Thousands of lecturers stand in classrooms delivering lectures. Millions of students travel hundreds of miles so as to be physically present on campuses. In the age of the Internet, none of this makes sense. One academic can prepare and deliver a course to an unlimited number of students worldwide. And there is growing evidence that most cognitive skills can be learnt more effectively on screen than in the lecture hall.
Conventional universities seem absurdly outdated in another respect.
They are still wedded to the idea that learning should precede employment, with the length and quality of education determining the quality of job subsequently enjoyed. Most able students now spend anything from six to 10 years earning paper diplomas before entering the job market. The financial burden, given the level of fees, is excruciating. The old approach was to start life by trying accumulate as large a stockpile of knowledge as possible. Hence the years of toil in the groves of academe.