Stanford Lectures on iTunes

NEW YORK - In an unprecedented move, Stanford University is
collaborating with Apple Computer to allow public access a wide range
of lectures, speeches, debates and other university content through
iTunes. No need to pay the $31,200 tuition. No need to live on campus.
No need even to be a student. The nearly 500 tracks that constitute
"Stanford on iTunes" are available to anyone willing to spend the few
minutes it takes to download them from the Internet.

While a number of other universities are now using iTunes to
distribute class-specific content to their students, including Duke
University, Drexel University's School of Education and the University
of Michigan School of Dentistry, Stanford is the first to make a
substantial amount of recorded university events available to the
public at large.

"One of Stanford's primary missions is to educate the public," says
Scott Stocker, director of Web communications. Allowing the public to
access the content "just felt like the right thing to do," says Cindy
Pearson, director of alumni programs.

Duncan Beardsley of Stanford's class of 1959 says he has already
downloaded about 30 tracks from Stanford on iTunes since the public
launch last October. A lecture called "Trials and Truth" from a series
entitled "Classes Without Quizzes" originally piqued Beardsley's
interest. He's also downloaded lectures about global warming, why
baseballs have stitches and correlations between how baboons and
humans live.

Stanford has big plans for adding new content going forward. One
example is recordings of sports events, says Pearson. November's
Stanford versus Berkeley football game, known on campus as "The Big
Game," is already videotaped and mailed to alumni clubs overseas. The
plan is to use iTunes new video capabilities so folks will be able to
watch the game without waiting for the package to come in the mail,
says Pearson.

Walking tours of the campus might also be in Stanford on iTunes'
future, she says. The public could "tour" Stanford's campus or art
collection from home. Or, a visitor to campus could bring an iPod or
MP3 player, or borrow one from the school, and set out on a guided
audio tour.

It's catching on. Over 130,000 tracks were downloaded from the site in
the first two weeks, says Stocker. Through the end of the fall
semester in December, on average, more than 15,000 tracks were
downloaded per week.