Apple seem to live by the old marketing credo that if you get them young they will stay with you forever, and they are now getting good help from some Universities that now requires students to have either an iPod Touch or an iPhone to attend certain courses, such as journalism.

Universities has long been a stronghold for Apple as their products are very popular among the fashion and gadget conscious students, and given the fact that most students today is likely to have an iPod of some sort, the Missouri journalism school has decided to make it a requirement to have either an iPod Touch or an iPhone.

Universities are increasingly taking advantage of the opportunities that comes with the new iPod Touch and the iPhone in terms of delivering additional content and study material electronically to students. both through their own websites and email, as well as taking advantage of the free iTunes University. This will be used to deliver video recordings and podcast of lectures and study material to students to make it easier to prepare for exams and coursework.

One also has to consider that the iPod Touch and the iPhone are two of the most cutting edge and growing media channels at the moment, and in journalism courses it is important to be able  to be in touch with the latest technology and trends that are driving the media world forward. This is not just about teaching students the theories behind journalism, but also about exploring how technology is changing the way people view and use media.

One can of course argue that it is not fair of the Universities to force a certain type of technology on a student, such as choosing a Mac over a PC, or an iPhone over a Blackberry, but for Apple this is just another great distribution channel that means more cash in their product development account, which will hopefully continue to drive innovation forward.

So if you plan to study journalism or any other media course at University, you might just want to start looking at investing in an iPod Touch or iPhone already.

[raitings]