Details about the Duke University iPod deal

Details have emerged about Duke University's pilot project to distribute iPods to its students.

1650 first-year students will receive a 20 GB 4G iPod. Each iPod will be preloaded with school materials, and there will be downloads available on an ongoing basis of lectures, music, and audio books, among other things.

The cost to the university is $500000, but that includes not just the iPods, but also support costs, faculty grants, and analysis of the project. It is unclear as to how much of that $500000 represents hardware costs. (The usual educational price for the 20 GB iPod is $269, and thus the full non-discounted price for 1650 of them would be $443850. However, we can be sure that Duke didn't pay this price.)