We earlier featured an article about Maine's Laptop Program with Apple, wherein an iBook could be bought for as low as $48 bucks. The state of Maine sure do love their Apple laptops because the state  has signed a $41 million contract with Apple Computer Inc. to provide new laptop computers to more than 30,000 seventh- and eighth-graders and their teachers, extending the laptop program for another four years.

Maine was a pioneer in equipping their students with laptops and they intend to sustain this kind of program for a long, long time. The deal is pretty similar with the first Laptop Program that was launched in 2002. It works out to an annual cost of $289 per laptop.

Aside from providing the laptops to approximately 32,000 students and 4,000 teachers, the four-year contract also includes warranties and perks like professional development for each of Maine's 241 public middle schools. The program is aimed at eliminating the so-called "digital divide" between rich and poor student and it has been deemed a success by administrators.

The new laptops are of course improved with greater memory, faster processors and built-in DVD combo drives. On one hand, the older laptops are being kept instead of discarded. Those computers are being upgraded with fundraising support from former Gov. Angus King, who initiated the laptop program, and school districts are redeploying them in other grades or for other purposes.

Maine's Department of Education announced in March that Apple had been chosen over CDW Corp.'s unit that provides technological services to government, education and health care. CDW's proposal called for Lenovo ThinkPads in partnership with other vendors.