Forget normal back-to-school supplies, like a pack of Bic pens and a notepad; those are so 2007. While most first-year college students get either a free t-shirt or syphilis, Freed-Hardeman University in Tennessee is welcoming freshman students to campus by shelling out free Apple iPhones and Internet-capable iPods. Come again? Free Apple iPhones and Internet-capable iPods.

The always-on Internet devices raise some novel possibilities, like tracking where students congregate. With far less controversy, colleges could send messages about canceled classes, delayed buses, campus crises or just the cafeteria menu.

Thousands of students arriving on campus from a refreshing summer break are obviously thrilled with their new complimentary gadgets. Apple stands to win as well, hooking more young consumers with decades of technology purchases ahead of them. The lone losers, some fear, could be professors.

It is not clear how many colleges plan to give out iPhones and iPods this fall; officials at Apple were coy about the subject and said they would not leak any institution’s plans. Local Winnipeg universities are almost positively not on this list.

And you wonder why tuition fees are skyrocketing? I’m jealous of those lucky bastards. Somebody give me a free iPhone!

– With files from the New York Times

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