Google announced some new things today (if I understood correctly) – there are more companies who will offer chrome devices and books at low prices are available for a fixed amount of time.
I really like Apple equipment, but to remain competitive Apple is going to have advance in the areas of management and cloud infrastructure to compete with Google in Education. This is more than a cost issue. It seems to me that Google has developed a better understanding of the school environment. The opportunity to push apps and books to individuals seems a big deal. I suppose this sounds like the old content management system with modules provided by one company, but I think the opportunity to individualize a collection of apps and content is a little different. The Apple collaborative capabilities of iWork apps have improved, but are still behind the capabilities of the Google suite (docs, etc). With iTunes, Apple would seem to be in a good position but it is as if Apple thinks of devices as owned by individuals and Google thinks of the contents of an online account as what is owned by an individual. A device for the individual and an environment that can be individualized do not mean the same thing in a school setting.
This link is as close as I can get to a more detailed description.