Duke University iPod Deal?

[MacRumors]

According to one anonymous source, Duke University is in talks to provide each incoming new student with an iPod (http://www.apple.com/ipod/), or an iPod mini (http://www.apple.com/ipodmini/). While the deal is not necessarily tied to the iTunes Music Store, the iPods should be used for various educational content purposes, as well as for new student orientation.

[whfsdude]

Neat idea but do you really think education money should be spent on this? Why bring up the price of college up more?

[Dr. Pookey]

This sounds bogus. What "educational purposes" are there for an iPod. I mean, really... what's a college student going to honestly do with one but listen to music?

[Sogo]

This sounds bogus. What "educational purposes" are there for an iPod. I mean, really... what's a college student going to honestly do with one but listen to music?

Quoted for truth.

[bcsmith]

Neat idea but do you really think education money should be spent on this? Why bring up the price of college up more?

This needs to be thought of as a marketing technique. Or better yet, think of it as giving a free computer to an incoming student. If it is OK for public schools in Maine to do it, why not a major University? If Duke can find a way to record lectures and distribute them to the students in mp3 or aac format, then an iPod would be a great thing - listen to last week's lecture on the way to this week's lecture.

Plus, if you are sitting on the fence about which school to go to and one offers you a free iPod and the other doesn't, which would you pick?

-- Ben

[nagromme]

This may simply be marketing... for Duke and/or Apple... but don't just assume that.

iPods have been used before in education, there have been stories on it. Audio (lectures, music, guided tours, whatever) is one educational medium.

Don't forget that iPods can be programmed (via Notes) to have custom interfaces for audio (and text) content. Museums use that for instance.

[HasanDaddy]

heck

I recall picking Occidental College over Emerson, partially because Occidental gave me a free t-shirt, whereas Emerson showed little evidence that they wanted me

an iPod though???

damn --- I would've loved that.......

[MacRumors]

According to one unconfirmed rumor, Apple is in talks with Duke University to offer all incoming Freshman iPods.

Reportedly, the iPods would be used for educational content and orientation.

[appleface]

instead of saving files to a campus server's hardrive, students can simply plug in their ipod and use it as a hard drive that can go anywhere there is a computer, on or off campus. it sounds educational, but we all know that the students would love it for the tunes.

[jcshas]

"Educational content and orientation"....riiiiiiiiiight. :D

[rendezvouscp]

Even in high school, I find my iPod to be a very good part of my education. Sure, I love the music, but it's great to have those bio notes I typed up last night on my iPod for review that day. Plus, while I had a tech class, I could transfer anything I wanted from the school's Macs to my G5 at home. I think of my iPod as a very important tool in my education. And my fun life too :D.
–Chase

[Jawbreaker]

I would be very, very surprised if there were any sort of educational value planned for giving every freshman an iPod. One of the main ways colleges and universities compete with each other is by providing student life perks that extend the idea of attending the school as a status symbol. They can't really find ways to differentiate their educational offerings, so they pitch the school as representing this or the other socioeconomic identity. This is why so many schools invested in things like climbing walls, large saunas, and celebrity professors, because it's a lot easier than actually investing in having high quality teaching.

The Chronicle of Higher Education has done a pretty good job of reporting on these trends and college-perks like this over the past two years.

[penum6ra]

One of the biggest reason I got one for my brother entering his Sophomore year was the fact that it would help him record and playback lectures. I would definitely call that educational.

Additionally, though admittedly not the most popular use, I use mine to listen to language "tapes"/CDs for practice.

The iPod's uses are only limited by imagination...

Now if only Apple could realize that students do buy new computers for school, and schools buy new computers for students... oh somewhere around June/July timeframe, and once (just once) since the return of Steven P. Jobs release an iMac, iBook, or PowerBook in time to hit that rush, then they might *actually* see an upswing in edu orders. As long as they keep announcing in Sept and shipping in Oct (where have we heard that recently) they just aren't going to make the inroads possible. "Back-to-school" is the boom for all OTHER school tool companies... why not the original?

[rt_brained]

I mean, really... what's a college student going to honestly do with one but listen to music?

A. Remove the jog dial, drill a hole through the headphone jack, smoke a bowl.

[the_mole1314]

Hey, give credit to college student more.... they'ed use it as a cup holder for their beers.... ;)

No really, imagine all the computers on campus having an iPod dock, where you can transfer all your stuff from your computer to another. That would be awsome. Plus, I doubt they will be getting the iPods for free, but at a discounted price ($150 for iPod mini for example).

