Michigan iPod proposal influenced by Apple's dime?

A recent and controversial proposal by Democrats to purchase iPods for every schoolchild in Michigan may have been partially influenced by lobbying funds supplied by Apple, the Detroit Free Press is reporting.

According to the paper, Michigan Speaker of the House Andy Dillon and fellow party member Matt Gillard recently embarked on a 2 1/2-day trip to the west coast that included a visit to Apple's Cupertino-based campus where they discussed classroom technology and educational uses for the company's iconic digital media players.

The trip, which was reportedly funded in part by Apple, led to a $36 million proposal by Dillon last week to provide all Michigan students with iPods that they could use to download lectures and educational materials.

Representatives for Dillon did not provide details on the trip or say whether Apple paid for all or part of it, but Gillard is reported to have expressed his belief that the iPod maker covered at least a portion of the costs.

In statement to the media Tuesday evening, Dillon defended the trip by saying he was "one of several lawmakers to take this trip" and was now more "convinced than ever that the future for our children lies in education."

"As we move to the technology age and the knowledge-based economy, it would be irresponsible to separate technology from our K-12 system," he said. "I have four children, and I see how powerful technology is in their learning experience. While I believe that moving our classrooms into the 21st Century is critical to the future of our children and this state, I fully understand that unless and until we solve the state's fiscal crisis we cannot pursue this initiative."

Critics of the proposal have insinuated that policymakers are out of touch with Michigan's $600-million budget shortfall and the state's depressed economic conditions. They also view the iPod as less of an educational tool than a form of entertainment.

For his part, Gillard also defended the iPod proposal and the trip, arguing that lawmakers spent more time on non-Apple business, discussing such issues as wine distribution and Michigan business taxes. A spokesman for Dillon pointed out that similar trips have been taken in past years by other lawmakers, including many Republicans.

Matt Resch, a spokesman for the Republican leader in the House, said he believed the statement regarding Republicans was true. However, he was quick to add that those trips were never followed by the kind of proposal unveiled by the Democratic leadership to buy $36 million worth of Apple products.

28 Comments

chrisbassett 18 Years · 1 comment

About 17 years ago

I can't see how they were ever going to manage to buy 1.65 million ipods for 36 million dollars AND buy things like computers and other equipment that the 36 million dollars was apparently set aside for.

It doesn't take toooo much skill at mathematical wizardry like "division" to work that little gem out.

Nothing to see here, this is a non-story cooked up by someone who wants media attention, move along, please.

deapeajay 20 Years · 882 comments

I love seeing leaders so fiscally responsible.

schmidm77 22 Years · 216 comments

Simple solution to the question of ethics -- if there is a legitimate government interest in politicians making these trips, then it should be the government that pays for them.

bluedjinn 23 Years · 54 comments

This has already been debunked.

It's a short article, but it gets straight to the point:

http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6345567

Democrats talked about bringing technology to education during a press conference with House Speaker Andy Dillon last week. In that discussion, the idea of buying iPods or mp3 players for students came up.

But quickly, the question "How can the state afford to buy iPods for students when there isn't enough money to go around right now?" was asked.

In reality, there was never a plan to buy all students iPods. There is a $38 million line item to pay for technology, far less than it would take to buy mp3 players for 1.65 million students."

Let's take a look at that last sentence. $38 million divided by 1.65 million students = $23 apiece. Even assuming that the entire $38 million went towards nothing but iPods (as opposed to other technology purchases), even the lowest-priced iPod (the Shuffle) costs $79 apiece. Granted, Apple would certainly give a large bulk purchase discount, but I can't imagine that they would've cut the price by over 70% on hardware (software is different, of course).

Of course, once the meme gets into the public eye, it becomes ideal fodder for the the media to rip into, true or not.

The Democratic leadership evidently DIDN'T propose to buy $36 million (or was it $38 million? The Free Press somehow lost $2 million between the first story and the second one...) worth of Apple products.

My guess is that it actually played out something like this:

"Hey, I read something about Duke University running a test program where they gave iPods to every student to record & listen to lectures, language classes, that sort of thing...what about putting some money towards that?"

"Nah, for one thing, the results at Duke are still inconclusive; besides, thanks to the Republicans cutting the SBT without anything to replace it, we don't have enough money in the budget to buy a friggin' SONG off of iTunes, much less a whole iPod. Forget about it.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. OK, what other technology initiatives are worth looking at?"

The larger point? DISCUSSING an idea (even if it's a bad one) is hardly the same thing as making that idea part of a FORMAL PROPOSAL, and the Free Press ought to know better.

SpamSandwich 20 Years · 32917 comments

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmidm77

Simple solution to the question of ethics -- if there is a legitimate government interest in politicians making these trips, then it should be the government that pays for them.

Nice. Anything could be called "legitimate" with even a half-hearted argument, but guess who still gets stuck with the bill?