A Rutgers University management class was required to buy an iPad for a course starting this week -- right before Apple's announcement last week about the new iPad 2 and its debut Friday. And while the rest of the world was angry at the world and Apple -- or if we were lucky, we got $100 -- Apple decided to give the class a break. New iPad 2s for everyone!
“We expected to have to tell the students that it was just unfortunate timing,” Eric Greenberg, Rutger's Center for Management Development's faculty chair told Forbes. “But Apple really surprised me by being so flexible.”
It was the local Apple store in Freehold, NJ which did most of the magic wand-waving by not charging a restocking fee or other penalty "even though the original iPads had already been customized with Rutgers’ educational software," Greenberg said.
Whether or not the decision was based on an amazing store manager, or from execs from Apple, it shows that the company is determined to position itself as a solid education tool.
By not replacing the iPads, the company risked losing goodwill and reputation. Now that's not the case -- in fact, it's getting some positive press right now, isn't it?
