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The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents

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The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents

2

Peter Thiel and other tech billionaires are publicly shielding their children from the products that made them rich

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Trump embraces Australian retirement system backed by Larry Fink

Amazon’s Christmas bestsellers: Acer, Apple and Asus

By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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By
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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December 25, 2008, 8:49 AM ET
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Look what Santa left under Amazon.com‘s tree this Christmas morning:

  • 7 Acer netbooks
  • 7 Apple MacBooks
  • 4 Asus netbooks
  • 2 Samsung netbooks
  • 2 MSI netbooks
  • 1 OLPC (One laptop per child) XO laptop
  • 1 Lenova Ideapad laptop
  • 1 Toshiba Satellite laptop

Can you spot the ringer on Amazon’s 2008 Christmas-day list of 25 bestselling notebook computers?

You guessed it. It’s those seven premium-priced Apple (AAPL) MacBooks in a shopping cart dominated by stripped-down netbooks, heavily discounted Windows notebooks and a 2-for-1 “$100” laptop.

Except for the MacBooks and one $599 Toshiba, every computer on that list sells for less than $500.

The seven MacBooks, by contrast, sell for three times as much: an average of $1,473.41, after rebates.

It’s almost as if Macintosh buyers were insensitive to price, even in a recession. In fact, the best-selling Apple on that list isn’t the cheapest; it’s a $1,299 unibody MacBook marked down to $1,218.98. The cheapest Apple — a $999 white MacBook, marked down to $929.99 — is No. 22.

Over on Amazon’s desktop bestseller list, Apple did even better this Christmas morning: 4 of the top 5 are Macs.

Amazon (AMZN) is the world’s largest online retailer, but for definitive holiday sales figures we’ll have to wait for the quarterly reports.

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By Philip Elmer-DeWitt
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