Daniel Lemire’s blog » Will there be universities in 20 years?
An interesting discussion. It seems to me that if you see universities as gatekeepers of information then the internet is a real challenge. If however they are communities of academic practice (difficult to sustain in mass HE) or gatekeepers to graduate positions - then that is different.
The power of universities is in their role in the authentication of knowledge – which the internet is unable to do, and beyond that the authentication of graduates. No matter how much I learn on the internet there is no mechanism for me to convince an employer, for example, that I am entitled to be considsered for a graduate level job.