
Harvard Statistics 110: Introduction to Probability, on iTunes - DanielRibeiro
http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/statistics-110-introduction/id495213607
======
sidupadhyay
This is a really great addition to iTunes U. Skipping through the videos, the
course appears to give a thorough treatment to the theoretical background of
probability. I haven't seen too many intro probability courses explore topics
such as Beta Distributions and Markov Chains with this much rigor. I hope
Harvard does the same for Stat 111 and Stat 171.

Edit: I just skimmed through some of the assignments and tests, and thought
they are really good! If its been a few years since you took
probability/statistics and feel you may be rusty when it comes to the
integration and manipulations, give them a try! Homework 9 and 10, especially.

------
kpi
Harvard, don't lock in your content! Other courses in many formats are
available on <http://www.extension.harvard.edu/open-learning-initiative> Why
should this one be iTunes only?

~~~
idspispopd
This storm in a teacup fear mongering stuff has to stop. It's silly to suggest
this is locking in content, or even bad for anyone, and it's obvious why they
use this distribution method over hosting the content themselves.

1\. It's not in a proprietary format, the documents are PDF, the videos are
AAC/H264. (I give up the h264 debate for today). Having to run iTunes to
access the store is hardly "lock in". You might as well suggest turning on
your computer is lock in.

2\. This is on a CDN managed externally, Harvard don't need to invest in data
centers.

3\. Harvard don't have to pay for hosting/transmission/upkeep costs.

4\. It enables harvard to provide something for free when normally they'd need
to allocate budget. (And with that possibly charge for it.)

5\. It's part of iTunes U, which is _praised_ by universities across the globe
for being an excellent enabler of education.

~~~
ramblerman
1)

As posted in my other comment - I'm currently at the airport with my android,
and no way to get this content. If it's not locked in, how do I access the
data?

When I get home I'll have to install itunes. Which will add the apple updater
+ bonjour to my system as well.

2-4)

I agree completely with your arguments regarding the benefits to Harvard.
You're saying the same thing in three different ways though, Harvard has no
costs hosting this content, which is true

5)

The big enablers of education that have entered my field of view are MIT
opencourseware, khan academy and the recent stanford courses. Perhaps iTunesU
is among them, but I haven't seen this _praise_ in my feeds.

~~~
idspispopd
Your definition of lock-in needs a reality check.

If my pocket calculator can't access the internet, it doesn't make the
internet 'lock-in'.

~~~
fridrik
Pocket calculator designers can implement internet support. Android developers
cannot legally implement an iTunes store (I hastily assume).

~~~
wahnfrieden
There's software for desktop Linux that lets you access iTunes U, so I don't
think there is anything stopping Android from being able to as well apart from
developers' motivations.

------
MisterMerkin
Is there any way to watch this without iTunes? I don't use it and have no
desire to join Apple's 'ecosystem'.

~~~
iamabhi9
If you are using GNU/Linux then there is an alternative
<http://tunesviewer.sourceforge.net/>

~~~
rohitarondekar
This works on Ubuntu 11.10. There is a lot of quality content on ITunes and
using Ubuntu as my main OS meant I couldn't access it. But this is awesome! I
can finally download those lecture videos. Thank you!

------
agumonkey

      * in progresss *
    

itunes fetch the whole playlist as m4v so it must be possible to send audio
when fetching's over.

edit :

    
    
      Format                           : MPEG-4
      Format profile                   : Base Media / Version 2
      File size                        : 402 MiB
      Duration                         : 46mn 28s
      Overall bit rate                 : 1 209 Kbps
    
      Format                           : AAC
      Format profile                   : LC
      Stream size                      : 62.6 MiB (16%)
      Duration                         : 46mn 28s
      Bit rate                         : 192 Kbps
    

full codec info >>> <http://pastebin.com/dCHEmtVg>

------
sayemm
A great college textbook I had for intermediate probability theory is "A First
Course in Probability" by Sheldon Ross, highly recommend it:
[http://www.amazon.com/First-Course-Probability-Sheldon-
Ross/...](http://www.amazon.com/First-Course-Probability-Sheldon-
Ross/dp/013603313X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1326733748&sr=1-1)

~~~
sidupadhyay
Another good book is "Mathematical statistics with applications" by Wackerly
et al. It's focus is more on the application of the toolkit from probability,
but about half the book focuses on the background of probability theory.
What's great is that by the end of the book you will have a great introductory
perspective of both frequentist and bayesian statistics. There are some gaps
in the book, but it's a great reference nevertheless.

[http://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Statistics-
Applications-D...](http://www.amazon.com/Mathematical-Statistics-Applications-
Dennis-Wackerly/dp/0495110817/ref=pd_sim_b_1)

------
ramblerman
I don't suppose someone could be so awesome as to host the first lecture(s) as
an mp3 somewhere?

I'm at the airport and would love to hear this, but only have my android
tablet with me :(

------
afsina
I really wished to have this class. But iTunes only? seriously? Get some
inspiration from Stanford or MIT.

------
kahawe
I think it is great that Harvard and Stanford open their course material on
the internet but can someone explain to me why they would do it? I mean, what
is in it for them - a bit of PR and friendly headlines aside? Their name and
status alone is enough to stay "in business".

~~~
draz
Harvard and Stanford (and other big name universities) are in the business of
"selling" diplomas, not content. You cannot put on your resume that you "aced"
a Harvard iTunes course, but only that you graduated from Harvard. I applaud
these institutions for realizing it and allowing others to benefit from the
content. Think of it as the public library model -- you can certainly pick up
Tocqueville or Newton writing and read it, but it offers no guarantee of your
mastery of the material. The diploma (supposedly) gives you that badge.

~~~
kahawe
Yes, I understand that but the question then still is... why would they spend
time, money and resources to give you all that material for free? Other
institutions in the "diploma business" will surely peek and try to keep up and
I do not see or understand the benefit for Harvard, Stanford et al. if we are
not talking altruistic purposes.

Don't get me wrong, I think it is fantastic they do it and I applaud them - it
is just really surprising and I am wondering about their motives, just my own
(economic) curiosity.

~~~
dlf
I think the prestige of a university is tied more to the quality of their
research, their legacy as an institution and the reputation of instructors
they attract (which need not have anything to do with actual ability to
instruct) than the quality of the content or instruction. I don't think the
other institutions in the "diploma business" can replicate that as easily.

~~~
kahawe
And these are all good points why it does not HURT them to do that.

But my question was... why DID they do it?

~~~
draz
In one word: reputation. These schools want to be seen as social-
responsibility leaders, etc. I don't want to sound so negative about it, but
there's some element of publicity these institutions are seeking.

Think of this: how many people criticized Steve Jobs for not getting involved
in charity, although he had billions in the bank? Do you think it looks good
for Harvard University, with over $15bn in endowment to not do any good will
project?

Lastly, some of these schools already offer remote learning via video. Putting
the videos on iTunes is a sunk cost.

Disclosure: I went to one of those "big name" institutions as an undergrad,
grad student, and I also worked there. Few are the projects that are TRULY out
of the goodness of somebody's heart

