September 30, 2005
A hand-held kiosk
When Travis Misurell arrived for freshman orientation at Montclair State University last month, he received the ultimate welcome gift.
School officials handed him a $250 Motorola cellphone - and told him to use it, according to North Jersey Media Group.
"Not for phone calls, but to tap into a multitude of "channels" packed with news and updates on campus happenings.
Misurell and his classmates soon discovered they could use the phone to display everything from daily dining hall menus to a map updated every few seconds showing the exact location of campus shuttle buses.
So far, more than 1,400 of Montclair's 16,000 students are using the phones, and more are signing up daily. Incoming freshmen living on campus received the phones for free. Other students pay $50.
... In many ways, Rave's system is simply a Web community accessed by cellphone.
Students can set up their own "channels" or ask Montclair State to set one up. They can receive as many channels as they wish. Any text or photos posted on that channel - by fellow students or the university - is then automatically sent to a student's phone. A channel can be updated from a computer or from a Rave phone".
A similar service exists at the University of Florida, called Mobile Campus.
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