Welcome to the October issue of The Exponential Executive.

In this Issue

	Is the Future of College $99 a Month?
	Hey YouTwitFace, Social Media is No Joke!
	The Future Can Be Found on the Back Pages

In Other News

What do parents, traffic engineers, BMW , Ohio State and the CIA all have in common? They are all either unlearning or they need to unlearn! To find out why, just click on the associated link; and, if you doubt me, I invite you to heed the wise words of that old sage, Yoda, who once famously advised young Luke Skywalker: "You must unlearn what you have learned."

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Is the Future of College $99 a Month?

Last month, I shared with you the story of a young woman who was suing her Alma Mater for $72,000 because she had failed to land a job. While opposed to her decision on political and philosophical grounds, I said at the time that it was a sign of things to come for colleges and universities because I’m convinced more and more young people (not to mention their parents) will begin to question the wisdom of spending an increasingly exorbitant sum of money on an undergraduate education.

I recently came across this fascinating article in the Washington Monthly entitled "College for $99 a Month.” It profiles the rise of a new company, StraightLine, which is delivering introductory college courses for a flat, monthly fee of $99. Students of Clayton Christensen’s “Disruptive Innovation” model will immediately recognize how dangerous Straightline is to traditional colleges and universities—especially non-elite, middle-of-the-road 4-year colleges.

If those institutions hope to survive and still be around in 10 to 15-years time, I’d suggest they begin radically transforming their existing business model. If they don't, they will likely find themselves -- and their campuses -- being shuttered as quickly as all those Blockbuster Video stores (which I wrote about here.)

Hey YouTwitFace, Social Media is No Joke!

Over the past month, I have addressed advertising executives in Minneapolis; tourism officials in Texas; health care professionals in New York; and IT experts in Georgia. During the course of my presentations, I covered a variety of advances which would be specific to each industry. The one constant throughout every presentation, however, was social media. In each case, I mentioned how fast the technology was changing and reminded them that Facebook is only 5 years-old and Twitter barely 3 years of age. I then emphasized how important it is to remember that the medium will continue to evolve as new social media tools are created everyday. Many of these tools, in turn, will require us to unlearn some of our current communications habits. To this end, Conan O'Brien addressed this theme during this year's Emmy Awards. I invite you to watch this hilarious look at the Year 3000. Alas, social media is no joke because -- as this video demonstrates -- it is about to be layered on top of your everyday world.

The Future Can Be Found on the Back Pages

In my 2008 book, Jump the Curve: 50 Essential Strategies to Help Your Company Stay Ahead of Emerging Technologies, one strategy I encouraged people to employ from time to time is that of reading the newspaper backwards. Why? Because it can help you more clearly see where the future is headed.

Last week, for example, as I was returning from Dallas where I delivered a keynote presentation on the future of travel and tourism to the Texas Travel Industry Association, I began by reading the marketing section of the Wall Street Journal from back-to-front. Here’s what I noticed: on Page 8, it was revealed that a popular new book won’t be released in an E-book format until after the Christmas holidays. This is noteworthy for the simple fact that it wouldn’t have been noteworthy as recently as last year.

In other words, E-books have now become so popular that when a new book isn’t released in electronic format at the same time as the print version it qualifies as news. It’s clear from this news that e-book sales will only continue to rise at the expense of traditional hardcover books and that the publishing industry must adapt.

On Page B7 there was a similar story, only this one related to the advertising industry. The headline read: Web Ad Sales in Britain Overtake TV . On Page B6, it was announced that Lemmis Lighting is releasing a 20-year lightbulb. (Imagine this: In the future your kid or grandchild might not be able to change a lightbulb because it is something they will only have to do once every two decades!) And then on Page B5 there were two articles of note. First, there was a small article announcing that Princeton University was testing Amazon Kindle’s DX e-book as part of a national pilot program; and, second, there was a larger article explaining that the airline industry is finally getting serious about employing RFID tags to track baggage.

All these stories reinforce the growing prevalence of Internet advertising, e-books and RFID technology. My friends, the future is here. To learn more about it all you need to do is read the back of the newspaper!