Palm Announces Education Purchase Program

Aug. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Palm, Inc. (NASDAQ:PALM) today announced an Education Purchase Program that gives schools a cost-effective way to implement technology and to enable equity among students by making access to handheld computers readily available. The program is designed to assist schools in deploying Palm handhelds in classrooms, in larger school projects and in campus-wide initiatives. It is open to all K-12 schools, colleges and universities in the U.S.

"One-to-one computing is not just about having access to computers, it's having the technology available to support innovative teaching and learning and to connect students to the information they need to do their work," said Mike Lorion, vice president of education at Palm. "In the past, cost has been a tremendous barrier. Now, with the cost of handhelds starting at under $100, it's an ideal that is well within reach. Two years ago Palm made a commitment to help educators achieve this goal. The Education Purchase Program reflects the investment Palm has made in understanding what educators need to deploy the technology effectively."

One customer request was for spare or replacement handhelds to ensure that teaching and learning with technology is not disrupted if a new student is added to the class, or if a device should need repair. Schools have the option of three purchasing levels:

• Classroom Level for schools just beginning to integrate Palm handhelds into the curriculum offers 30 Palm handhelds and three additional handhelds for free.
• School Project Level provides schools that purchase 100 Palm handhelds with an additional 12 units for free.
• Campus Wide Adoption Level provides schools that purchase 500 Palm handhelds with an additional 72 units free.

The response from Palm's education customers is enthusiastic.

"The Palm Education Purchase Program provides added value that makes perfect sense for schools because our purchases range from classroom sets all the way up to devices for the entire campus," said Jim Hirsch, associate superintendent for technology for the Plano Independent School District (ISD) in Plano, Texas. "Having the ability to purchase in volume all at one time helps us with planning and budgeting. Plano ISD has been using Palm handhelds in classrooms from first grade on up for the past year. This program is going to streamline the purchasing process and let us focus our attention more on students, teachers and staff."

"Attractive pricing encourages members of the higher education community to purchase Palm handhelds as tools to support their productivity," says Chris Bradie, technology director for the University of Pennsylvania's Business Services Division. "When viewed from that perspective, the value added is measurable by more than just dollar-savings."

Starting today, the Education Plus program is available from all authorized Palm resellers in the U.S. For specific terms and conditions, visit http://www.palm.com/education.

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