University to Give iPad, MacBook to Every Student

[JMcEntegart]

A university in Pennsylvania has said it will kick off the new school year with an iPad and a MacBook for every student.

University to Give iPad, MacBook to Every Student : Read more

 

[kelewan]

Damn!

 

[Ghaz]

What, they get to keep them? Also, I dislike how this article refers to university student as 'kids' Seems a bit inappropriate.

 

[FATAL STR1K3]

Well... I am a senior in highschool and next year the college Im going to 'gives' every student a macbook with a lot of programs( based on you major, Im doing industrial design). After two years it's replaced and then you get to keep it upon graduation. Its exactly the same. The thing is that the cost of the laptop is added into your tuition

It's funny that they dont mention how they probably jack the price of tuition up a few grand so it seems as if its 'free'.

 

[Guest]

What a waste of money. This is one of the reasons most universities overseas graduate more scientists than we do. There is far too much focus on facilities and equipment and not enough on education here in the states.

 

[ikefu]

So what if you're an engineering student or CS major and have windows specific programs that you need but are still being forced to pay tuition fees for a Mac and iPad you won't use.

And how do they know that an iPad will have any practical application since its not out and they haven't even had a chance to try it out yet to see if they like it.

I smell tax and tuition dollars being flushed down the drain.

I like services like this but it really needs to be an optional addon to tuition fees and not something they just do.

 

[alyon]

If my university did this I would just sell it... I would also be pissed that my tuition paid for this.

 

[skykaptain]

I care around 3 heavy text books every other day for school and I don't mind, they give me more traction in the winer and I enjoy turning pages to pressing buttons. It also makes it easier to flip from problems, to examples, to tables in the back of the book. I also avoid costs by borrowing books from friends I know, that have already taken the class, plus I wait till I have to buy the book as some class never use them.

 

[PaTrond]

At my school we get MacBook... and it sucks! Cheap, lacks GPU and little RAM = barely does PhotoShop, makes a great amount of noise when on YouTube (even low resolution movies will make noise). The (a bit) famous Wi-Fi drop-out problem also strikes and I have to restart the PC every time. The cd-rom also makes a lot of noise.

Why don't they just give the Asus UL80VT? It's more powerful and got a battery life nothing else can match..

 

[Guest]

And when they graduate they'll receive diploma and a cup of Jim Jones punch!

 

[thackstonns]

So They give me an Ipad, I use it for all my classes, Life is wonderfull. I fill it up with notes, music, movies, and then I drop it, or better yet it gets stolen. No more notes, no more books, no more anything. I end up working at McDonalds. Thanks Apple, Thanks Alot

 

[Hilarion]

Just another way for Apple Almighty to create more Apple Sheeple.
They did the same thing with the Apple IIE by practically giving them away to schools. The college will likely get a VERY BIG price cut from Apple Almighty for this little stunt.

 

[Foxer57]

More universities should be using this approach. At my college, they give out Lenovo Thinkpads to all students and Macbooks to art and design students. Sure, they are slow and what-not, but the university breaks even, if not saves money because they don't have to have computing centers, and then pay to have those computers serviced and upgraded.

 

[Glorian]

yeah this is just a way to hike up tuition, i'm sure the mac itself will not have the best hardware, the likes of programs such as mathematica and maple need good speeds and memory, and on a measly 13" screen? I think not.

 

[JohnMD1022]

Give?

I don't think so.

 

[daggs]

someone has some extra cash...

 

[daggs]

someone has some extra cash...

 

[falchard]

More universities can do this now that the federal government has decided it will be responsible for all Student Loans from now on. Part of the Healthcare Reform act BTW. Infact, they can charge 50 bajillion in tuition; the student only has to pay the minimum payments for 10 years and the fed prints the difference.

 

[Lavacon]

How about cheaper tuition instead of over priced proprietary hard ware... College Inc. in this country is a joke. There use to be a day when you went down to a school to see what kind of on campus job you could get to help with tuition... Now you visit the bank first, and hell, anyone with clean credit or a family with money can go regardless if they have the intelligence. Don't even get me started on the athletes who get a free ride to take middle school level courses while the young adults who should be getting a free ride for their brains struggle to pay tuition....

 

[igot1forya]

Here's a better idea... lower tuition to allow more students to afford to go to school. My wife works for a university and theft is a HUGE problem with the equipment that is bolted down, let alone let up to the students to carry around.