Great post. I guess another problem with the "education is broken" mantra is that it implies education is one thing, which is a daft simplification. It is a wide, diverse group of schools (state and private), Colleges, University (the bricks and mortar type, as well as OU), work based training, self driven, etc etc. Of course there are a range of problems that impact on some, or all of these institutions. Of course we are all trying to help them evolve, and improve continually. But that doesn't mean we should fall back on lazy generalisations. (Good post. Thanks)

Fascinating point of view. But what is the answer? Surely it must be to create a viable alternative to the commercial publishers, that still offers some of the channels to readership? Isn't this what people like http://www.openbookpublishers.com/ try to do? Set up as a not-for-profit by academics at Cambridge University, they seem to be "Green Plus". In that they allow whatever model an academic wants, but try to seek funds from a diverse range of sources to keep afloat. I am no expert in the murky waters of Academic publishing, but surely this model (either by them, or others) is a good solution? By aggregating many authors, you can build the momentum to get free ebooks into libraries (not easy), or build a recognised brand.