$750M pledged to get kids online.

• Author: Pickler, Nedra
• Position: News

Byline: Nedra Pickler

ADELPHI, Md. -- Claiming progress in his goal to put the world at the fingertips of every American student, President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced $750 million in commitments from U.S. companies to begin wiring more classrooms with high-speed Internet.

Apple is pledging $100 million in iPads, computers and other tools. AT&T and Sprint are contributing free Internet service through their wireless networks. Verizon is pitching in up to $100 million in cash and in-kind contributions. And Microsoft is making its Windows software available at discounted prices and offering 12 million free copies of Microsoft Office software.

''In a country where we expect free Wi-Fi with our coffee, we should definitely demand it in our schools,'' Obama said at a middle school in the Washington suburb of Adelphi, Md. Students there are assigned iPads that they use in class and at home.

Beyond the promise of millions in donated hardware and software, the...