I completely agree that the web provides instant access to a vast ocean of information on any topic imaginable. The problem I see with this observation is that it leaves organizations with no way to focus their learning investment (yes, there is a cost to employees surfing the web for the purposes of learning new concepts). It is also difficult at best to measure an organization's learning investment ROI with completely unstructured learning experiences.

Not all learning needs are equal either. While some jobs require very subjective and informal learning experiences (a.k.a. On-demand learning or just-in-time learning), others require very structured, prescriptive learning experiences. In my many years of experience in the learning technologies business, I've seen a strong correlation between the level of technical expertise required to perform a given job and the need for prescriptive focus (complex technical curricula) to ensure that those responsible for building and servicing technically complex goods have the skill required by the OEM to properly perform their jobs.