End of the traditional university
Publishing, music and shopping all have been revolutionised by the Internet. Education is next. Now world class tuition is free to anyone, anywhere in the world.
Within the next few decades, half of the colleges and universities now operating in the US will cease to exist. The technology driving this change is already at work, and nothing can stop it.
The future looks like this: access to college level education will be free for everyone; the residential college campus will become largely obsolete; tens of thousands of professors will lose their jobs; the bachelor’s degree will become increasingly irrelevant.
Today, student loan debt is at an all-time high in the US – an average of more than $23 000 per graduate, some up to $100 000 per year – and tuition costs continue to rise at a rate far outpacing inflation. The college degree is already devalued and students keep defaulting on the debt required to pay for them. The persistent public faith in the college degree has kept demand high, but it’s fading fast.
An important part of the college story concerns the impending financial collapse of many private colleges and universities and the shrinkage of many public ones. When the bubble bursts, the system of higher education that has long been a culture of exclusivity will end. Then the college classroom will go virtual.
One has to recognise that online courses are not amenable to learning for all levels of students, and also the quality of interaction and learning is suspect. While each one of us learns differently, the general notion of learning – by thinking, asking questions and discussing with others does not really exist online as it does in a real life classroom setting. This gives the traditional system an edge.
Will online education be as recognised as regular education? Today, the credibility is not the same as that from a regular university; but the world of education is shifting. The way that all of us are getting information, knowledge and ideas is increasingly moving online as a result of the online information revolution.
What we know for sure is that thousands and thousands of students are signing up for online courses and that is a fact we cannot ignore.
Mobile devices will hit the factory floor
I recently attended the annual Automation Control Products (ACP) conference. The primary objective was the unveiling and introduction of the new ACP mobile technology software called Relevance. I presented the keynote address, Mobile Devices Will Hit The Factory Floor, to an audience that was mostly experienced factory and process controls people. Many had already used ACP ThinManager for a few years and there was a visible sense of excitement from these usually hard nosed engineer types.
Relevance has clear and immediate benefits and advantages. This is what the software provides: Applications (content) delivered to factory people with relevance to their location, skill set and the events occurring around them.
The old paradigm is fixed, tethered operator stations with way too much data and too little relevant information. This is fast becoming obsolete.
Relevance delivers mobile devices, with specific information related to physical location in the factory, specifically related to the function of the person viewing the information. For example, real-time display of related information when the engineer is near the location; service flags for the packaging line showing what needs to be serviced; information related to which service people are available.
Here’s the kicker that makes this exciting for factory people: they are fed up with walking over to large central displays to find out what’s happening and what’s needed. They simply view a mobile device that provides specific information related to their own function and location. Nothing like this is available from any of the current automation majors.
There are key trends that are quickly emerging in the factory. In my keynote speech, I presented graphics that clearly illustrate digital technology shifts: the steady decline of tethered PCs and the rapid rise of mobile devices; wired to wireless connectivity; client-server to cloud-based computing; and the industrial Internet.
Fundamental changes are occurring right now: change in use (mobile, relevant information everywhere), and in scale (huge numbers of mobile devices are available at low cost). It’s an industrial evolution that’s quickly becoming a revolution.
A rapid paradigm shift is occurring in the factory. Other entrenched HMI software businesses are staying afloat primarily by trying to maintain their steadily declining installed base. Alarm bells are ringing for their sales channels.
Jim Pinto is an industry analyst and commentator, writer, technology futurist and angel investor. His popular e-mail newsletter, JimPinto.com eNews, is widely read (with direct circulation of about 7000 and web-readership of two to three times that number). His areas of interest are technology futures, marketing and business strategies for a fast-changing environment, and industrial automation with a slant towards technology trends.
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