Buy College Education, Get Free iBook

kraksmoka writes ""The Chronicle of Higher Education has an article about how Saint Leo University in Florida is offering an iBook laptop to every incoming residential student and full-time faculty member. '... the draw of the iBooks has encouraged some of the more than 1,700 students at the university's main campus who would otherwise commute to live in dormitories, which makes the program a success in the university vice president's eyes.'" The students do not keep the computers, unless they finish two years in the honors program.

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Not economical.

[Patik]

The reason people commute is to save the >$5000 cost of room and board. Why would they trade that savings in for a $2000 laptop that they can't even keep? One would be much better off buying their own iBook and commuting -- total savings of $3000, rather than plunking down $3000 ($5000 room/board minus laptop) for the 'rental' of an iBook.

Re:Not economical.

[dbarclay10]

Your math assumes that by commuting, they spend absolutely no money on room and board.

I suppose a few of the students will be living with their parents, but they'll still have to pay for gas and vehicle maintenance.

For the rest of them, have you thought that maybe $5000-$1000(laptop) is *less* than what they'd pay if they're commuting? $4000 is a pretty good deal (to a lot of people) for room, board, not having to pay nearly as much for gas, and negligible vehicle maintenance costs.

What's the real cost?

[Anonymous Coward]

Call me cynical, but: How much did the tuition increase to pay for this? For some reason, tuition wasn't mentioned... What's the rate of theft on campus? Now with tuition and "student fees", they can pay both a Mac and a Microsoft tax. Great. Any what does any of this have to do with receiving a higher education?

Microsoft copy

[roseblood]

Look how they copy Microsoft's tactic of giving away computers with their OS.

Give students your OS, get them convinced that it's the only way a computer should work, and you've got a loyal userbase that *should* continue to use your OS and buy upgrades from you, instead of your competitors.

I'd like to see this program offer a choice. Do you want a MacOS, M$, or some flavor of unix on your free laptop?

Re:Microsoft copy

[gsfprez]

>I'd like to see this program offer a choice. Do you want a MacOS, M$, or some flavor of unix on your free laptop?

Yes. That's what they did.

They gave them a machine that does MacOS, M$, or some flavor of unix on your free laptop.

doofus.

Re:Microsoft copy

[runenfool]

Eh, it sorta comes with some flavor of Unix ...

And Apple isn't giving anything away. Those computers are certainly leased from the company. Apple makes a profit and holds the line on market share. Even more importantly from Apple's perspective it shows that it can be done.

As far as getting these kids on a free Unix, well thats a different battle. But going from OS X to Linux is less of a jump than from MS Win to Linux, don't you think? Besides, ANY alternative OS legitimizes the others to some extent because they prove that you don't HAVE to use Windows to get things done. Thats half the battle in getting people to try something else.

Re:Microsoft copy

[IamTheRealMike]

Yes. That's what they did.

No, they did not. Being able to use an emulator is not "giving them choice". What if they want to, golly gosh, play games?

Real choice would have involved them going to the students, individually and saying "What do you want? This is what we can afford". Some would have said Macs. Some wouldn't (surprise, Windows is still quite popular). Better still, just give them educational discount vouchers that they can spend on computers, books, gym membership, extra courses, whatever they like as long as it's educational.

Saying this is choice because you can get an emulator is ridiculous - it's a well known axiom that any computer is capable of emulating almost any other (within hardware limits). It doesn't mean they can do it well, or that it's something you'd want to do.

Re:Microsoft copy

[Reverberant]

What if they want to, golly gosh, play games?

Does Saint Leo University let you major in "Playing Video Games"?

successful marketing maybe

[wattersa]

but it doesn't seem to be attracting the brightest students. Since they are really just *lending* the ibooks to the residents, they can keep recycling them each year. Remember the original toilet seat ibook? Even if some students do complete the honors program and keep the ibooks, that expense is made back many times over by increased rent income for the school. A smart investment, definitely, but who are these people? Persuaded to spend a lot more for on campus housing for a $900 value spread over four years? That's about $18 per month, maybe the school should just offer them a few 12 packs.

Great idea... here's why:

[dagg]

This seems like a really good deal for Saint Leo University:

• Many students will not follow all the rules and will have to give the laptop back.
• After two years, the laptops will be monetarily worthless (definitely after four years). So why not just let the students keep them?
• I wonder if they're getting a tax writeoff? They could definitely save on taxes if they do it right.
• Obviously is getting them a lot of publicity.

--
Yersex of students

Re:Great idea... here's why:

[Anonymous Coward]

After two years, the laptops will be monetarily worthless (definitely after four years). So why not just let the students keep them?

He said Apples, not Dells. Seriously, in 2 years they'll still be worth $500.

Meanwhile

[sheepab]

Meanwhile....fee's to attend this college go up the exact price of an Apple IBook.

great motivators for my research students

[call -151]

I got a bunch of iBooks (for myself and grant-supported research students who are writing code for some of my projects) and the machines are great. We can move source code from there to our Beowulf clusters no problem, the students love them, and they were $1100 a year ago for the most recent batch (ed pricing, the ed pricing on Dell laptops was $1000 and that was for a clunker.) They are even cheaper now. Our `killer apps' are vi and gcc, basically, and under OS X stuff works like they expect it to, from their Unix experience, pretty much.

I've been able to recruit strong research students by giving them iBooks as well as a decent stipend, and Airport works so well that it's saved me the trouble of worrying about wiring the lab they use and they love using Airport all over the place. I've got some dedicated and loyal students who are doing lots of cool things and being able to give them good machines is definitely responsible for part of that.

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Re:I have owned 9 Macs

[tmark]

i am convinced that my new iBook 800 with combo drive is the best Mac i've ever owned.

Isn't this almost true by construction ? I mean, can one imagine buying a computer - *any* computer - that *wasn't* much better than their previous, older one ? I mean really, man, you're comparing you're new computer against, among other things, an ancient Powerbook !

And when you went to college you *did* have the opportunity to get that PB 100 ... the only difference is that in this example, the purchase price is hidden in the tuition cost.

What about Teaching Assistants?

[standards]

Doesn't everyone find it ironic that the most heavily worked and under-appreciated folks at a university, the Teaching Assistants and other staff people, are NOT eligable for the iBook deal?

No, I have never been a TA.
And I never want to be one.

Re:not free

[TeknoHog]

It's probably cheaper than everyone buying their iBooks separately. Bulk orders always work out cheaper per unit, moreso for educational institutions.