on 3/5/07 10:59 AM, William Pietri at william@scissor.com wrote:
Down the line, I think we'll run of gas some with we hobbyists. Not that we won't get and use a ton of that, just that the quality level and topic focus will leave gaps that will become more and more obvious. I think the step over that will either be through advertising on Wikipedia or through large donations from tech billionaires creating an endowment. Either one will result in the Foundation hiring people full time to work on the content. This will expand the caste system in a way that will involve much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the community, but people will eventually get over it because it will actually make the encyclopedia better.
This is very much the way a hospital functions: A combination of paid staff and volunteers working together to accomplish the same goal - the best patient care possible. How these two groups get along in there interactions is what a culture is all about. Acceptance of this culture requires maturity on the part of the individual participants - and care and nurturing by all.
Marc