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Duke University Students Receive iPods
DSLAMngu writes "Freshman students at Duke University received their complimentary/paid for (however you want to look at it) iPod portable music players on Thurday. This deal was previously mentioned on /. here. After waiting in line, I eventually got my Duke-engraved iPod at about 9:00 PM with the rest of the freshmen at Brown dorm. I've written about the experience at my blog, and also included a copy of the Program Agreement and some photos of what the students received."
Smooth...
Slightly offtopic, but that blog has to be one of the most offensive web designs I've seen in ages. Background sounds, distracting unreadable colours, it's got them all!
How many drunken college students will lose these things around campus?
My first response was WHY would anyone want this (not including students)? Then it hit me. Apple wants it because 1. They've made a profit. 2. If this catches on they can tap into people they otherwise wouldn't have. The university wants it because now they can say to future people considering which university to go to "look our cool and high-tech we are." Win-win for everyone.
So what if they received their iPod. In one way or another they will pay for it in their tuition fee.
Sorry, but I still fail to see the significance of this story. What makes a small bunch of kids getting an iPod for free significant.
Could it be possible that the kids are being used as unsuspecting testers, to see what hacks they can come up with to beat copyprotection, or could it be to see what new, unsuspecting, unthought of and marketable ideas that come out of using it in ways that it was not originally intended for.
Does it go on forever?
Good to see they included the Belkin voice recorders with these, though I wonder why they didn't go with iTalks instead.
1 minute of voice recording on the iPod takes just one meg, so you could probably keep an entire semester's worth of lectures on an iPod.
Try to think less about "blogging" and iPods, and more about "female" things, mmmkay?
Looks like the site has some smarts, I got http://home.comcas.../rhythmandpolice.mp3 instead. And yes I'm glad my browser didn't open it, annoyingly however it got redirected to my download manager :)
WTF? Awful music playing at full volume on a blog webpage, and no glaringly obvious way to turn it off? Is this a practical joke on the Slashdot audience or do you really expect people to read that hellhole of a page?
"Class of 2008" means the class that will graduate in the year 2008, which means the class that is beginning a four-year program this fall.
Mod down posts with a "Free Mac Mini/iPod" sig, they're spam!
August 21st, 2004: Some kid gets an iPod. He makes a blog entry about it. Slashdot is first on the scene with the scoop! Lack of interest of the rest of the planet seemingly escapes notice.
He got an iPod, guys. I got one too. So does my friend Chris. Enough about the damn iPods.
REM Old programmers don't die. They just GOSUB without RETURN.
I hated every minute of looking at this guy's site so here's the most interesting part: The Program Agreement that students must agree to. (I really hope this kind of web design doesnt become prevalent once these freshman enter the real world.)
.
Duke University
iPod First-Year Experience
August 19, 2004 - May 2005
Program Agreement
Overview
Duke University is issuing first-year undergraduate students a 4th generation Apple iPod as part of a one-year pilot program between Duke and Apple, Inc. designed to encourage creative uses of technology in education and campus life. The Center for Instructional Technology, Division of Student Affairs, Office of the Provost, Office of the Executive Vice President, and the Office of Information Technology are the Duke sponsors. Throughout the academic year, faculty and students will be encouraged to experiment and develop innovative ideas uses [sic] for the iPod in the classroom and in campus life.
Student agreement
The student is responsible for the care of the iPod and keeping it in good working condition. A student whose iPod device malfunctions should first access online technical support resources (www.duke.edu/ipod). If students are unable to resolve an issue, they may contact the OIT Help Desk. Through an agreement with Apple, each iPod is covered by a special one-year warranty. If the Help Desk cannot resolve the issue and the iPod is under warranty, the Help Desk will provide the student with a replacement at no cost. In the case of theft, negligence, or damage to the iPod, students are financially responsible for replacing the iPod.
