Stanford iTunes

Stanford iTunes is a huge deal! I don't think it's unfair to say that this may have the ability to change the demographic of the educational system in the US as we know it! The ability to download lectures would put higher education in the hands of the world's poor, and completely revolutionize the educational compensation structure. Imagine professors being able to monetize their lectures on a class by class basis, being able to lecture about subjects they are passionate about and finding their personal "microbrand" audience, and being able to find compensation commensurate with their audience appeal, regardless of what university they teach at!

One of the downsides would be a trend towards "popular" lecture topics and away from the "harder" material with little financial worth. But I think the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

It'll be interesting to see how this develops. I would love it if more universities did something similiar and if they started adding video as well.

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