The date is January 15, 2001. You were beginning to do some research for a paper you were writing. Your first step was, as expected, Encyclopedia Britannica. The oldest and most respected English language encyclopedia in the world – first published in 1768 in Edinburgh, Scotland – the first copy was sold on December 15 of that year. I can only imagine, that must have been one helluva Christmas present.
But back to 2001, what if, on that day, you were told there was this new source of information called Wikipedia, and you should give it a try? “Sounds interesting,” you might have said. “Does the library have a copy yet?”
“Well, no. There are no copies; it’s on your computer.”
“Hmm.”
And so began a conversation that turned up the following. EB was then 233 years old and a fixture, a pillar around the globe. Wikipedia just started that day. EB employed a large staff of the world’s most respected encyclopedists, editors, and researchers. Wikipedia is open to anyone who wants to write anything. Anyone? Anything? Yup. EB is well funded. Wikipedia is asking for donations. The EB process is rigorous, its content reliable. Wikipedia is, and for many years was, easy. and its content was questionable (Not so anymore, to their credit).
I doubt you would have used Wikipedia. If anything other than EB, you might have conceded and used Microsoft Encarta, also well-established and well-staffed. But not only would you have shunned Wikipedia, if I asked you to bet on which one would be around in ten years, your bet would not have been on Wikipedia.
Well, here we are. EB is gone, Encarta is gone, and Wikipedia is one of the ten most visited sites in the world, its contributors making a half million edits per day.
Evolution or Revolution
Things change either by evolution or revolution. Wikipedia was a revolution, for sure. Trouble is, revolutions eventually become institutions and then the targets for the next revolutions. In centuries past, evolution was slow and revolutions were few and far between. For instance…
History of automobile manufacturing: 120 years in 120 words
Henry Ford changed not only automobile manufacturing; he changed manufacturing altogether. The Model T was now – 1908 – readily available for a mass market, it was affordable, and its quality was so good that it lasted for years. When production ended in 1927, 15 million had been sold, and very few were yet on the used car market. Ford was king.
That became a problem for Ford, as consumers were starting to seek status in their cars. General Motors introduced the concept of the model year, while Ford stayed with the staid. Ford lost its dominance to GM.
But in the 1970s, Toyota introduced Just-In-Time inventory, changing the manufacturing and profit structure of the industry. GM was dethroned – for the time, anyway.
Same story, different century
The same theme – from revolution to institution to target – is playing out all over the world, now however, with greater frequency, speed, and power.
So, the real issue is not whether you or your offspring will be using Wikipedia. It’s really how we will all adapt to the nature, pace, and scope of change.
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