Tim Cook isn’t happy about Google dominating the education market

Last week, Futuresource Consulting revealed that Chomebooks now account for more than half of the computers used in American classrooms, and the rapid adoption of Chrome OS has come at the expense of OS X and Windows. It’s obvious that Google knows what it’s doing when it comes to education, but Apple CEO Tim Cook doesn’t considers the company’s strategy to be a “race to the bottom,” one that Apple has no intention of joining. Instead, Cook claims that his company will continue to make high-quality iOS and OS X devices, even if that means losing market share to Google. 

At an Hour of Code educational coding session in New York on Wednesday, Apple CEO Tim Cook said his company is interested in building powerful, meaningful products for students and teachers, not inexpensive “test machines” like Google’s Chromebook. In an interview with BuzzFeed Cook said Apple has no intentions of participating in an apparent race to the bottom spurred on by cheap Chromebook hardware, but will instead continue efforts to enable students and teachers with well designed Mac and iOS devices. “We are interested in helping students learn and teachers teach, but tests, no,” Cook said. “We create products that are whole solutions for people — that allow kids to learn how to create and engage on a different level.” Apple is seeing its once-commanding share of the education market ceded to Google as American classrooms move to an assessment-driven curriculum. The shift in priorities, along with budgetary concerns, has prompted schools across the nation to question the purchase of a Mac or iPad when a low-cost computer will suffice. For some districts, buying an iPad or other tablet device is simply not a viable option, as mandated tests require keyboards. Still, Cook is adamant about Apple’s direction.