During the academic year, faculty and others will provide students with content for academic and personal use on the iPod. Students may also receive free "song codes", which allow them to download content from Apple's iTunes Music Store. Students must use the song codes for their intended purpose and may not sell them. Each student is responsible for understanding and adhering to copyright laws. For details, visit www.oit.duke.edu/security/user/usercopyright.html
The iPod remains the property of Duke University until the end of the spring 2005 semester, at which time the student becomes the owner. If for any reason the student is not enrolled at Duke University during the 2004-2005 academic year, he/she must return the iPod to the university in good working condition.
Terms and conditions
I have read the Program Agreement and agree to abide by the terms and conditions herein. I acknowledge that the iPod remains the property of Duke University until the end of the 2005 spring semester. If for any reason I am not enrolled at Duke University during the 2004-2005 academic year, I will return the iPod to the OIT Help Desk in good working condition.
Otherwise what's the point?
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
How did someone who could create that monstrosity of a log style be honestly evaluated as a suitable candidate for acceptance at Duke?
> means the class that will graduate in the year 2008
Apart, of course, from those members of the class who flunk out because they spend too much time posting their blogs about "look I got an iPod" on slashdot...
Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
For you corporate / wife still sleeping types, this page has background music.
Slay a dragon... over lunch!
He's probably a blueblood. Also, the presence of a blog bought him points on the "elitism tolerance scale". When colleges have "acceptance" standards and offer the $INSANE_SUM buyout excuse for the rest, we'll have this kind of arrogance. Honest, "suitable acceptance candidate" and $EXCLUSIVE_COLLEGE is asking for the impossible when found together, so the blog and program for the iPods can be expected.
"Forget the engineers." -Carly Fiorina, briber of MIT Technology Review.
...and *what music*. Most - annoying - song - ever.
RTFP. No, you don't even have to RTFA, just Read The Fucking Preview.
/. here.", with here being a link to that same story you posted.
In it you'll find the sentance "This deal was previously mentioned on
"Your effort to remain what you are is what limits you."
We don't do that "Class of " stuff where I live.
I guess any student at Duke could afford to cough up for a new one if it gets stolen?
-- it must be true, it's on the internet.
This brings up an interesting issue. Is Duke University actually encouraging/allowing their students to record lectures? I know that this is a reasonably big deal in the UK where, as far as I know, it is illegal; meaning that before recording, consent has to be asked of each individual lecturer. Many of the lecturers I know do not like the practice of students recording lectures for various reasons including:
1) They own the IP of their own lectures
2) Students tend to be easier distracted when they know (or at least think) that they will listen to the lecture again
3) The audio is only a small part of a whole presentation which includes writing on the blackboard, overheads etc.
Anyway, it seems a little strange to me that American universities are encouraging this so openly.
earth to meekus, he's a male model, i'm sure he's heard of styling gel
I think that kind of thing is only done in those rebellious colonies in North America.
I have a life. I really do. I've just chosen to ignore it.
Hey, I'll have a Creative Writing degree in 3 months. Hire me!
Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean there isn't an invisible demon about to eat your face
You mean the 18-month battery that people with the first generation iPods released in 2001 can often still use with no significant loss in play time? That 18-month battery? Yes I think that's right. He means the unreplaceable battery that Apple have a replacement program for, or for which you can buy third party replacement batteries.
At least it's not GM :)
Incoming Wakies get think pads. 2008 specs
Now that's cool...
Wow, this is just absolutly facinating for people who are not freshman at Duke Univ. It dosn't sound like more needless iPod promotion on /. Nope, not at all.
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
http://www.duke.edu/ipod/
...can we saytuition increases?
The PC Weenies: 11 Years of Online Tech 'Too
...I got a box with soap, hotel-sized shampoo, and clothes detergent. I think it was more from the dorm than the college.
Cheap state school (Cheapskate school)
Why read the article when I can just make up a snap judgement?
I just checked ebay and I am surprised that I haven't found any "Limited Edition Duke iPod's" for sale yet.
I thought universities were in the business of teaching, not hardware/music distribution.
They are. It's the students who are in charge of music distribution.
Leave your door unlocked and they'll also "distribute" your hardware.
When they came for the communists, I said "He's next door. Take him away. Goddam commies."
