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Victory! ZapMe Zapped | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An important victory against commercialism in schools was celebrated in October with the failure of the ZapMe corporation, an internet provider for schools modeled after the infamous Channel One.ZapMe has now abandoned their attempt to become another vehicle for advertisers to enter public school classrooms.
Our readers will recall ZapMe as the company who offered free computers to schools willing to contractually agree to have students use them for a minimum of four hours per day. ZapMe, a web browser service that played constant advertising in the lower left hand corner of the screen, was then able to turn around and guarantee their advertisers the same promise of a captive audience as Channel One. The company also used the computers to monitor student preferences and collect student demographic information, all of which could be reported back to advertisers. ZapMes presentation to school boards skipped over all of the less attractive details, including the fact that the computers were very limited in their use, and actually had their disk drives sealed shut to discourage schools from using them for any other purpose. ZapMe announced in October that they are selling 51% of their company stock to Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd, who intends to use ZapMes resources to pursue a new business to business marketing strategy, thus taking the company focus away from operating in schools. ZapMe announced they will explore all options for the future of the company, including the possibility of the complete divestiture of their educational network. ZapMe announced that they will stop installing new computers in schools immediately. It is still unclear what will become of the schools that have already contracted with the company, but as of November ZapMe was sending out letters telling some schools they will have to pay for the service or return the computers. For our readers whose districts have already signed up with ZapMe, now would be the perfect time to raise (or re-raise) your concerns! All in all, this is an enormous victory for all community members around the country who oppose advertising in schools, said Andrew Hagelshaw, Executive Director for the Center.ZapMe collapsed under the weight of their own faulty business plan.They were counting on funding their operations through advertising to a captive audience of students. ZapMe blamed several factors for their problems, including their inability to sign up enough schools to satisfy investors, and the problems they experienced gaining advertisers. But the thing the Center is most proud of is their mention of the growing climate against advertising in schools. ZapMe has even been specifically informing reporters about the work of the Center for Commercial-Free Public Education. |
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