Thrun's new objective - to give industry a voice in the education process, is a valid objective. Most of the research shows that what people learn in school onl

Thrun's new objective - to give industry a voice in the education process, is a valid objective. Most of the research shows that what people learn in school only contributes in a minor way to what they do - they learn most of what they need to know on-the-job. Udacity's new direction will allow companies to help potential prospects acquire those skills beforehand, in this general education-augmented way. It's not a bad idea, and it's definitely something that was needed. However, it is sad to see one of the most vocal people toss aside the original goal of providing education to the under-priveleged to help them escape poverty. Just saying that poor people have a different set of challenges that make online classes a "poor fit" for them is the easy way out. It's also sad to hear him say that the true value proposition of education is employment. The notion that education and employment are hand-in-hand related is the thing that holds back the education system the most. Education is about allowing people to move forward - advancing culture, science, technology, etc. so that we're not all stuck plowing fields with oxen. While capitalism ties these advancements to employment and profit, the connection is based entirely on how things are done now, and not how things could or should be done (or even how they were done in the past).