Summary

The Village Tronic MPDD+, with an MSRP of $99, is an extra graphics card to drive a second monitor on a Power Mac. It is not designed as a speed demon at 3D but as an inexpensive and serviceable graphics card for a second monitor. We think it does that job very well in both Mac OS 9.2.2 and Mac OS X 10.1.2. We especially like the screen doubler feature, providing lots of extra real estate on the second monitor. According to Eric Dahlinger of Harmonic Inversion Technology there is a one year product warranty and US customers can contact support@harmonicinversion.com for Customer Service and Tech Support.

The MPDD+ is available from Small Dog Electronics, DevDepot, Technowarehouse, DMS and PowerMax according to Harmonic Inversion Technology's web site.

[Update] iPod Accessories Will Abound at Macworld. Check out:

- XtremeMac

- RoadWired

[Update] Apple $37.2M Contract with Maine Education Department Signed. On December 2 we broke the story among Mac web sites in our December 3 edition about Apple winning the competition to provide iBooks to 7-8 grade schools throughout Maine as a part of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative. The four year contract with two additional option years has now been signed and has some interesting details. It includes:

- 36,000+ Basic iBooks with AirPort and AirPort Networks in all 7-8 grade schools

- Four years of AppleCare

- Software includes applications beyond that included in retail models: FirstClass, ETC for FirstClass and unspecified anti-virus protection software

- Help Desk support (800 number with an exclusive extension dedicated to the MLTI schools) provided for all users

- Students will not be without a device for more than one school day

- All 7th grade students and teachers will receive the devices for the start of school year 2002-2003, with all 7th and 8th grade students and teachers having the devices in the second school year

- Apple will establish an in-state project office and is expected to establish an Executive Briefing Center in Maine to showcase our results

- Under the direction of the Department of Education, Apple and the Center will offer curriculum integration training consistent with the goals of Maine Learning Results and based on the needs assessments completed by middle level educators

It is interesting that Maine is using a $1M grant from the Gates Foundation to help implement the program. That Apple hasn't mentioned the deal on its Hot News web page or in a press release is surprising. Maybe it will be featured in Steve Jobs' keynote address at Macworld next week. [Dana Baggett and Bob Unger]