Not that we expected improvements to become obvious overnight or anything, but it's been quite a while since Apple lost its hold on its once-mighty lead in the education computing market and vowed to take it back again. So why don't we feel a whole lot better about Apple's position in the schools? Well, partly it's because of the occasional worrisome article-- like the one in The Chronicle of Higher Education (pointed out to us by faithful viewer, educator, and AtAT Dad Joe Miller) about how Dartmouth College, once a stronghold of Mac activity, is increasingly becoming Windows turf. It's a good article and recommended reading, but if you're the type who stresses over issues like Apple's shrinking share of the education market, keep the antacid of your choice within arm's reach.

So, faced with the sad fact that an alarming number of schools are still migrating away from the Mac, it's only natural that Apple would crank out still another Plan du Jour in hopes of stemming the bleeding. Today's scheme? Well, faithful viewer Matthew Rothenberg informs us that he's just dished the latest schoolyard dirt in a new article over at eWEEK. It seems that Apple has quietly merged its separate education sales and education marketing teams into one mighty Voltronesque 750-member mega-unit in hopes that this newly reorganized team will "be more cohesive and responsive with [Apple's] education sales and marketing efforts." Hey, stop laughing; sure, glueing two units together into a bigger outfit to make it "more responsive" may sound a tad wacky, but stranger things have happened. We're always happy to give Apple the benefit of the doubt.

Interestingly enough, this new super-team will not be headed up by the lovely and talented Cheryl Vedoe, Apple's up-'til-now head of the education marketing team who returned to Apple as its education savior back in October of 2000. Is that a reflection of someone's dissatisfaction with Ms. Vedoe's performance? We suppose it's always possible that Steve didn't get the results he'd hoped for when he told her to "regain market share beginning in 2001," but that's mere speculation. After all, Cheryl wasn't canned; she's now heading up Apple's PowerSchool division even as the company's unified education sales and marketing force is being led by one Mr. John Couch. Couch is yet another former Apple employee come home to roost; he was apparently the veep of Apple's "Personal Office Sales" division back in the Lisa days. (Heck, in our book, anyone with a name like "Couch" can't be all bad.)

Meanwhile, The Stevester isn't just delegating his way through Apple's education crisis; in classic Jobsian fashion, he's right in there in the personal touch. Faithful viewer Jens points out an Associated Press article which details Steve's visit to the state of Maine yesterday, where he teamed up with Governor Angus King to spread a little Reality Distortion Field energy in support of the state's plan to supply every junior high school kid in the state with an iBook. As you may recall, the plan's funding was jeopardized several times when Maine faced various budget shortfalls; it's "secure for the time being," but a little preemptive RDF strike never hurts.

So now we've got Vedoe cracking the whip on PowerSchool, Couch driving a newly-integrated education sales and marketing team, and Steve Himself in the trenches bending minds to his will for the good of Apple's education market share. How could this possibly not turn out for the best? (Don't answer that.)