!5 million Apples for Turkey

Kudos to Turkey for willing to supply its kids with modern technology from the get-go. Yet another nail in the printed book coffin. 

As for a different Apple for Turkey, they have their own, 'The Kandil Sinap', considered one of the world’s most beautiful apples, with a shiny, porcelain-like exterior, it is also one of the most unusual. In a world of orbicular shapes, this “heirloom” from Turkey is tall and conical like a candle/kandil.


Mavi Boncuk |


Bloomberg reports that Apple is among the companies considering making a bid to provide as many as 15 million tablet devices to Turkish schoolchildren over the next four years. Microsoft and Intel are also said to be interested in bidding on the project. Government officials had previously indicated that the tablets themselves must also be produced in Turkey. 


Apple officials told [Turkish Trade Minister Zafer] Caglayan during his visit to the U.S. that the Cupertino, California-based maker of smart devices may also decide to use some Turkish manufacturers to make some peripheral equipment such as covers, earphones for its iPad and iPhone models but that might not be enough.


Not that the country doesn't have a burgeoning electronics industry, including home brands that are sold across Europe and Asia, but producing iPads there might be a tough sell as far as Apple is concerned.  A Microsoft team is rumored to be visiting Turkey to discuss the project, called Fatih. Intel could also chip in, by a suggested opening of an R&D center in Turkey.