are internships worth it?

for anyone?

Everyone I know under 25 will have read this article in the next 24 hours... but it's still worth posting. Even though I have had two rewarding unpaid internships and don't regret either one, all of the questions in this article are worth asking. My own question would be: what's the alternative? The "up from the mailroom" model seems outdated, assuming as it does that people will remain loyal to a single company. But the problems listed by this article may be worse. One thing I'd like to know -- what do other sorts of systems do other countries use for entry-level jobs?