a million monkeys typing

Washington Post: Spreading Knowledge, The Wiki Way

Posted September 9th, 2004 at 11:49pm

An interesting article comparing the development process and future directions of Wikipedia and the Encyclopedia Brittanica:
Spreading Knowledge, The Wiki Way.

The part of me that forever proclaims “All knowledge should be free!” is certainly in agreement with the philosophy behind the Wikipedia, all the more so because one of the established goals is to produce paper and CD-ROM versions for third-world countries. However, the part of me that is aware of the commercial necessity of making a buck in order to stay in business, well… my sympathy goes with the EB folks. But the times, they are a-changing. True, it is worth paying for quality, and the EB is certainly a quality product, but it is a commodity whose full merits must be realised before most people would bother paying subscription fees. Why would most people bother paying money for something that has a free version which is more convenient and easily accessible? While the EB has consistently higher quality per entry, many people are not aware of this difference because they want a quick “knowledge fix” and, accustomed to the rapid-fire nature of the Internet, they want it immediately: they have an assignment due the next day, or their neighbours are thinking about Yucatan and want to know more about the country, or they want to know what souvaki is, or they want to know if the cat is in any mortal danger because of the venus flytrap. Why bother going through the hassle of subscribing and paying money for something when that “fix” is easily satisfied elsewhere? (I must reiterate here that I trust the Wikipedia far more than 99% of Internet sites.)

I am not trying to cheapen the value of knowledge, nor the fine efforts of the EB crew, writers and editors; I am merely musing the unique value propositions that differentiate EB from the Wikipedia. Personally, I’d love to have a full EB in real, honest-to-goodness dead tree form, filling an entire bookcase with its heavy leather-bound tomes. Alas, I doubt that day will ever come: as much as I love real books, I cannot justify its cost among so many of my other needs and expenses, especially when I can purchase it in digital form for a tiny fraction of the price of the set.

In the meantime, I need an educational resource that is timely, constantly expanding to keep pace with changing events and discoveries, available anywhere on a moment’s notice, filled with the collective knowledge of thousands of individuals, and free for students: despite the occasional shortcoming, the Wikipedia fills that description in spades.