Out of the 650,000 geek elite, I'd think that about 649,000 would be able to whip up a basic spell check utility... for free... there's no shame in asking for help Mr. Neal.
...which is reasonable, but my question is: why put it online then?
I don't think I've backpedaled from a click so fast in years. Holy crap. I could feel my retinas withering from the "maximum offensiveness" color scheme, and someone was pounding my head with a guitar turned up to 11 at the same time. Lovely wake-up call, thanks.
-- http://frobnosticate.com
"Arghhh, my eyes. The goggles do nothing!"
-- McBain
Rather appropriate for this guy's background.
Bryan R.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance, or $12.50 as seen on eBay.....
News: Students at duke will all receive iPods.
Not News: One kid at Duke received an iPod.
But what if you fail a year? Do you have to trade in for a Class of 2009 iPod, etc? Or does this explain that US students graduate anyway, never mind if they never learned a thing and became world leaders with an IQ of an Urang Utang?
The thing I found most interesting is that they have the Duke university logo engraved on the back of it.
Imagine the branding possibilities here -- beyond the obvious BMW tie-in, what if the various colleges and universities licensed the use of their name/logo for use on the back of the iPod? The university wins, as it gets a cut of the fee and some publicity. The alumni are happy because now they have a personalized iPod they can show off to their friends. And Apple will likely take a cut too, so Steve is happy.
What about corporate branding? A Pepsi iPod, perhaps?
Chip H.
First, I love digital music and have my entire library in iTunes.
Duke's iPod program is a stupid idea. It's a recruitment perk with little legitimate educational value.
If Duke thinks Mr. Undergrad is going to be listening to Professor Flatulent's geology lecture while out jogging instead of paging through their Audioslave tracks, they've got another thing coming. If they believe Miss Undergrad will be up late studying, rather than melting the university's WAN swapping MP3s, Duke is in for a rude awakening.
Virtually all Duke students will have their own PCs. If the school wants to distribute MP3 instruction or event calendars, there's already an infrastructure to support it.
There are plenty of kids who can't even afford the tuition for community college (thank you, Mr. Bush). The price of an iPod would cover 3 semester hours at most of these institutions. If Duke really wants to do something to improve their campus' test scores, they should put a couple dozen kids who can't afford their University into a year's community college and offer scholarships to those who really distinguish themselves.
What's next? University supplied Gameboys?
This is my post. There are many others like it. If you don't like what you read here, go try one of the others.
Notice the cheap recycled cardboard in the fourth generation packaging where there was styrofoam in the third edition packaging. This was definitely a cut corner because I really did think the styrofoam was awesome before
Yeah, it totally blew my iPod experience for those three seconds it took me to remove the iPod from its box and throw away the cardboard, instead of throwing away nice shiny styrofoam. Let's go back to having a few million pieces of awesome styrofoam in the garbage, that totally r0x0r!!!
WOW, wtf are you asking that here for?
Anyway, try dragging the column delimiter at the top on the left side over some. "Image Name" might just be hidden. (i.e. the column has zero width)
__________________________________________
Take comfort in your ignorance.
Grandmaster Plague
The accounting firm that I work for in Canada did a similar thing. We've had a good year so far, so they gave the 1,000 people in our Toronto offices ipods. Everyone, professional staff, secretaries, IT folk, and even the summer students who are only here for a couple of months.
...")
;)
Good karma at the office.
The challenge is for the current IT staff. We have a standardized desktop, of which iTunes isn't a component. The firewall blocks CDDB lookups and P2P file sharing. So it's really for "home use only". I know some who don't have home computers. Complained to IT "what, I have to buy a $1,000 computer to enjoy this ?!"
I know others who grumbled "I'd rather have the cash". ("Hey idiot, there's this thing called eBay
Always a few wrinkles when you try to do something nice. I'm all for companies or schools getting ordinary people interested in technology with little toys. Makes us geeks even more in demand.
Andrew
It was the grad student ... in the lab ... with the iPod!
Seriously, Duke just handed out a whole slew of homicides waiting to happen.