[MarksEvilTwin]

Removed

[Foxer]

As a Duke alum, I demand my iPod retroactively.

[grahamfw]

instead of saving files to a campus server's hardrive, students can simply plug in their ipod and use it as a hard drive that can go anywhere there is a computer, on or off campus. it sounds educational, but we all know that the students would love it for the tunes.

We use a webdav client for access to only 30 megs of space online. While on campus, its pretty fast but I think if we all had ipods, this would be great. I think that the colleges should maybe at least subsidize the purchase of an ipod mini for that purpose alone.

[the_mole1314]

hmmm...... interesting....

http://cit.duke.edu/about/ipod.do

uncanny, no?

[Joulesverne]

Let's see.

1.) I can put my schedules on my iPod.
2.) I can put audible books on my iPod - boy I would have really enjoyed audible books in college. Might not have needed cliff notes.
3.) Audio recording to snag that lecture while you sleep.
4.) Music - don't need a big ol stereo taking up precious dorm space.
5.) If the college got clever they could make available audio recordings of lectures.


Go Duke - great idea.

There are a lot of possibilities with 30 GB of mobile storage with a decent UI...

[Raiden]

This will not work.

I went to school where they gave every studen iBooks. All we did was play games and talk on message boards. Hardly any time was spent on them for edu purposes.

While that was high school and ibooks, I am sure college and ipods will be the exact same...

I wish they would give an ipod to alumini, my mom went to duke lol.

[the_mole1314]

This will not work.

I went to school where they gave every studen iBooks. All we did was play games and talk on message boards. Hardly any time was spent on them for edu purposes.

While that was high school and ibooks, I am sure college and ipods will be the exact same...

I wish they would give an ipod to alumini, my mom went to duke lol.

And I got to Henrico county too. Simple fact is that you are more likely to use the iPod to only listen to music and store files than play game and surf the internet (you can't surf on the internet on an iPod, I know...)

[Sabbath]

I think an iPod and a campus set up for iPod use could be really helpful, but there is no question that this is just a measure to attract students. It would be great if I could go to a computer and plonk my iPod in a dock and transfer stuff over, it's a really good way to transfer data, but you really need a campus set up for it. It would be even better if we got wi-fi iPods with stuff transferable to a colour screen during lectures etc, or maybe you could use it to check whether the books you need were in the library, or even order food etc.

[kugino]

This needs to be thought of as a marketing technique. Or better yet, think of it as giving a free computer to an incoming student. If it is OK for public schools in Maine to do it, why not a major University? If Duke can find a way to record lectures and distribute them to the students in mp3 or aac format, then an iPod would be a great thing - listen to last week's lecture on the way to this week's lecture.

Plus, if you are sitting on the fence about which school to go to and one offers you a free iPod and the other doesn't, which would you pick?

-- Ben

i agree with your first point...lectures stored and disseminated as aac/mp3 files to ipods sounds cool. i'll implement that when i start teaching classes (soon!)

your second point is ludicrous. maybe there have been dumber reasons to choose a college, but an ipod? let's give our teenagers a little more credit...ASSuming both colleges are equal in every way (we know that's not true) and ASSuming there is no other compelling reason to choose one over the other, maybe the ipod would push me one way, but that's a lot of ASSumptions and highly unlikely. duke's a fine educational institution and they don't need any other gimmicks to entice students to apply/matriculate...their acceptance rate is already in the low 20-something percent...like a "free" ipod is going to do anything. come on!

[Muzukun]

heck

I recall picking Occidental College over Emerson, partially because Occidental gave me a free t-shirt, whereas Emerson showed little evidence that they wanted me

an iPod though???

damn --- I would've loved that.......

oh sweet a fellow oxy student! ... you chose oxy for that tshirt?

I'm at duke right now... course I haven't heard anything about that hear but I'm sure they might have the money for it easily

[crees!]

This is slightly on topic but I remember recently Napster was or did team up with some university to provide free downloads to all their students though it was part of their tuition. I see how that could have people shaking their heads but the iPod itself has multiple uses.

BTW, where do I sign up my school ;)

[rogo]

Penn State, I believe, did the Napster deal.

Partially to make legal stuff available and avoid having the university sued.

[edgar_is_good]

instead of saving files to a campus server's hardrive, students can simply plug in their ipod and use it as a hard drive that can go anywhere there is a computer, on or off campus. it sounds educational, but we all know that the students would love it for the tunes.

