... we didn't have mp3 players, and we liked it. It turns out all of the incoming freshmen at Duke this year will be given free iPods loaded with class related material. I don't know how much professors will use this in their classes, but it's a neat idea nonetheless.
Posted by lurp at July 19, 2004 11:01 PM | TrackBackWow, I was torturing a recent double Duke graduate about this (different link - saw on eotm) a few days ago since he is now in the market for another iPod. However, I thought there was no way this could be true. Well, /. just posted a link to this Duke press release verifying this arrangement. Btw, who the heck is funding this innovation fund? Probably not this guy and his wife.
Posted by: boo at July 20, 2004 02:27 AMWell, in the market = already purchased, so there's that. Reports on the mini's fitness for active sports (read: running) forthcoming.
Word on a certain bulletin board related to Duke basketball is that all of the new iPods will have the student's name engraved on the back, possibly along with their dorm address, box #, e-mail address, the Duke logo, or something like that.
From Apple's perspective, this is win-win:
1) Convince dumb first-year parents to buy Macs in the mistaken belief that iPods won't work without Macs.
2) Convince upperclassmen with *ahem* iPod envy to go out and buy one.
3) iPods are easily taken/misplaced, so big replacement market.
My prediction: Professors are lazy, lazy people. How many to this day don't put their readings up on e-reserves or a comparable resource? What makes Duke think that they'll be any different now?
Posted by: Mr. Sparkle at July 20, 2004 05:18 PMTons of articles on this story today (of course, this site is not part of the technorati cosmo of them).
I'll add this PaidContent link which provides further links.
Has anyone thought of what this means as far as file trading on campus? Like most universities, Duke is officially against copyright infringement, but that is probably how the majority of these devices will be filled.
What new sharing models will develop from this situation? A page explaining how to pull your songs off your iPod should be included in the Student Life Handbook.
Posted by: boo at July 20, 2004 10:37 PM