Well, as a teaching assistant at Duke, I speculatethere are three main reasons this was done. First, despite a successful recent campaign, the University is broke. Now, the Med school, the Buisness school, the Graduate school, and the Engineering school are fine, but the general fund is rumored to be dry. Publicity stunts like this might be trying to recruit more students so the school can make some extra cash on tuition. Second, I think those responsible for the technology fund this came out of are so out of touch that they thought iPods could reduce the rate of music piracy at Duke via ITMS. Concern about University liability is rising. Third, iPods are pretty good firewire drives. If the computer labs are setup properly, this could be an easy way to allow students to port data around campus.
Of course, Duke's campus is wooded and relatively dark at night. The rates of violent crimes (sexual and otherwise) against students are fairly high. Giving the freshmen "mug me" earphones won't help.
Use the Firehose to mod down Second Life stories!
So halfway through second year, all these suckers.. err students are going to have to go out and buy new ipods to stay in school? What an awesome plan.
Uh... what does owning an iPod have to do with being able to attend the school? It's not like they're going to be thrown out because they don't have their iPod anymore!
Duct tape is like the Force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.
Isn't it a little presumptuous that the entire class will successfully graduate in 2008? I hope that those that plan their schedule poorly or change their major can trade in their IPod for one with a new enscription. Maybe a PSP would cover that?
Well, I'd pay a bit more if I had a bit of a hand in the options (read: modern day A31p equivalent), since the lack of expansion/PCMCIA bays is disturbing for such a machine. When did people only need one cardbus slot and no extra expansion slot, let alone the video being at XGA?
"Forget the engineers." -Carly Fiorina, briber of MIT Technology Review.
turn off the music on your blog, man.
I didn't flunk anything, but it still took me five years to get through my undergrad program at Southwest Missouri State U. Entered Fall '91, graduated Spring '96. I just took it a little slower.
Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
You're treating the iPod as an mp3 player, when it can also be seen as a data storage and retrieval device.
Calendars, notes, audio, alerts, and text.
Can you not imagine instances where it would be powerfully used? A German major downloads all his lab material onto the iPod, and listens to it on the walk home. A communications major downloads a handful of speeches and presentations, and listens to it on her way home. Anyone downloading their school's various activity calendars on the iPod, as well as an alert 2 days and the day of on really important ones?
A physics major uploading the Feynman Lectures and listening to it when he's bored. Yes, people do buy and read/listen to Feynman.
A music major will of course also load up on classics, contemporary pieces, and stuff.
A literature major might listen to some works on tape, after or before reading in paper... And those in a hurry won't read on books, I figure.
The iPod opens up a possibility of on demand and continual exposure. This is wearable computing, and while it might be underwhelming to you, I would suggest you hold judgment. It may be a bad idea, but I suspect it won't be. It may be a very, very, good idea.
GPL Deconstructed
These are pretty much standard issue at Berklee and i'd stay that 60% of the population has iPods, and it's growing every time students get their loan checks..
Tibbon
tibbon.com
THought the money could have been better used on research (or does Duke do that?..)
on the other hand you could record your lectures and listen to them later even if you were zoned out during the class. And you could intentionally fall asleep with it droning in your ears for accelerated (hypnotic?) learning.
Seriously though, I saw my brother's laptop when he was at Harvard Business School. There, they are serious about outfitting students for business and of course everyone is paying a lot for it. But, there is a web portal site that has *everything* on it, and I dare say it could hold audio of lectures if they wanted it.
Well more power into the students' hands is a good thing, though I heavily dislike the idea that it is Duke's property while they are at Duke. That is total bullshit. I would be interested in hearing some of the lectures though if Duke doesn't mind..
Can't render this page on safari, it freezes. Anyone with the same problem? Panther with latest version of everything.
Open Source Java Web Forum with LDAP authentication
Except that most students don't complete a "4 year" degree now in 4 years. Most freshmen entering college right now who actually complete their degrees will graduate sometime in 2009.
*NEWS FLASH* Hundreds of Muggers Descend On Duke University. Few of the attending Freshmen now retain their iPod. In an unrelated story: Sudden Glut of iPod's on eBay drive price of used iPod's down.
