Jimmy Wales Talks FBI vs. Apple, What's Next for Wikipedia
AUSTIN—It's hard to imagine a time when Wikipedia was simply a slur for a poorly researched academic paper. Now, it's the de-facto encyclopedia for the world.
That'south non to say information technology'due south without its problems. Merely Jimmy Wales, a "pathological optimist" thinks Wikipedia will move through its problems equally information technology always has, and Guy Kawasaki, who interviewed Wales on Sunday hither at SXSW Interactive, thinks he'due south up there with Gutenberg and Jobs—someone who has inverse the globe for the amend.
Kawasaki kicked things off past asking Wales for his opinion on Apple's encryption fight with the FBI.
"That's an easy one. I'1000 actually proud of Apple for fighting this affair," Wales responded, surprising no one. He went on to say that information technology'due south a amend thing for all of us that Apple takes the issue to court and so "we can be really sure that we're doing the right thing."
With that out of the way, Kawasaki set the stage for Wales to talk about Wikipedia, its importance to the almost half billion peope who utilize the site each month, and what's side by side for the online encyclopedia.
Wales, a financial trader turned Net entrepreneur, founded Wikipedia in 2001 as an offshoot of another product that he and partner Larry Sanders were developing. Inspired by programs like Linux Apache and Perl Sql, he had an idea of an open-source encyclopedia, merely realized that only programmers had the tools to collaborate. His vision was a oversupply-sourced, collaborative platform to which anyone could contribute (within reason, of course). Sanders convinced Wales that the process needed to be more academic than that of a traditional encyclopedia because information technology was open up sourced.
Their first product, the now defunct Nupedia, didn't take off. The issue was that they'd congenital a community, so when the first Wiki was produced, there was an audience ready to read information technology. Kawasaki asked if he remembered the first entry, merely Wales did not. He did, withal, remember the first words that were written because he'd typed them himself: "Hello world."
Kawasaki moved to an expanse a lot of people have questions well-nigh. Why can't you lot cite Wikipedia? What happens when you want to edit your own entry because the information is incorrect? Wales's responses were pragmatic. "Being able to cite Wikipedia is not a goal for the same reason y'all shouldn't cite an encyclopedia—it's a starting signal, not an ending betoken. You need to do additional research."
About editing your own entry, Wales understands why it doesn't make sense to people that they can't fix elementary things. Subsequently all, subjects know the truth, right? But Wikipedians don't, which is why they demand third-party verification. He emphasized that his editors take people very seriously when they send alerts about erroneous information. If y'all dispute the information, he said, you lot should remove information technology until information technology'southward verified.
So, what about controversial subjects like Planned Parenthood? On this, Wales says they "go to meta"—pace dorsum from the issue. He asks users to think of "kind and thoughtful people" from both sides who can come together to state the other's position. If you desire to understand the issue, y'all should be able to encounter both sides on Wikipedia and form an opinion, Kawasaki said. "But those people can edit, and then..."
They are reverted very apace, Wales explained.
Beyond the human affect that Wales considers critical to Wikipedia, what does a Wikipedia editor do in a world of automobile learning and AI? "Google tin can't practice decent translation, much less go from scratch," Wales explained. Instead, he sees a time when machines volition assistance with verification of data and other tasks. "One time machines can write encyclopedic articles, we volition take bigger things to worry about."
What are his biggest fears? That the Wikipedia community ages out, and writing a Wikipedia entry is something "old people practise." He's also largely focused on righting gender balance issues. "Part of it is technical," he explained, "only nosotros may be too tolerant of bad behavior. We want women to participate more." He'south investing in workshops and training to bring more women into the Wikipedia fold.
Just some of the biggest bug for Wales are also global issues. There'southward the security of his editors, like Bassel Kharatbil, who disappeared after existence arrested in Syria. Wales is working with Western governments and the Syrian government to discover out what happened and where he is. He'southward as well patiently fighting censorship in countries like China. Afterwards offering Wales the pick to accept a Chinese university oversee Wikipedia in Red china, to make certain that they attach to Chinese laws, or ban Wikipedia in China altogether, he turned downwardly their offer.
"F**1000 that. That's never going to happen," he said succintly. "I'm ready to expect 1,000 years. I'd rather the Chinese people understand what's happening to them when they understand that the regime won't let them view any of the Wikipedia pages."
So, what's adjacent for Wikipedia and what technology is Wales most excited almost? Wikipedia is now on iOS and moving towards offering users a feed of interesting content and personalization. Just he'due south most excited about something that "has nothing to do with my work": driverless cars.
"I'thou excited about the secondary offering—what happens when driverless cars are on the market? That's when the real disruption will happen."
About Kirsten Cluthe
Source: https://sea.pcmag.com/software-services/11064/jimmy-wales-talks-fbi-vs-apple-whats-next-for-wikipedia
Posted by: waterswittionfer93.blogspot.com
0 Response to "Jimmy Wales Talks FBI vs. Apple, What's Next for Wikipedia"
Post a Comment