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Blue Moon said:
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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.
 
Interviewed on NPR

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.
 
Duke's iPod

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:
 
Duke's iPod

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:
 
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.
 
Agreed.

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. :)
 
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!
 
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