Japan University Gives Free iPhones to Students !

As American school children, we are taught to horde are cell phones in our pockets, and above all, never to let a teacher see your precious hand held line of communication. In Japan, this is a remarkably different situation. A private school in Japan has now begun to give students free cell phones, and not just any cell phones, iPhone 3g’s ~ ! The give away is a result of a deal engineered by Aoyama Gakuin, who signed with SoftBank, the exclusive vendor of the iPhone in Japan.

The iPhone will be used as an exclusive part of the students study materials, and will be jointly used as a device to nab truant students who decide they are too cool for school. Students will now be required to respond to roll call via their iPhone and will not be able to claim attendance outside of the classroom, because of the iPhones built in GPS unit.

The university will cover the students basic phone plan, data package, and hardware. However, anything beyond the basic data package will have to be picked up by the students themselves - most likely picked up by their parents. The new program is currently in its adolescence with only about 550 students using the iPhone, but the school plans to have this number up to about 1000 students by years end.