I also have noticed how terrible blackboard is. I'm the head of a student group that does a major software project every year. Every year, we mention that this

I also have noticed how terrible blackboard is. I'm the head of a student group that does a major software project every year. Every year, we mention that this is an area that really needs work, and every year we end up doing something else. I've thought a lot about why there isn't any interest in replacing these systems when everybody in the group is negatively affected by them, and all I've come up with is that it's not that much fun. These systems are enormous and filled with checkbox features that are poorly integrated. The customers are mostly government institutions and the marketplace has one major player. These things combine to make it a very unattractive product space to get into. Most successful web startups are small, feature light programs that gain momentum and features as they gain users. You can't use that model with Universities. You need to demonstrate that your program offers the same kind of functionality as webct and then offers something more. What self respecting developer wants to get into that mess? You can't even get quality feedback until after you've been working on the product for years. When the best programmers are agile, it's hard to get them interested in a dinosaur market.