'Free iPods for students' unveiled

One of the top US universities has decided to give every one of its first year students an iPod, saying the music player will "encourage creative uses of technology".

Duke University in North Carolina has said that each of its freshmen - all 1,650 of them - will be given a 40GB iPod with university information stored on it, including an academic calendar.

The university will also offer an iTunes-themed website where students can download more scholarly content, including audio books, recorded lectures and other course material - and the usual iTunes music buying facilities.

Tracy Futhey, Duke's VP for information technology, said on the university website that she expects students will use the devices 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", maybe even by creating an iPod-compatible student newsletter.

While students won't have to pay a cent towards their iPods, thinking of them as free might be a mistake - US students have to pay course fees that can total tens of thousands of dollars a year.

Despite an agreement with Apple to supply the iPods at a discount, the scheme will cost the university around $500,000 in total, including paying for an "academic computing specialist" to oversee the project.

It's not a scheme that's likely to take off on this side of the Atlantic, however. A Cambridge University spokeswoman said it had "no plans" to provide a similar techie giveaway, while an Oxford University spokeswoman had a stronger view.

Would Oxford consider the scheme? "Almost certainly not. Whilst Oxford is strong on innovation and very much encourages it... we would rather spend money on teaching and on bursaries than on iPods," she told silicon.com.