There’s always something intriguing about the timing of these tech giveaways to students—Microsoft’s latest offer of a year’s worth of 365 Premium and LinkedIn Premium Career is no exception. Free access to productivity and networking tools will certainly appeal to students under increasing pressure to distinguish themselves, but I wonder how much real impact these short-term perks have once the initial 12 months are up.
This feels like a calculated push to embed habits early, potentially shaping students’ expectations (and dependencies) around software ecosystems. I’m also curious about how universities themselves view such offers—are they truly levelling the playing field, or simply reinforcing the dominance of a few major platforms?
Has anyone seen meaningful long-term benefits for students from similar initiatives, or do most revert to free options once the access runs out?
The Microsoft Cloud Blog 
Leave a comment