You can lead a student to lectures…but you can’t make it think

Oxbridge put lectures on iTunes

The news that Oxbridge will make lectures available on iTunes acts as further evidence that students are lazy creatures of habit. However it also illustrates a rather important point too…the need for business development managers to embrace technological and social change, in order meet consumers changing expectations and needs.

For those tech savvy students enrolling at University as we speak, it may come as a shock that lectures have not been available via iTunes for time immemorial. Understanding how consumers consume so to speak is intrinsic to any business model. Oxbridge have then grasped this concept with both hands.

Given the fact that vast numbers of people have digital music devices permanently docked to their ears, driving a product towards this consumer territory is obvious. The old saying ‘you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink’ remains…but if that horse is a content hungry student who knows the trough well, then he’s more likely to drink from that fountain of knowledge.

This analogy goes further than students and iTunes of course. The manner in which all consumers find, purchase and then use content and digital products has changed, and is changing. Intrinsic for business development managers is understanding that consumers are lazy creatures of habit…but that those habits have changed.