New students at Duke University will get free iPods, ostensibly to help them with “orientation information, calendars etc. Academic use will include audio recording of lectures, audiobooks and other yet to be determined uses i.e. cheating”, according to Peter Davidson.
Not a bad idea, although as Davidson points out, it’s little more than a gimmick to lure students (there must be better and cheaper gadgets for doing this kind of thing). I certainly like the idea of audio lectures: I record all my interviews onto my trusty Olympus DM-1, and still feel the Olympus transcribing software that accompanies it is the best in the business.