This article by Evgeny Morozov, nominally a review of Andrew Lih's book "The Wikipedia Revolution", is worth reading:
http://www.bostonreview.net/BR34.6/morozov.php
-Sage
Lots of interesting observations, but made by someone who is not that familiar with how Wikipedia works. Lih's book is good, but sometimes it's like he wasn't there; and, of course, he wasn't, at least not when certain decisions were made. If his book were a Wikipedia article, most of it would be edited out because there often is no reliable source other than his own observations and opinions.
The title of this thread is totally weird. Why would two summaries of Wikipedia's history and problems by two individuals, one of whom is an outside observer, and one a less than omniscient inside observer, result in such a question? We answer the question everyday, by continuing to create and edit new articles and tending to administrative tasks.
Fred