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Wonder how they will be able to compete with free online courses, there are plenty of them and they're just as quality. I also wonder how Linked-in itself can c

Wonder how they will be able to compete with free online courses, there are plenty of them and they're just as quality. I also wonder how Linked-in itself can compete with other social networks.

smackfu 12y ago
Weren't they already a viable business competing with free online courses?
jonknee 12y ago
Considering Lynda has been competing with them for two decades, I'm sure they'll do OK.
- aurora72 12y ago
  Didn't know they were for 20 years, I've just taken a look at Lynda'a wikipedia entry and oh yes they've been for 20 years, that's interesting. But revenue at $100M/year and acquisiton at $1,5B is more interesting. Still wonder how they'll compete with hundreds of good quality and free online courses, free badges, Mozilla certifications, etc. Good luck to them.
Someone1234 12y ago
> Wonder how they will be able to compete with free online courses, there are plenty of them and they're just as quality. The quality is the same, but most free online courses are their own worst enemy. Sites like Lynda and Pluralsight, once you pay the price of admission, give you what I call the "Netflix experience." Essentially click any video you want, bored? No biggy find another. There's absolutely zero barrier to entry and no guilt associated with it. Some free places do it well, like Berkley [0], and more or less anyone dumping onto YT. Because in those cases there is no registration, no "guilt" if you don't attend "class" and complete a "test" you just turn up, watch a few videos and leave. However a lot of free training is trying to reproduce the actual college experience to their detriment. Coursera[1] is a perfect example. You have to register for a specific class, then turn up to watch it every week, do tests at specific times, and they guilt the shit out of you over email if you get bored after a few lectures (and have "limited" spots in a class). Honestly paying Lynda $25/month was fine because of how frictionless the entire experience became after that. Ditto with Netflix/HBO GO (and why I cancelled Hulu+). [0] http://webcast.berkeley.edu/ http://webcast.berkeley.edu/ [1] https://www.coursera.org/ https://www.coursera.org/
err4nt 12y ago
It's not about providing education, it's about exclusivity. LinkedIN will likely begin showing your Lynda courses in a prominent way on LinkedIN profiles, so if you want to be competitive on LinkedIN, you'll need to give more money to <s>LinkedIN</s> Lynda. The problem I see with this is that veterans would never go take an introductory class on Lynda, but every young aspirant who has desire where you have experience will _appear_ better to recruiters because at least their introductory courses can be verified where with your experience, somebody knowledge in that field would have to evaluate your work.

Wonder how they will be able to compete with free online courses, there are plenty of them and they're just as quality. I also wonder how Linked-in itself can compete with other social networks.

smackfu 12y ago

Weren't they already a viable business competing with free online courses?

jonknee 12y ago

Considering Lynda has been competing with them for two decades, I'm sure they'll do OK.

aurora72 12y ago
Didn't know they were for 20 years, I've just taken a look at Lynda'a wikipedia entry and oh yes they've been for 20 years, that's interesting. But revenue at $100M/year and acquisiton at $1,5B is more interesting. Still wonder how they'll compete with hundreds of good quality and free online courses, free badges, Mozilla certifications, etc. Good luck to them.

Someone1234 12y ago

> Wonder how they will be able to compete with free online courses, there are plenty of them and they're just as quality. The quality is the same, but most free online courses are their own worst enemy. Sites like Lynda and Pluralsight, once you pay the price of admission, give you what I call the "Netflix experience." Essentially click any video you want, bored? No biggy find another. There's absolutely zero barrier to entry and no guilt associated with it. Some free places do it well, like Berkley [0], and more or less anyone dumping onto YT. Because in those cases there is no registration, no "guilt" if you don't attend "class" and complete a "test" you just turn up, watch a few videos and leave. However a lot of free training is trying to reproduce the actual college experience to their detriment. Coursera[1] is a perfect example. You have to register for a specific class, then turn up to watch it every week, do tests at specific times, and they guilt the shit out of you over email if you get bored after a few lectures (and have "limited" spots in a class). Honestly paying Lynda $25/month was fine because of how frictionless the entire experience became after that. Ditto with Netflix/HBO GO (and why I cancelled Hulu+). [0] http://webcast.berkeley.edu/ http://webcast.berkeley.edu/ [1] https://www.coursera.org/ https://www.coursera.org/

err4nt 12y ago

It's not about providing education, it's about exclusivity. LinkedIN will likely begin showing your Lynda courses in a prominent way on LinkedIN profiles, so if you want to be competitive on LinkedIN, you'll need to give more money to <s>LinkedIN</s> Lynda. The problem I see with this is that veterans would never go take an introductory class on Lynda, but every young aspirant who has desire where you have experience will _appear_ better to recruiters because at least their introductory courses can be verified where with your experience, somebody knowledge in that field would have to evaluate your work.