Tim Cook Calls Chromebooks “Test Machines”

Although Chromebooks have overtaken Apple products in the education market, the iPhone maker will refrain from following Google’s approach to the market, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in an interview with Buzzfeed News.

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“Assessments don’t create learning,” Cook said in an interview with BuzzFeed News Wednesday, calling the cheap laptops that have proliferated through American classrooms mere “test machines.” “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.”

Education is part of Apple’s DNA; the company has emphasized that numerous times. Fact is, Apple has been deeply connected to schools since the launch of the first mass-market personal computer. Still, somehow Google managed to flood the schools with its cheap Chromebooks.

What sets Apple’s products apart from competing devices is the education-focused native apps and integration with school curriculums, Cook says. He spoke with Buzzfeed News when he visited the Hour of Code event held in Apple’s new store in New York City.

He expressed his hope that Apple’s involvement in the Hour of Code project, which turns its more than 400 stores into classrooms between December 7 and 13, will “light a match” in children. “The next step is getting the public schools, over time, to make it a requirement. We’re hoping to get their curiosity up, and then get the system” to take the next step, Cook said.

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