Students: Get an iPod touch free with qualifying Mac purchase
Apple is launching its back-to-school promotion today, and according to MacRumors it's expected to be its largest promotion ever.Apple is offering "a free 8GB iPod touch ($299) to college students who buy a qualifying Mac (MacBook, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, Mac Pro)."
VentureBeat goes further, contending that putting Apple's mobile platform in the hands of students practically ensures its dominance in the marketplace. "You can kiss the desktop computer goodbye," MG Siegler writes. "It's time to start training the young minds of today about the future of computing: mobile."
Instead of an iPod touch, students can opt for an 8GB iPod nano, but it's hard to see why anybody would want to do this with the soon-to-be-launched App Store.
The promotion ends September 15.
Thanks Eliot, Chris, Bert, Matt, and everyone who sent this in!
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Neil said 12:08PM on 6-03-2008
"but it's hard to see why anybody would want to do this"
Uh, how about the fact that for an 8GB MP3 player the iPod touch is an absolute brick?
Reply
Kris said 12:11PM on 6-03-2008
but for lots of other things, it's not. see: App Store.
Fernando said 12:53PM on 6-03-2008
but for being what it's supposed to be its main function (MP3 player), it is.
we can do this all day :)
Brandon Martinez said 1:24PM on 6-03-2008
So let's get it on!
iPod touch is not an "Mp3 Player". The iPod Touch is a mobile devices that happens to play Mp3s :P
Seriously though, if you like the extra features, like I do, the iPod Touch is the way to go. If you want something smaller, are only interested in the music (and the occasional tiny video), then go with the Nano.
As with anything in this tech world (for the most part), it's personal preference.
green18fan said 3:21PM on 6-03-2008
This may sound crazy, but are you the same Neil from GTAGaming?
yakov chodosh said 6:22AM on 6-04-2008
"let's get it on!"
oh, Brandon!
moonmarked said 12:40PM on 6-03-2008
I was just mentioning to someone that I'm surprised that there's not much buzz about the app store--isn't the store expected to open with the announcemnt of a new iPhone?
Reply
(01) said 12:18PM on 6-03-2008
I hope I'm wrong here, but will all these free iPod touches need to be fed $X dollars when 2.0 hits?
Reply
Robert Palmer said 12:21PM on 6-03-2008
It will probably depend on when the purchase is made. If someone buys a Mac/iPod today, then they'll probably need to pay for an upgrade when the next software update rolls out.
If they buy a little after the update happens (and they have until September to buy), the iPod will probably come pre-loaded with the software update.
(01) said 12:23PM on 6-03-2008
Robert, good call, I forgot most people will be buying their gear later in the summer (post-2.0 drop) and shouldn't be an issue.
Mark Fleser said 12:24PM on 6-03-2008
They're trying to get rid of them! Most likely because they're going to phase out the 8 gig and add a 32 gig Touch. Last year during the promotion they announced the new Nano in the middle of the promotion, but even after that you could only get the old Nano.
Reply
Chris said 12:28PM on 6-03-2008
They're "going" to add a 32GB touch? You're full of secret news that has already happened!
Mark Fleser said 12:31PM on 6-03-2008
I meant 64. I was half way there.
peter.drier said 12:37PM on 6-03-2008
PRODUCT ELIGIBILITY: This offer is available only on purchases of new products. All new Macintosh computers and the Configure-to-order versions of these products
are eligible, except for Mac mini and 17” iMac.
Since when is there a 17" iMac.. I smell a new product coming..
Reply
Colin said 12:48PM on 6-03-2008
It exists:
http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/imac/
peter.drier said 1:00PM on 6-03-2008
my bad.. the 17" is 2-3 generations old at this point I totally forgot it existed as a currently selling product..
Ryan Trevisol said 1:02PM on 6-03-2008
Damn, didn't realize we could still order those. Guess I'm not getting a new computer next school year.
TVGenius said 12:38PM on 6-03-2008
I was wondering how they were going to handle this since I think it's pretty likely we'll see some changes next week to the iPod lineup, either in price or capacity (or both hopefully). I notice in the fine print it specifically says that the rebates will not exceed the price of the iPod, and since Apple never has 'sales', to me that indicates they're planning on a price drop at some point.
Reply
Vince said 3:47PM on 6-08-2008
No, they're saying that you could get a 4GB nano or a Shuffle and your rebate wouldn't be for $299, but for the price of the iPod.
Vince said 3:52PM on 6-08-2008
And the 8GB Nano is $199, so they're obviously not going to give you $100 in cash.