This seems like possibly the best idea I've heard to justify this. If Apple really implimented home on iPod, then the students would be able to use computer facilities in class with their own resources, use computer labs as though it were their own computer, etc., etc.

[rendezvouscp]

This seems like possibly the best idea I've heard to justify this. If Apple really implimented home on iPod, then the students would be able to use computer facilities in class with their own resources, use computer labs as though it were their own computer, etc., etc.

That would seriously "revolutionize" part of the education sector. I think that would have a major influence on business too. That would be so awesome. I'm in aw with the possibilities.
–Chase

[ITR 81]

If universities start using them you know Apple and Third party software developers will end up making edu software for the iPod.

[ThomasJefferson]

Well, as the founder and architect of the University of Virginia all I can say is ...

Duke who?

[Porchland]

This sounds bogus. What "educational purposes" are there for an iPod. I mean, really... what's a college student going to honestly do with one but listen to music?

1. Not expose the university to tort liability for illegally downloaded music. That is, if there's adequate incentive to download from iTMS.

2. Move large data files (engineering drawings, etc.)

3. Record and listen to lectures.

4. Become lifelong Apple loyalists.

[ajkst1]

Perhaps this might push Apple to fully implement the "iPod at Home" feature that was SUPPOSED to come with Panther. Full blown Home folder and login on your iPod. Duke wouldn't have to worry about students storing illegal files on their servers and it would be MUCH faster than pulling files off of ethernet. Now to get my University to do this....

[hob]

Perhaps this might push Apple to fully implement the "iPod at Home" feature that was SUPPOSED to come with Panther. Full blown Home folder and login on your iPod. Duke wouldn't have to worry about students storing illegal files on their servers and it would be MUCH faster than pulling files off of ethernet. Now to get my University to do this....

Home on the iPod would rule!! You could have these semi-dumb terminals all over the place with little slots for iPods (or just docks if u wanted to be boring)... mmmhmmmm

[Steven1621]

Neat idea but do you really think education money should be spent on this? Why bring up the price of college up more?

duke has a lot of money so i don't think it would be that big of a deal for them.

[jwhitnah]

Neat idea but do you really think education money should be spent on this? Why bring up the price of college up more?
Why would they do this? Let's see should I go to Duke or CAL. OOh iPod...FREE? Duke here I come. Give me a break. This is a stupid waste of money. There are plenty of people who do not and never will give a damn about mp3 players!

[billbrasky]

Given Apple's supply problems, Duke freshman should plan on receiving their iPods when they get their diplomas. :rolleyes:

[Vagcmyevad]

(Warning, shameless plug ;) )

But they can study on their iPods! (http://www.loopware.com/iflash) :D

[pkkrusty]

Let me list the reasons people are saying iPods would be great for a college student. Then I'll list the reasons why a $200 Palm would do better. Cheaper. Easier.

1) Record lectures. How grossly inefficient is it to have every person in class record lectures when the professor could do it and post it? And ask any college student how often in four years they RE-listened to a lecture. I GUARANTEE you could count the answer on one hand. A Palm can play MP3s as easily, and spoken lectures take up very little space.

2) Audio books. Yes, audio books are nice, but how much academic learning can be done with one? Little to none. I'd bet less than 1% of academic material used is available as an audio book. I'd bet less than 1% of that would ever get listened to.

3) Big stereos in dorm rooms. Most college students I know still had big old speakers so they could listen to music w/o their earphones. Most had MP3 players. All had computers. An iPod would only add to the stuff in the room, not take away. If you're in your room, you use your computer for MP3s, since you're probably IMing on it anyway. If you're out, you use your MP3 player, which doesn't have to be an iPod.

4) Portable storage. 30 gigs of storage is asking for piracy. NO ONE needs that much space for class work. My four years of email, college papers and the associated PDFs was nowhere near 1 gig. Small USB pen drives (128MB for $40) are much more cost efficient and would accomplish this goal just as well. Or a bluetooth enabled Palm.

If this rumor turns out to be true, it is a gimmick and nothing more. A waste of money. I will be disappointed in my alma mater if they decide to do this. Mark my words, the iPod's life is limited. A pure music player is becoming obselete more quickly than the markets realize.

[backspinner]

4) Portable storage. 30 gigs of storage is asking for piracy. NO ONE needs that much space for class work. My four years of email, college papers and the associated PDFs was nowhere near 1 gig.Then you are not in engineering! I easily create a GB of data while working on a real project.

