> "That didn’t happen, but I had to make some kind of comparison."

?

Right, it didn't happen. And if it had it would have been:

1. Totally different, as bitcoins are not portable general purpose computers.

2. Two orders of magnitude more expensive than $100 per student.

So I'm wondering why on earth this person would draw such a comparison?

I'm guessing that he's probably referring to the concept of giving them access to a very new technology at a very early stage.