MITx prototype course opens for enrollment - MIT News Office

MITx. I get the idea of sharing knowledge with all and applaud that attitude that sparked Opencourse Ware. But I wonder with the introduction of MITx if MIT is not shooting itself in the foot? Will the 'modest fee' cover the operation costs?  And if MITx does wildly succeed, what happens to the instructors when everyone is attending school online? Or once they have the courses developed online? Won't it only take a handful of instructors to maintain them, therefore cutting costs? It seems to be that the backbone of OCW is being flipped to pure capitalism. With fewer employees to maintain courses, and less operating costs, the 'modest fees' will go to the remaining few. Or may my feathers are just ruffled because I like my job and am feeling extremely threatened by MITx!