[morespce54]

4) Portable storage. 30 gigs of storage is asking for piracy. NO ONE needs that much space for class work. My four years of email, college papers and the associated PDFs was nowhere near 1 gig. Small USB pen drives (128MB for $40) are much more cost efficient and would accomplish this goal just as well. Or a bluetooth enabled Palm.



Agree. Who needs 20 GB for MSWord and MSPP docs...? ;) :confused:

[Blue Moon]

This will not work.

I went to school where they gave every studen iBooks. All we did was play games and talk on message boards. Hardly any time was spent on them for edu purposes.

While that was high school and ibooks, I am sure college and ipods will be the exact same...

I wish they would give an ipod to alumini, my mom went to duke lol.

Sounds like you went to school with some very unambitious students. I'm sorry, but for all those nay sayers out there...eat my shorts. Don't be jealous. The fact of the matter is ipods CAN and WOULD be used for educational purposes if put in the right hands. I have faith that freshmen entering into Duke will have the sense and the intellectual drive to use their iPods both for recreational and educational purposes. Shame on you. Just because you can't imagine yourself or the stereotypical college student using this wonderful gadget to its fullest potential, that don't mean dookie.

[intlplby]

well i am an ncsu student and duke is just down the road so i'll comment on a few things...

first of all this doesnt surprise me at all and i believe it.....

first of all duke costs $texas so the cost of an iPod is minimal.... all the students there are either loaded (read: rich) or really really smart and have enough scholarships to cover the cost of the education there


this isn't the first time duke has gone with ideas that seem odd to the rest of us

i.e. they recently cancelled all 8am classes because not enough students were registering.. i believe school over there starts at 8:30 or 9:00

campus organizations can hold keg parties as fundraisers..... e.g. "Kegs for Kids"

what else do you expect from the cameron crazies

i wouldn't have minded getting in to duke.... i was waitlisted then denied...... at least i am not in a hell of a lot of debt

duke would do something like this

PS since dookies are loaded the university has probably already seen enough students making good "educational" use of the ipod in classes such as recording lectures and are just extending the idea to all incoming freshman

next they need to convert all freshman to powerbook owners......a pro-mac university would be awesome

not all schoolwork are MS documents...

i have used up to 15 gigs of my 40 gig for schoolwork

when you have design work for print at 150-300dpi and the print work is as big as 40x30 inches and 16-24 bit then you have 200+ meg files

if you work in a science field and have large databases you may need the space...

if you do video or media work you may need the space for school

also it is financially sound for the university to do this......the university could pay for more storage space for students or they could charge the students for an ipod and not have to pay for storage .... make the student liable for their needed storage instead of the network.... you reduce network traffic as well.......

iPods cost students money and saves duke money

[Tulse]

Interesting that this rumoured deal would be just in time for the new iPods that Think Secret says are coming in August (www.thinksecret.com/news/augustipods.html).

[HasanDaddy]

I'm with the guys who are on the EDUCATION boat

I'm enrolled to recieve a Master's in Teaching and technology has done nothing but HELP my teaching and my learning

the iPods uses are limitless!!!

now, someone did mention a Palm Pilot, and that is a good point, however, the Palm is simply lacking in storage

Many Americans are becoming graphic artists, engineers, etc etc -- jobs that reguire LARGE files -- so the iPod makes sense here

eventually, iPods will probably have the technology to input data, share data, etc --- making them even more worthwhile!

This plan has my vote!

[tabascojrc]

Isn't arn from durham, does he have any affiliatiaon with duke? I always wondered, being a duke alum myself.

[zelmo]

Duke Sucks. Go Terps!:)

Seriously, this has some interesting potential, and Duke seems like just the type of university to try something like this.
Be interesting to see where this leads...

[Downdivx]

This is slightly on topic but I remember recently Napster was or did team up with some university to provide free downloads to all their students though it was part of their tuition. I see how that could have people shaking their heads but the iPod itself has multiple uses.

BTW, where do I sign up my school ;)

Penn State and Rochester University both had deals like this last school year.
More schools will be having services like this next year and from companies other than Napster.

W

[The Sheck]

Personally, if I had a choice between getting an ipod and paying $500 less for my college education, I'm taking the $500. I'll buy an ipod with my own money and not have it be part of tuition expenses.

