The roaring success of the iMac and the post-flammable PowerBooks restored the confidence of School Board technologists across the country, and the introduction of killer apps like iMovie caught the attention of trailblazing teachers everywhere. Yes, Watson, these are all compelling pieces of evidence, but I think these chestnuts of Wall Street wisdom are meant to distract us from the true culprit. The shakeup in Apple's education sales force hardly prevented any school from buying such heavily advertised products since most school boards purchase through motivated resellers, and not Apple directly. This is probably the most palpable of the aforementioned Apple mistakes, but any school tech who has sent off yet another computer to have its gum-plugged floppy to be replaced would probably disagree. As with most computer specs, virtually any feature could be construed as a problem by some education users, and as a solution to others.
Institutional belligerence occurs most often in large, information-based organizations.
It is rarely the result of one individual, policy, or situation, and blame only makes it grow. Put simply, institutional belligerence is an organization's tendency to avoid decisions that are simple, logical, or intuitive. Most of the time, schools lack the time and expertise to consider what they're buying, who they're buying it from, or why they're even buying it to begin with. With so many variables of Institutional Belligerence to deal with, the best move is always the safe one. And that's why Dell and Microsoft are succeeding.