I was sitting in class today when this thought suddenly occurred to me. Google is the phenomenon it is as it has been able to satisfy the need of people to search for information that they need. Probably very few people had anticipated the importance of search to the end users. Wikipedia allowed people to become part of the process. There are occasional goof-ups like this. But on the whole I can probably assert that Wikipedia has proved to be immensely popular.
Now I come to my actual point. Previously when I was required to do a project Google was probably invariably the first place I would go to. I still do that but now Wikipedia has reduced the amount of search required. Information from a number of sources (if occasionally the authenticity is suspect) is now present at a single location thus reducing the amount of work (sic) required. In a sense Wikipedia is complementing (even supplementing?) Google today. Now does Google look at Wikipedia as a threat? Wikipedia does not make the user pay anything. Take a look at the mission statements of Wikimedia Foundation (who runs Wikipedia) and Google.
WF - to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally
Google - to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful
Notice the similarity? If I can take some liberties in saying so, both primarily aim to make information that is useful to users available to them without charging them. Thus there seems to be a convergence of philosophies here. So is Google interested in Wikipedia? Are Larry and Sergey listening?
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