[Blue Moon]

Personally, if I had a choice between getting an ipod and paying $500 less for my college education, I'm taking the $500. I'll buy an ipod with my own money and not have it be part of tuition expenses.

As was already mentioned, $500 (not Duke's actual cost, don't be silly -- not to mention this might not even be reflected in tuition) is chump change for many of those entering into Duke.

[The Sheck]

As was already mentioned, $500 (not Duke's actual cost, don't be silly -- not to mention this might not even be reflected in tuition) is chump change for many of those entering into Duke.

Regardless of affordability, it's still an unnecessary cost.

[macridah]

check out this article

http://maccentral.macworld.com/news/2004/07/19/duke/

[Tulse]

How awesome is this? I found it especially interesting that Duke will have an iTunes-like site for getting course content. Education could be a huge new market for the iPod.

[Elan0204]

I think this is great. I really think the students will benefit a lot from all the content Duke will be making available. Not to mention the fact that they are all getting an awesome mp3 player. I'm sure there will be a lot of iPod DJ parties next year.

[baseballtwin]

Hey - my first post as well

Well, luckily for me, I'll be one of the incoming freshmen next year to get an iPod, which is very exciting. As far as recruitment comments and things, it seems like they are only trying it out this year, and I doubt that Duke needs to give out iPods to get any students at all, thats what the bball team is for ;) . And, its a nice bonus to get a free iPod, especially because we don't have to pay any more for it, relatively speaking (and I already sent my first semester check to Duke before I found out about it).

And, btw, although I'm sure that many people at Duke can afford a $300 iPod, I'm not one of them, and I'm excited to be getting something that I have always wished I had :D.

[neverusedapple]

I think this is a great idea. Congratulations to both Apple and Duke for coming up with this. I personally have never used an Apple or Ipod, but think this is great for students (I use a PC and Pocket PC). Students are more mobile and having an Ipod to listen to music on the walk to class, while biking, running, etc is perfect. I think having the professor record and post the lecture it great or at the least have a friend from class record it if you are not able to attend. Docking stations to store and download projects is much better than additional server space. Great idea.

[GlobalGlenn]

NPR's Talk of the Nation ran an interview last week with one of the people at Duke responsible for this program, so it's for real. But, the money for this iPod deal for incoming Freshman is in no way connected with tuition expenses. It is money from a grant specifically for researching new uses of technology for education.

Duke has to spend the grant money on this research; after a two year study, they decided to run a one year trial with the iPod.

[personatech]

My daughter will be attending Duke as a freshman in the Fall, so I have a few comments and observations:

1) Only a minority of Duke students come from "rich" families (unless you use the Democrat definition of "rich" which is just about anyone not on welfare). In our case, she would not be attending Duke without the help of significant scholarships, grants and loans. I've been VERY impressed with Duke's dedication to its mission to recruit students from all walks of life - and this complement comes from a Carolina grad!!

2) We've been told that the iPods will be pre-loaded with the usual "how-do-I/where-do-I" freshman orientation info, complete with maps and a calendar. Excellent use of the technology, I'd say. I'm not sure about this, but it seems to me that we were also told that it would be the 15G model, so it looks like Apple may be cleaning out their warehouse in preparation of the release of new iPods.

3) The program announcement came too late to be a recruiting tool - the selection letters had long been distributed and acceptance deadline had passed by the time we learned of the iPod.

4) No one's mentioned Apple's "Cram and Jam" promotion where anyone buying certain new Macs with educational discount can get up to a $200 rebate on an iPod. Apple's trying to push iPod tech into education in ways other than simply providing them to Duke freshmen.

5) Duke is very Mac-friendly and offer some killer deals through their campus Apple Store. We'll be buying our daughter a 12" Powerbook with Airport Extreme, SuperDrive, 3 year Applecare and various and sundry accessories for under $1600 - wow!!! I'm not surprised to see Apple and Duke work out a program like this together.

6) ESPN.com has picked Duke to be 4th in ACC Basketball this season (behind Wake, UNC, and GT). Dookies will need something to do on those long cold winter nights when there are no bonfires to be lit... :rolleyes:

[personatech]

My daughter will be attending Duke as a freshman in the Fall, so I have a few comments and observations:

1) Only a minority of Duke students come from "rich" families (unless you use the Democrat definition of "rich" which is just about anyone not on welfare). In our case, she would not be attending Duke without the help of significant scholarships, grants and loans. I've been VERY impressed with Duke's dedication to its mission to recruit students from all walks of life - and this complement comes from a Carolina grad!!

