While the blogosphere is abuzz with argument about whether Wikipedia is the best thing since the Alexandrian Library or a complete trainwreck, I know that I can count on it when I need to find out information that really matters. For example, why is the bad guy in Sega’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” sometimes referred to as “Doctor Robotnik” and sometimes as “Doctor Eggman”? Wikipedia knows.
I think it’s wonderful that there’s a place on the web where I can read the work of people who are nearly fluent in English and mindbogglingly fluent in Sonic the Hedgehog lore. Wikipedia is a wonderful storehouse of fanboy minutiae — why try to be Significant and Encyclopedic when it’s so good at being a storehouse of obsessive pop culture trivia?
There’s such a thing as just doing what you’re good at.
You have a point – information on the notoriously and purposefully obfuscated band Tool is hard to come by – Wiki has more on them then anything else I’ve seen.
I think, though, you sell Wiki short. Look up Truth – good information there – in bite-sized chunks so you can read it at work, learn something and continue on.
Wiki is great for pop culture but certainly there are big pluses for its other uses.
Oh, there’s all kinds of good stuff there. I use it all the time. But I’m starting to see the point of the wikipedia haters.