[WikiEN-l] Watch out Wikipedia, here comes Britannica 2.0

[Durova]

EB trades size for reliability.  They may get a fact wrong here and there or
be slightly out of date, but they aren't going to publish absolute hoaxes
and they're relatively family-friendly.

Whether consciously or by default, EB has opted for a niche market.  Where
can they reposition themselves if that niche market proves unprofitable?
Their window of opportunity to go head to head on an open edit format
probably closed in 2003.

-Lise


On Sat, Jan 31, 2009 at 3:05 AM, Charles Matthews <
charles.r.matthews at ntlworld.com> wrote:

> Durova wrote:
> > Their main advantage in the current market is that their content is
> vetted.
> > Question is whether they can afford the staff to keep up with
> submissions,
> > and whether that value added is worth the price they charge for it.  The
> > market seems to be saying no.  And if they walk away from that strategy
> what
> > other working model is there?
> >
> Actually I don't know that the question is rhetorical.  There is the
> hidden assumption: EB is the universal encyclopedia (for
> English-language readers).  There must be ways of running a reference
> website for money that drop the comprehensiveness and timeliness (WP's
> major strengths) as the central ambitions.
>
> Charles
>
>
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