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."

Re:The significance

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, having actually RTFA, it says that it is for the latter, ie. the unsuspecting, unthought of and marketable ideas etc.

From the program agreement from the article...

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.

Text of iPod Program Agreement

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:Lectures as MP3?

[Shadeborn]

Yes. From the original article: [duke.edu]

Through a special Duke Web site modeled on the Apple iTunes site, students also can download faculty-provided course content, including language lessons, music, recorded lectures and audio books.

And a word to the wise

[nahdude812]

For you corporate / wife still sleeping types, this page has background music.

Re:Dupe alert!

[Justin205]

RTFP. No, you don't even have to RTFA, just Read The Fucking Preview.

In it you'll find the sentance "This deal was previously mentioned on /. here.", with here being a link to that same story you posted.

Re:Recording lectures.

[Anonymous Coward]

Bizarre. I come from New Zealand, and over here, people taping lectures is quite common, and the lecturers don't care at all :)

I speak from personal experience - broke my hand one semester, and had to use a tape recorder (it was mid-90s). I sat up front so the cruddy mike could pick up the lecturer and they didn't even bat an eyelid.

Guess it's just something about the UK - maybe they're all paranoid/greedy over there or something ;)

Re:A double whammy for comcast and the RIAA!

[Bilestoad]

If you HATE websites that make a noise...

do not visit the website linked (DSLAM's blog) - it plays music.

You have been Informed.

Official Website...

[TiMac]

Website of the Duke iPod First-Year Experience:

http://www.duke.edu/ipod/ [duke.edu]

Re:eBay

[jbartone]

The iPod still belongs to Duke for a year, then the student owns it.

Thought it was not educational but..

[mattr]

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..

Re:Creative uses?

[friendscallmelenny]

Clearly you have never been around posh private schools (at least this one). The university of new jersey at durham is famous for its on-campus drinking. They don't dare go into town where they might encounter smelly people (that covet iPods). Between the spoiled rich kids and the sheltered brainiacs having their first drinks, Duke abounds in drinking.

disgruntled tarheel

Re:The significance

[OmniVector]

Sure, you have to be enrolled to get the iPod, but the $250+ fee thereafter is not part of tuition. The iPods were given out as part of a $500,000 grant.

Design

[DSLAMngu]

Haha hey guys, sorry for the offensive web design, I'm aware of all the nonstandard crap I pulled off. But get this: personal blog. All the stuff on there is par for the course when it comes to the usability wasteland that is Xanga, and trust me, I have seen much worse [xanga.com]. Thanks for the insight though, but Xanga already offers actual standard and relatively usable designs and you know how kids like me go, with our predisposition towards this "customization" bullshit. I'm not a web design person, but I know about the readability against the background problem and you have no idea how long it took to try to darken the whole thing just right. But I think it's a good call to get rid of or change the bg though, thanks to those of you old folks with terrible monitors and crap eyes. Just realize that for the most part, with all due respect, you are not the intended audience.

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

nice critique...

[Zooka]

"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"

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?

Re:so what..

[SlartibartfastJunior]

Okay, I just graduated from Duke, and worked in the admissions office this spring when this came to light internally. The money for this was sitting in a fun earmarked for "technology" but with several restrictions on it (I assume from some donor). So this is not coming out of tuition (this year), and Duke could not have done much else with it.