It would be hard to miss the Google/YouTube deal – it even made the local news in Grand Forks. Must be the staggering amount of money that was involved. NPR provides a nice summary if you want an audio description of the deal and related issues (copyright concerns).
Why should you care?
- Some argue video is the individualized information source of preference (e.g., John Naisbitt) and this deal will likely increase distribution of video resources of all types.
- Some educational content will be available
- Popular culture has a way of influencing what we think the role of schools should be and influencing how some feel new learners prefer to learn. This may be the new MTV.
- The trend toward the focusing of resources and services within a smaller and smaller number of companies can’t in my opinion be healthy in the long term.