Encyclopedias and the Internet
Jeffrey Harrow of The Future Brief examines encyclopedias and the Internet, of course including Wikipedia. Some quotes:
"… [T]he Web provides an incredible, vast information resource on virtually every subject imaginable (and on many subjects beyond many of our imaginations) literally at our fingertips. That’s the upside. But that’s also the downside, since it’s often quite difficult to winnow the knowledge wheat from its chaff. (That’s one skill I strongly believe should be thoroughly taught throughout secondary school, but that’s another discussion.)"
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"[Wikipedia is] an example of the power of a single individual’s concept to rapidly change (eventually to decimate) an entire long-established and once profitable industry by suddenly eclipsing much of its relevance. And it’s also an example of how an empowered, global, volunteer community can choose to take the reins of improving the accessibility of human knowledge across a vast spectrum of topics."
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"The question we must all ask is not IF our own business might be prone to such an upheaval, but as to HOW and WHEN it may well happen. (Consider that a very forward-looking encyclopedia company might conceivably have foreseen this result of the Internet. If so, they might have found an innovative way to introduce new value in the new environment, rather than waiting for others to do so in a way that rendered their established business somewhat obsolete.)
The trick then for each of us is to visualize where technology is headed, and constantly explore the forms that our businesses might have to morph into to remain relevant to the changing market. Then, if we have confidence in how things are/might be changing, we may have to do the hardest thing of all — sacrifice some or all of our current business to MAKE THE CHANGES HAPPEN before our competition, or the competition that we would never expect, appears and changes all the rules."
seen on the ResourceShelf
