Are Universities Obsolete?

Higher educationâ??s spin on the Silicon Valley garage. That was the vision laid out in September, when the Georgia Institute of Technology announced a new lab for disruptive ideas, the Center for 21st Century Universities. During a visit to Atlanta last week, I checked in to see how things were going, sitting down with Richard A. DeMillo, the centerâ??s director and Georgia Techâ??s former dean of computing, and Paul M.A. Baker, the centerâ??s associate director. We talked about challenges and opportunities facing colleges at a time of economic pain and technological changeâ??among them the chance that many universities might follow Borders Bookstores into oblivion.