Despite these facts, the press and analysts are using the downturns as a bludgeon against Apple. That is desenguousness at its worst. Normally after such events, the markets will bounce back. So I don't normally take these things too seriously. But of course with the press scaring the managers and politicians in education, the recovery is less certain.
Schools use computers for many things.
But the PC's are being brought in for these grunge tasks. This trend is important in understanding markets. If you only look at total number of PC's being brought into the school, it can look like the PC's are displacing the Macs. The truth is just that the use of computers in schools for non-curriculum functions is growing faster than for curriculum. So these numbers may only be reflecting a shift in what computer are used for in schools.