Apple's Back-to-School offering not that great

I'm typically loathe to diss on Apple - but this year's back-to-school offering kinda sucks. They used to give away an iPod (I did that deal one year and gave the free iPod to my sister-in-law) which at the time was worth more than $100.

We're going cheaper - and we're using a method of "rebate" that will include some "forgetful" buyers that don't use the credit! Or perhaps a student will use partial credit but months into the term forget about their available balance.

Or perhaps there won't be anything on the App Store some of these kids want.

I think this is a departure from a really great program. I think you should sell them a Mac and give them $200 off an iPad - now that would be an effective deal.