Filed under: Apple Corporate, iPod Family, Apple, iPhone
University: Trade in your Winbook for a MacBook
Oklahoma Christian University (OC) joins Abilene Christian University in becoming the second school in so many weeks to "go Mac." When OC students (and faculty) return to school this summer, they'll be issued shiny new MacBooks. That's great, but consider this - students who show up with Windows laptops will be able to exchange them with the school for MacBooks.
As Ron Popeil would say, "But wait, there's more!" Students will also be offered an iPod touch or an iPhone from the university (students will be responsible for the activation of the iPhone with the service provider).
Combine that with campus-wide Wi-Fi and an aggressive technology in education initiative, and OC just became very attractive to many high school seniors.
[Via MacDailyNews]
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Jon Brown said 7:42PM on 3-02-2008
http://blogs.oc.edu/ee/index.php?/ocnews/im_a_mac_im_oc_video/
Do you think they got permission for the I'm a Mac. I'm an PC parady ad?
I can't help but wonder what on earth is driving up tution costs across the country...
and I can't help but wonder if this is a bribe being offered in an act of desperation on the part of the university, or if they actually have an integrated technology plan that makes use of the computers...
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CT A said 8:35AM on 3-03-2008
Under Copyright law, You don't to give credit or ask for permission if it's a parody.
Reply to Jon Brown said 9:46AM on 3-03-2008
The new Mac program is a wash for the University and it's students. No one's costs are going up because of this program. That was what made the program so attractive to the school... that is, they could switch from their Dell laptop program to the new Apple program without any added expenses for anyone on campus... AND they could give their students iPhones.
Dan Parmelee said 8:21PM on 3-02-2008
If the school uses this as a marketing tool (which they probably will), I'll be sick. What ever happened to choosing a school based on its academic excellence?
So you give them $100,000+ over the next four years, and they offer you a laptop (that will surely be outdated before you graduate).
If you can afford to go to that school, you can likely afford a laptop.
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Caitlin said 10:21PM on 3-02-2008
What happened to the argument that macs don't get outdated in a short period of time? Yes, something new and better comes along shortly.
My PowerBook is about to turn four and it is doing wonderful.
Simon Arch said 12:39AM on 3-03-2008
My MacBook is going on two and it's nowhere near outdated. It runs the latest system without a problem. Sure, I can't play games, but that's why I have a Windows box.
BHendrix said 2:20AM on 3-03-2008
Caitlin: I know what you mean. During the System 7 days Apple often made a big deal about older Macs being able to run the latest version of Mac OS. But then, this was probably because Mac OS changed relatively little during this time.
I'll just point out, though, in response to Dan, that a 933MHz Power Mac from 2002 will run Leopard. So perhaps the situation today isn't so bad that these students' computers will be useless by the time they graduate.
unclejerry said 1:28PM on 3-03-2008
I love my G4 iBook. Runs everything great, only thing it's missing is an iSight, but a $40 xbox camera has fixed that.
I talked to a local "art school" a couple of years ago and they were "giving" students the current G3 iBook at the time. If it had been a powerbook then I might have considered it. Good thing I didn't go with that school though cause they've recently been sued by former students cause it turned out they weren't really a credited school...
mentalsticks said 8:34PM on 3-02-2008
ridiculous.
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Ian Littman said 8:37PM on 3-02-2008
Wow...that mac guy was lame, unexcited, etc. OC person? Accaint thayker thayun a stick 'a buttur. I can poke fun as I'm from a bittle south, in TX :)
Bet AT&T is gonna be happy, too. That, or people are going to start a new wave of switching iPhones to T-Mobile.
At any rate, I'm sure the IT guys are releived. I'm sure all the college students whining about Macs and such will stop...waaaaait...now they can't use Ruckus anymore unless they set up Boot Camp. Does it end? Nope.
Just hope the promotion is retroactively applied to those who entered right efore the promo started, aka a friend of mine who started there fall '07. Se'll be paying $200 extra per semester for this campus-wide privilege I'm sure.
Heh, if my school gave out free computers they'd likely be Gateway laptops; there are a total of 15 Macs on campus in computer labs etc. but there have got to be twenty or thirty times that many PCs. I'm sure that here the proportion of students using Macs versus more liberal-arts colleges is lower (CO School of Mines, my school, runs their e-mail system on Horde gosh darnit, and has Windows Server providing login for the computer labs to people) but there are a fair number of Mac users in the student body (though some of them run Linux on their Macs), and a fair number of professors use Macs.
Then again, nobody knows about the Dell discount program the school also has.
Anyway, just checked and my friend can trade in her laptop for a Macbook, looks like All is well in the world...
