[WikiEN-l] How the future will see Wikipedia

[Andrew Turvey]

> if you could look at a history written 20,000 years 
> from now, there will be a short section on intellectual developments in 
> ancient times and two developments will be mentioned, Plato's Academy and 
> Wikipedia. 
> 
> Fred 

Your list is missing many core developments - the printing press, the computer, writing and so on. Even with these, I'm afraid I don't share your optimism on Wikipedia. It's a great social innovation but has already fallen behind in many respects - particularly technology. Wikipedia has turned mainstream, but I'm not sure whether we'll pass the tests arising from that - BLP, vandalism, reputation etc. 

I'm not sure the site will still have its pre-eminence in even 10 years' time, let alone 20,000 years. 

----- "Fred Bauder" <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> wrote: 
> From: "Fred Bauder" <fredbaud at fairpoint.net> 
> To: "English Wikipedia" <wikien-l at lists.wikimedia.org> 
> Sent: Saturday, 30 May, 2009 04:04:05 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal 
> Subject: Re: [WikiEN-l] "Wikipedia Bans Scientology From Site" - Huffington Post 
> 
> > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- 
> > Hash: SHA1 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Fred Bauder wrote: 
> >> Actually, pretty good, aside from the misleading headline. They not 
> >> only 
> >> quote from the decision, but actually link to it. 
> >> 
> >> Fred 
> >> 
> > 
> > That was part of what interested me; the way that events on Wikipedia, 
> > and decisions made there, are now newsworthy events...stuff that merits 
> > coverage. Of course that has happened in the past, but most frequently 
> > it's been coverage of teens sexting, or men picking up 13-year-olds, or 
> > sites being hacked....splashy stuff that often is more about the 
> > sensation than actual relevance. This got noticed because of the 
> > Scientology angle, but it's otherwise low-key enough, simple reporting 
> > of a news event that might impact the reader. 5 years ago, it would have 
> > been ignored or sensationalized....instead, it's a regular story, 
> > reported upon as if it were a local court ruling. 
> > 
> > I actually find that really refreshing, and an interesting measure of 
> > 'we have arrived'. It's not That Time yet, but it's an intimation of it. 
> 
> There is more coming, if you could look at a history written 20,000 years 
> from now, there will be a short section on intellectual developments in 
> ancient times and two developments will be mentioned, Plato's Academy and 
> Wikipedia. 
> 
> Fred 
> 
> 
> 
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