... and in the DRM, bind them.
And about the bg music; for a couple months I had the volume for my music cut in half when I cut it all together, but suddenly decided that lots of people had a mute button within easy reach of their keyboard. Bad assumption I guess, assume makes and ass out of you and me etc., but I can see where you guys are coming from. I have done web work with usability before, bringing a large portion of the NASA National Space Science Data Center website (about 500ish pages) up to government-mandated Section 508 compliance and have felt a small twang of guilt once in a while about all the JavaScript, the bg, the music, and the weird text. Just realize that I believe that certain contexts allow for bending of the usual usability rules (gaming sites, pop culture pages, the personal blog sites of teenagers) when the intended audience is very focused.
Point is, I would much rather have my page look terrible than look like yours. I hope you can understand.
Peace
A "cut corner" as in "a measure taken where the consumer receives less value"? Or a "cut corner" as in "a measure taken where the new packaging performs just as well, but reduces costs - which in-turn trickle down to the consumer"?
In spite of your conclusion that the previously used styrofoam was "awesome", do you really think that Apple would decide to use a less-than-secure packaging medium, and risk a huge increase in the amount of units that arrive to the consumer in a damaged state?
Mod this man up.
That's the most retarded shit I've seen/heard since like 1997.
-bZj
.sig
Here is a bookmarklet called Zap to get rid of all that:
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P.S. The Zen from creative labs is about the same size, $100 cheeper and more geek friendly then iPod.
javascript:(function(){function R(w){try{var d=w.document,j,i,t,T,N,b,r=1,C;for(j=0;t=[%22obje
Shit, when I went to university just about every lecture was automatically recorded at a central location, for any lecture hall which was equipped with the A/V equipment. It was routine that if you missed a class or just wanted to listen to the lecture again that you could go and pick up a tape. Whatever is so strange about it?
w s06240416.html -- they've developed a system for automatically recording all lectures and, if the prof approves, immediately making the lectures available over the web in WMV/MP3 format on a password protected site.
Read this article: http://www.sfu.ca/mediapr/sfu_news/archives/sfune
Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
Plus there wasn't even styrofoam in the 3rd gen packaging. Mine had molded plastic spacers. This guy is a hack!
Pretty much endemic to the generation. By 2001 it had gotten so bad at the college I attended that a few professors had a new guideline on their syllabi stating that students giving oral presentations either could not use presentation software or were strictly limited to a black-on-white scheme with absolutely no unnecessary graphics or animations, with necessary being interpreted in a rather strict manner, no sounds, and no fades.
Usually violations of this guideline were minor, but I did see severe repeat offenders have their grades liberally docked, and I can't say I was anything less than happy to see it happen.
"Thurday" :)
-rabbit
.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..-.-..- Linux is like a wigwam, no windows, no gates and an Apache inside.
That's actually reason #1.
Normally I just shout "Ow, My Retina!" but yes, that music sucks. The fact there's no option to turn it off makes it that much worse. Your out of focus closeup pictures suck.
wow, I've not been this annoyed by a website in some time.
-- There is no sig line, only Zuul.
slashdotting a xanga that plays music obnoxiously loud. awesome.
yeah i know this is just me bitching, but here i am listening to some very nice soothing iron & wine when all of a sudden i'm blasted with whatever it was that played before i closed my browser.
"We shall show mercy, but we shall not ask for it" -- Winston Churchill
If you want, you can try sending money to paypal@hatori42.com. Paypal dosn't like people using their service for porn, and I had my old account shut down due to accepting donation on the autopr0n main page. But hopefully simply posting this address on slashdot won't cause any problems.
Other then SPAM of course...
autopr0n is like, down and stuff.
I suspect that this is not for the reason that other people are mentioning. My sister just came back from school and I checked that application log I had put on her computer last time she returned and insisted I do lots of work on it. That log showed that she had booted it twice in the past year. Both times, the computer was on for less than a half hour.
I suspect that the reason for the free ipods was to motivate students to both turn on and use their computers, instead of letting them sit in boxes for the next 4 years.
There is peer pressure here.