2) We've been told that the iPods will be pre-loaded with the usual "how-do-I/where-do-I" freshman orientation info, complete with maps and a calendar. Excellent use of the technology, I'd say. I'm not sure about this, but it seems to me that we were also told that it would be the 15G model, so it looks like Apple may be cleaning out their warehouse in preparation of the release of new iPods.

3) The program announcement came too late to be a recruiting tool - the selection letters had long been distributed and acceptance deadline had passed by the time we learned of the iPod.

4) No one's mentioned Apple's "Cram and Jam" promotion where anyone buying certain new Macs with educational discount can get up to a $200 rebate on an iPod. Apple's trying to push iPod tech into education in ways other than simply providing them to Duke freshmen.

5) Duke is very Mac-friendly and offer some killer deals through their campus Apple Store. We'll be buying our daughter a 12" Powerbook with Airport Extreme, SuperDrive, 3 year Applecare and various and sundry accessories for under $1600 - wow!!! I'm not surprised to see Apple and Duke work out a program like this together.

6) ESPN.com has picked Duke to be 4th in ACC Basketball this season (behind Wake, UNC, and GT). Dookies will need something to do on those long cold winter nights when there are no bonfires to be lit... :rolleyes:

[HasanDaddy]

I'm with Persona here - great deal for Duke!

thanks for the insight, Persona!

[bearlan]

Persona,
First off, congratulations to your daughter and you on her admission into Duke. The education at Duke is second to none, and the investment made today will pale significantly when compared to the rewards she will gain academically, personally and professionally.
I have to echo your sentiments on the widely held perception that Duke is an elitist school for rich kids. I just completed my first year in one of the professional programs at Duke, and would hardly consider myself well off. My program is made up of people from various backgrounds, personalities and levels of wealth, testament again to Duke's commitment to diversity.
I am not sure of the history behind Duke and Apple's association, but I simply have to vouch for the efforts of Tom W. (full name withheld for his safety, naturally). Tom is an undergraduate student and the president of the Duke MUG, and has been a tireless champion for the Mac cause. He has never failed to answer any of the questions I've had about my Mac computing experience, through the Mac listserv at school. If you've visited the Duke computer store, you would probably already have met him, if you haven't, you probably will.
I strongly believe that the marriage of education and technology is a wonderful union. I foresee the widespread use of thin-film e-books someday, with each class session's material being broadcast to each student's machine as they walk into the classroom. The shortage of qualified, quality teachers can also be addressed by technology, as satellite classrooms make their way from tertiary education into the halls of K-12 schools. I predict that the Duke-Apple iPod deal will have a greater impact and significance on the educational process than we realise today. Then your daughter can look back on her iPod experience and say that she was part of something revolutionary. The one thing that I think is missing from this whole deal is an iTalk for each iPod. After all, those freshmen will need a device to record the Cameron Crazies as the Blue Devils destroy every team that visits ;o) . All the best to your daughter, Persona.

[Burns]

I would like to say i am in complete agreement. Technology and education should go hand in hand in more establishments. Sadly here in the UK (either through ignorance, or more likely, unwillingness to spend money) there are virtually no deals through universities (at least the ones i applied to) for things like laptops, iPod's, etc. Now there are independant companies that have offers, but they're nothing to write home about. I think if Apple could make similar deals with British Uni's, it would not only benefit staff and students, but could dramatically boost Apple's sales in the UK. As many of you are probably aware, the UK market is completely dominated by PCs and Windows (eugh) and i for one can't wait for britain to wake up to the superiority of the Mac, and to see how much it could benefit our education.

Oh and congrats Persona on your daughter's admission, from what i hear of Duke in newspaper's etc, seems to be a top-class university. :)

[millhouse_man]

I was reading Newsweek last week and came across something that made me furious. It was the issue after the one of Steve Jobs and the new iPod on the cover. There was a section where people call or write in and leave messages about the previous issue, so in this issue people were writing about the iPod issue. There was a girl from Durham, NC (Duke) who said she had seriosly never seen an iPod and questioned why the media is always blowing the iPod deal out of proportion. "They're only popular in big cities." What she said after this made me want to scream: "The iPod is just another fad. It's just another piece of junk headed down the technology dumpster."
I couldn't believe what I was reading. I also thought it was kind of funny that she said she hadn't ever seen an iPod (what a loser!) and that Duke was going to give away iPods to all freshmen, so she'll probably be seeing a lot of them this fall!