Free offers are routine marketing tactics, but Apple's offer to host college professors' lectures on the web for free is still a stand-out.

Joe Dysart

Flush with the success of its iPod music player, Apple will host your professors' lectures on the web in podcast format —
a fancy term for web-friendly audio — at absolutely no charge.

You'll even get your own web address, a password-protected domain, and the option to add your school colors, logo and photos to help make the place feel like home.

Granted, Apple is obviously making the offer in an effort to further penetrate the educational market with its technology. But for any university looking to offer a new value-added service for students and faculty with minimal cost and effort, this is a no-brainer.

iPods are now more popular with college students than beer -- at least according to a recent study from market research firm Student Monitor. Plus, Apple has designed its service, which it calls iTunes U, so that even the most adamantly non-technical can record and upload a lecture with just a few clicks. Downloads are just as easy to an iPod or other MP3 player.

Downloads can be pre-scheduled automatically. And the service represents no additional strain on your IT department. Apple hosts your lectures domain on its own servers, and handles all the details.

Joe Dysart is an internet speaker and business consultant based in Thousand Oaks, California. Reach him on the web or by e-mail at joe@joedysart.com.