[TomOfTTB]

I think his Point #1 & #4 are the main drawbacks. In the consumer market it's great to have a closed ecosystem where everything just works. But in a school environment cross platform is a must-have.

The irony is Apple's success with the iPad is the biggest reason for this. I anticipate a lot of people are going to buy the much cheaper Kindle Fire, find it isn't sufficient, and then bite the bullet and spring for an iPad. When they do I suspect a lot of them will donate the fire to their local school.

That's why schools have to be cross platform. Because you never know what is going to come in the door as a donation. If Samsung shows up wanting to give each student a free Galaxy Tab you don't want to turn them down.

Also, and this is a little off topic, but as someone who has tested these devices in a school I've found Apple's adherence to a single form factor to be a problem. The iPad is too big to be comfortably used for long periods of time by Elementary level kids. The 7" form factor works a lot better.