Dive Brief:
- Maurice Green, superintendent of North Carolina's Guilford County School District, suspended a $30 million Amplify Tablet program due to safety concerns over melting chargers.
- Aside from the melting chargers, complaints also came in regarding Internet connectivity issues, hard-shell keyboard cases scarring screens, cords connecting tablets and keyboards breaking easily, oversized styluses and a lack of user's manuals.
- The melting charger is currently being investigated and occurred in only one of the 15,000 tablets in the program, but Amplify is recommending that all customers cease use of their tablets until further notice.
Dive Insight:
The melting charger is a major blow for NewsCorp-owned Amplify, which is headed by former New York City education chancellor Joel Klein. Assuming it could have been a freak electrical occurrence that led to the charger melting, the situation could presumably be remedied with new chargers. If nothing else, at least Los Angeles can now rest easier with the knowledge that it isn't the only district experiencing hiccups with a tablet rollout.
