Look a little closer, RB. The Harvard material (c. 50% more of it than Yale) is not only priced higher – $7.95 up in many cases – it also has marketable content much of it consisting of audiobooks from HBS, etc. The Yale stuff is mostly music, so the traditional i-tunes $0.99 sticker is the norm. From the two lists Harvard looks as if they have beaten Yale to a market, rather than that Yale is giving away comparable materials.
 

I know what you're talking about, but I don't think you're searching under Podcasts....

In any case, virtually everything that a university could put online is "marketable content." The question is what things do you put a price tag on, and why?
 

You put a price tag on things that people will buy (for that price), to receive revenue, which is then used to cover expenses.
 

That's a narrow view of education and the uses of the Web, where lots of things are given away free, sometimes for idealistic purposes, sometimes for marketing purposes, often because they will bring in revenue or some other form of value down the road.

Just because you can sell something doesn't always mean you should....
 

look at HBS Publishing
 

I agree with Richard on this one: just because you can sell something doesn't mean you should. Universities have a terrific opportunity to make an impact here. I believe there is an enormous hunger outside academia not just for information - which can be gotten more and more cheaply now - but for new ways of understanding the world. A good university course - one that brings Shakespeare to life, or helps people to understand what is interesting and moving about great art, or gives students a deep understanding of the bizarre aspects of quantum reality - these courses, if taught by devoted and caring teachers, can change the way people think about themselves and their world. We professors often fail at this - I know I do - but in the best case it is what we are aiming for. And I don't see why those efforts shouldn't be available to people outside the university as well. This is good for the broader community, at least if the courses are good, since it has the potential to help people achieve a richer sense of the possibilities open to them. But as Richard suggests, it is good for the universities as well. It is no accident that everyone from Comedy Central to the Car Talk guys to This American Life offers free podcasts. It is a marketing device and a brand solidification device, at the very least. But perhaps more importantly, it is a chance to bring what we offer to the world at large. If we believe what we have to offer is important or useful, then this is a chance we should jump at.