Free iPods for Duke Students

College says popular MP3 music players will be used to download lectures and books as well as songs.
July 21, 2004: 1:49 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNN/Money)

- Duke University will give Apple iPods to its incoming freshmen, with school officials saying the popular MP3 music players can be used for educational purposes as well as entertainment.

The school has set up a Web site modeled on Apple's iTunes music site that will allow students to download recorded lectures, audio books, language lessons and other course content.

The students can also use the site to purchase music, the North Carolina university said in a statement.

The iPods will also come preloaded with freshman orientation material and the academic calendar.

"We're approaching this as an experiment, one we hope will motivate our faculty and students to think creatively about using digital audio content and a mobile computing environment to advance educational goals in the same way that iPods and similar devices have had such a big impact on music distribution," Tracy Futhey, vice president for information technology at Duke, said in the statement.

I am completely jealous. I think it is am amazing idea to promote artistic thought and encourage the student body to preform academically and artistly through these handheld devises. NYU is to self serving and promoting to pull such a stunt.