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Trimalchio said 8:45PM on 3-02-2008
Too bad its christian and in oklahoma, because if it were a real school with real diversity and commitment to academics, located in even a slightly interesting place then maybe I'd want to go there. Oh well. Looks like they're just going to be another higher education gimmick.
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Jeff Kirk said 10:19PM on 3-02-2008
So are you claiming that since it's a Christian school, it's not a "real school"? Just curious.
Trimalchio said 1:55AM on 3-03-2008
Yes.
I don't care what people say, I'm not going to think of a Christian University as being on the same level as top public and private universities that don't aim to provide a sheltered experience. They're just not real universities to me.
Simon Arch said 1:55AM on 3-03-2008
That's what it sounds like to me. Save us from small-minded bigots.
Trimalchio said 2:25AM on 3-03-2008
I'm open to being proven wrong, show me a top researching university with numerous nobel laureates and a thriving academic program and true diversity that also has "Christian" in the name and I'll change my tune, but until they put something up that'll rival the Ivy league or top public universities, I'm not going to think highly of them.
Feel free to think poorly of me. My name says how I am. (kinda)
Jeramy said 3:16AM on 3-03-2008
well, stereotyping a school as bad simply because it's christian isn't really effective. but i really wouldn't argue with you about this one. i grew up in the same town as the university, and i'm not sure many people really consider going there.
Jared said 10:26AM on 3-03-2008
Quote:
"I'm not going to think of a Christian University as being on the same level as top public and private universities that don't aim to provide a sheltered experience. They're just not real universities to me."
Quote:
"Save us from small-minded bigots."
Fact is, you are all the "small-minded" bigots. Have you ever been to OCU? Do you know anyone that has ever graduated from OCU?
Here's what our culture is coming to, including these increasingly idiotic comments on gadget blogs: the small-minded who are bigoted against Christians simply because they are Christian are more dangerous to this country than any of the so-called "small-minded bigots" you think are running around schools like OCU.
Frankly, I'm getting ready for the day that you "open-minded" and "tolerant" "progressives" start pushing to lock up Christians just for being Christian. Can't be that far away can it? Of course, you'll continue to justify your own bigotry all the while. America is becoming a frightening place for Christians.
And its obvious you know few, if any, Christians and believe the propaganda against religious Americans that is served up daily on TV and the Internet, in music and movies and the rest of entertainment culture. Exactly who is "brainwashed" here?
Oh, and what about OCU not being as good as a top level university?
From Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_Christian_University#Academics
"For 2007, Oklahoma Christian University was ranked No. 7 among comprehensive universities in the 16-state Western region by U.S. News and World Report[1]. This marked the 12th consecutive year OC earned national recognition in the magazine's rankings and the sixth consecutive year the university was ranked in the top 10. Oklahoma Christian is one of only two members of the 107-school Council for Christian Colleges and Universities with accreditation of two of its engineering programs, and is the only non-research university in Oklahoma with accredited engineering programs. For the years 2002-2006, graduates from OC's School of Business Administration achieved the highest pass rate on the CPA examination of all Oklahoma universities. OC graduates have a 98 percent acceptance rate to medical school and graduate science programs. For nine straight years beginning in 1998, OC's chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society, was selected as the nation's best chapter in its division."
But maybe that does fit in with your small-minded, bigoted view of Christian universities.
Bring it on, you bigoted, intolerant hypocrites.
Trimalchio said 10:44AM on 3-03-2008
Wow. I just said I don't place a 2000 student comprehensive university on the same level as other traditional universities. I never said anything about how I want to lock up all christians!
If you're legitimately worried about christian persecution, you're a paranoid person and should seek psychiatric treatment.
Jared said 11:11AM on 3-03-2008
I didn't say you were a small-minded bigot. I was responding to Simon Arch's comments.
I highlighted Wikipedia's entry as a response to your insinuation that OCU is not a "real" school.
I don't need psychiatric help. Guess you don't mind offending someone who defends Christians by insinuating "mental instability", eh?
Fact is, Christians are increasingly persecuted in America simply because they don't fall in line with the elite "progressive" ideology. If you don't know that, then you're not paying attention. Christians around America are being sued or taken before "Human Rights" commissions because of their beliefs and their ideology. No one is allowed to question "progressive" ideology, though. No no.
Sorry if you think my reaction is too strong, but as a Christian, I'm tired of putting up with the bigotry and social persecution that we have to put up with because the "tolerant, open-minded progressives" gather around and join in the insulting and derision. Where are our defenders in the the media or on the Internet? Hmmm? If we don't start standing up for ourselves, there isn't any "progressive" who is going to come to their sense and realize that they marginalize Christians and Christianity to their own detriment.
Simon Arch said 11:25AM on 3-03-2008
Jared, I was referring to Trimalchio as the small-minded bigot, and I think based on his responses I was correct in that assessment.