High school students like iPods, sharing files

The latest version of financial analyst firm Piper Jaffray's biannual survey of high school students and technology states the obvious, but also contains some interesting tidbits.

(Credit: Disney)

Let's get the "duh" stats out of the way first. In case you were unaware, the survey confirms that Apple is a big player in the portable media player market. Eighty percent of students surveyed by Piper own a portable music player, and 82 percent of those own an iPod of some type. Of those planning to buy a music player in the next year, 78 percent plan to buy an iPod.

Unsurprisingly, high school students also seem undeterred by the RIAA's campaign against file sharers. Eighty-two percent of students are downloading music, and almost two-thirds of those who obtained music online did it through a file-sharing service, according to Piper. That's down somewhat from two years ago, when 80 percent of students obtained online music through P2P networks, but it's still pretty high.

Some of the more interesting stats were buried in the tables. For example, Microsoft's Zune player has shot up to become the clear second-favorite behind the iPod, although it still trails by a large margin. Thirteen percent of those looking to buy a music player in the next year say they'll buy a Zune. But, as expected, that's not coming at the expense of the iPod. In the spring, 73 percent of students looking for a music player said they wanted an iPod, and now 78 percent want one. Sony's the big loser, as only 4 percent of students now want one of Sony's music players, down from 11 percent just six months ago.

Those who purchase music legally online are actually doing less of it with Apple than six months ago. Apple's share of the high school student market--at least those willing to pony up for their music--fell from 89 percent in the spring to 79 percent in the latest survey. Piper thinks that might be because other services now offer DRM-free tracks and because the P2P downloading continues, although since the more profitable iPod continues to be popular, they figure Apple's in decent shape.

And of course, this post wouldn't be complete without an iPhone mention. Three percent of students reported owning an iPhone, and just 9 percent said they plan to buy one in the next six months. That's probably because the average age of those surveyed was 16.4, and most kids at that age don't have $399 to spend on a mobile phone unless Mom and Dad are feeling generous.

Piper didn't cover Macs, but college students might be a better estimate of what's going on in that area. Princeton students are apparently snapping up Macs, according to the student newspaper, and that also seems to be the trend in Minnesota, Connecticut and Missouri. The annual back-to-school shopping season fell during Apple's fourth quarter, which ended in September, and when the company reports earnings in two weeks we might get a better sense of just how widespread that trend has become.

Piper, which tells anyone who will listen to buy Apple stock, surveyed 980 students about a wide variety of purchasing habits, and 800 students at 11 high schools specifically about digital music and the iPhone.

[HartDev]

I wanted what I wanted

I bought an iPhone and still get all my music from "other" sources, still even have some from my Napster days. I wish that anyone at there had a product like the iPhone because Apple as a company is becoming worse than Microsoft in its monopolistic and un-competitive ways. They (Apple Inc.) Glut themselves on the fact that a song can be reproduced over and over and over again digitally. Heck, if I sign a contract with a label for millions of dollars I would be happy to setup a server!

I really hope that someone will come out with a better device, or an identical device that does not have Apple greed and crippleware attached. Sadly enough High school kids and a decent amount of college kids just want a device and music playing in their ears and don't care much beyond that. That is why the powers of good gave us hackers, keep up the good work guys(meaning the hackers who defeat Apple and the like)!

[yaZULU]

Im sorry...?

please, how is this so? and what's your point? you bought an
iPhone, no one forced you to buy it, as a consumer you hold the
individual power to determine demand.
I believe your referencing to Radiohead and their own distribution
of 'in rainbows' i agree its a great idea but once again, how is this
relating to apple 'cippleware' or this magical better device, frankly
there are more functional devices out there, ones with everything
bar a toaster included, and for crying out loud, you can install
linux on an iPod if you so desire. To be honest it seems that your
just ranting for the sake of ranting, and come on fancy that,
people wanting an MP3 player that plays music, i would never have
guessed that one and again at our school and my friends school
no one hacks their iPods, why? we don't need to, apple doesn't
need 'defeating' as if its some huge monolithic tyrant trying to
stifle thought and independence!
as to music, its your choice, simple as that, you can buy it DRM
free off iTunes or wherever, the fact is thawt most High school and
college students just dont have expendable income to blow on
music, we will buy albums from artists we really like or go and see
live, but the fact is that people want music, people cant or dont
want to pay for it, so they illegally download it.

[drukenhard]

You're just upset because

because you were one of the 3 people who bought a Zune!

Apple rocks....Steve Jobs has pushed for DRM free music from
day one but the record labels didn't think it was fair that you can
copy your downloaded tracks like you can your CD ones.

You can still get around the DRM really easily without needing a
hack.....but you're probably too dumb to see it

Enjoy your commodore 64

[Travis Ernst]

Some Schools

The smart thing that VERY FEW schools have done is to have the
lectures on WAV or MP3 format. That way the students can
catch them if they missed the hall that day, or were sick. First
time I read about a school doing this I thout it a great concept.
However that was before the iPods had really caught on.

Think about using the digital players now for educational uses.
Here's your weekend assignment, listen to this, and give me a 2
page report on it. Download the file from the computer lab to
your iPod.

Apple DID, past use, have third party devices you could use up
to the third gen iPods for recording on the iPods directly. That
way you could record you lectures on the iPod in your classes.
Sadly Apple dropped this option when they upgraded the
firmware.

[BayAreaBiker]

The teachers could use a digital voice recorder, such as the Sony ICD-UX70, to record the lectures, and put the files on the school's website. The school's band, orchestra, and choir performances could also be so posted.