If you never left an apple for your teacher, there's still time to let Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) school you.
This morning's Wall Street Journal reports that the fast-growing trendsetter is hiring away Yale's business-school dean to launch what it's calling Apple University.
Before you start dreaming of a bold distance-learning initiative where Apple is butting heads against Web-based educators like Apollo Group's (NASDAQ:APOL) University of Phoenix or Strayer's (NASDAQ:STRA) Strayer University Online, let's get back to reality. Apple U will be a corporate university.
Along the lines of McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Hamburger University or Disney's (NYSE:DIS) Pixar University, the new venture will provide grey-matter inspiration and higher learning opportunities for Apple's in-house hires.
It would be great if Apple took a page out of Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) playbook, given that Google routinely uploads internal lecture presentations to its highly underrated YouTube channel.
Naturally, Apple won't peel back the curtain and give away any competitive advantages. If it's able to create a more intellectually stimulated workforce, why spill the beans just so its competition can get equally cerebral? Still, this is also the same Apple that offers free tutorials at its Apple Store locations to make new Mac, iPod, and iPhone buyers more fanatical about their gadgets. It certainly wouldn't hurt for Apple to flaunt some of its Apple University courses. Whether it's ultimately a recruiting tool for the best and brightest to apply to work for Apple, or a way to market its wares, tearing down the walls to the ivory tower isn't such a bad idea.
Be a BMOC, Apple: A Big Mac on Campus.
Other Apples for your eyes:
- Tim Beyers did go through with his plan to buy Apple shares last week.
- This is what I think Apple will look like in 2010.
