One of the cooler things about iTunes, though perhaps not widely known, is iTunes U, an area within iTunes that lets users download educational content such as lectures and lab demonstrations from Universities much in the same way you would download a podcast. Naturally some of the content is restricted to students who attend a particular University, but much of the content is free and well-worth checking out.

One of the more popular downloads from iTunes U happens to be video content from a Stanford University Computer Science course that centers on how to program for the iPhone. Taught by Apple engineers, the iPhone programming course is videotaped and subsequently made available as a free download via iTunes 2 days after each class session. To date, the videos have been downloaded over 1 million times, making the course the fastest to hit the 1 million threshold in iTunes U history. Clearly, developer interest in the iPhone platform is as strong as ever.

I’ve watched a few of the videos myself, and they’re a great way to learn about iPhone programming from the ground up from actual Apple employees. Naturally, you need some semblance of object oriented programming experience, otherwise you’ll probably get lost fairly quickly. That said, the videos serve as a great educational tool, and essentially lets you take a Stanford course on the house. Almost reminds you of Steve Jobs attending College lectures after he had already dropped out.

via CNET