IPhone for Campus

After observing the capabilities of the Iphone being used in an campus environment, I would think there are plenty of benefits to distributing this product to incoming freshmen. Freshmen of course, are often new to the college environment, and can get disoriented with registration requirements, selecting the right courses along with course expectations. The Iphone came embedded with socially enhanced functionality, which made it easy for instructors to contact and welcome students in advance and provide course information using instant messaging and chatting formats that today's generation is very comfortable with.
I really like the ability to alert students of campus alarm conditions, announcements, and possible stressed situations for it reminded me of the situation at Virginia Tech, where some students were vulnerable because they were unaware of what was going on. The phone provides internet access, podcasting for school lectures. It also provides the option for students to attend classes in a hybrid format, where classroom interaction is online during certain portions of the school week, along with a single traditional lecture on another day of the week, rather than two periods of lecture.
The one concern that I had pertained to possible theft, for it is the student's lifeline to a degree, and the loss of the phone after a certain period of time could be devasting if it falls into the wrong hands. The thief would not only have to access to personal information for it can transfer information from the student's personal computer, but the thief would also have access to the student's campus experiences.