the corner office

Friends will be reading the previous post and thinking 'boozing and shagging? ORLY?' I take license, naturally, and even in my day there were people studying themselves into husks trying to get their degrees, people working crazy hours and holding down part time jobs to pay their way, but for the most part, my point stands.

On a serious note, the real issue with online education is credentialling. It's one thing to know postgraduate-level calculus backwards, it's another to get someone reading your CV to know that and believe it. But there's a market for it, this already happens in places, and I have no doubt that more will come.

The other side effect of the widespread availability of knowledge and university-level education online is that the premium on education drops. This ties in with the iPhones in China post from a few days ago: on a planet full of people who've mastered postgraduate calculus, your average graduate just ain't so special anymore. Our kids will have to run a lot further just to stand still.

That's a daunting thought, but I go back to my previous point: the mountains might be higher, but the climbing equipment is a whole lot better. As is the view.