There are lot of ways to get your hands on a free tablet -- stick it on your birthday wishlist, win one in a competition, steal one. But there's also another option: get yourself to university. At least this is a path to a free tablet -- a Samsung Galaxy Note 8 specifically -- if you happen to be a first year student at the University of East London. 4,000 students will be handed a brand new Samsung Galaxy Note 8 when they start their studies. The venture will cost the university £2 million (around $3.25 million), but the vice-chancellor thinks that it is money well-spent.
It might not be the newest tablet on the market, but few students are likely to turn their noses up at the freebie. Professor John Joughin said, "We are delighted to be putting support directly in the hands of our students and providing them with a state-of-the-art learning platform for the duration of their studies", explaining that equipping students with the tablets will create a "level playing field for all of our students".
The hand out is not just about giving students a tablet. The Galaxy Note 8s come pre-loaded with a batch of ebooks about the university and its courses. Providing course books in digital format will not only make it easier -- and rather less muscle-building -- to carry reference material around, but it will also help to reduce the costs students face. Having paid tuition fees, anything that can be done to reduce further expenditure is going to be welcomed.
This time of year is traditionally a very good time for technology sales as students rush to equip themselves with devices to help with their studies. The free tablet deal came about as part of a deal between the University of East London, Samsung, UK ebook platform Kortext, and the JS Group.