock idea... Fingerprint scanners can be fooled, and a financial incentive to do so would make it tempting for thieves anyway. I guess it'll keep the honest people honest though. It would be quicker than either of the first two in theory. I can't see apple wanting to clutter up their devices with a scanner somewhere though, this is probably just a patent grab.
Unfortunately I think the argument that Apple itself isn't responsible will probably be considered true in the end. The book publishers on the other hand can, and should, still get nailed to the wall. Charging as much for an ebook as a physical book is completely off-base. You still have to make the money back on editors, artwork, advertisement, etc., but the physical print, transportation, and storage costs should cause those books to be discounted a good amount. As it is, much of the time you can buy a print edition cheaper than an eBook version on new releases...
Apple certainly deserves some of the blame, but I just can't see the DOJ managing to make it stick against them in this case.
Originally xylophones were all wooden, and the expensive ones still are, but many are made of synthetic material now.
As a band director that teaches percussion it drives me nuts when people call a Glockenspiel (or bell set) a xylophone. I think it's caused by some of the toys that are available for little kids that are mislabeled.
If you aren't in teaching to teach, you won't last long. It's probably the most thankless job you'll find sometimes. I love what I do, and I love teaching, but if it wasn't something I loved doing I could be making a lot more money doing something else. Personally I think this is a case of a state overstepping it's bounds. At some point teachers need to have some sort of rights to have lives, and unfortunately I see a spiral continuing down from here further and further. Pretty soon we'll be back to the 1800's teachers rules...
Overall I thought the premise of the letter rang very true.
As far as using them in the classroom? I actually have a student who owns one and uses it around school I think more than the netbook that she was issued. I don't honestly believe they are any better/or worse than the netbook on writing papers. The Dell netbooks that our school bought last year are terrible to the point of being unusable without an external mouse. The screen on the iPad + thinness really makes it better on that point. An external bluetooth keyboard in theory could make it as useable as the netbook.
My biggest concerns about passing out iPads to kids though are the costs of replacement screens. As it is the netbooks this year have been dying at a higher rate than the first year (dropped, stepped on, etc.) The iPad 2 screens in particular are not supposed to be cheap if I remember correctly. The flip side though, is that if people would start allowing students to access their textbooks from them - and be able to annotate on them - it might be better there. Most of the time though our teachers are so locked into this curriculum system (C-SCOPE) that I don't even know how much they use their textbooks. They use a lot of materials from there that could be just as easily shared via PDF on iPads.
For me I love the device. It's great for so many things, and I love the flexibility to have music scores - and hopefully marching drill this year - on it.
You must realize that the computer has it in for you. The irrefutable proof of this is that the computer always does what you tell it to do.
