My thoughts…on stuff

My thoughts on…Google’s Knol

July 27th 2008 -

We all know and love Wikipedia. It has helped make my college life a whole lot easier, I can tell you that. But now it has a rival - Google’s Knol. It was launched this week, and it may just be good enough to thwart Wikipedia’s secret attempt to gather all information on Earth and destroy it, temporarily anyway. Google calls a “knol” a unit of knowledge. Yeah, nice try guys, but “knol” isn’t as catchy as Google.

Knol pages are “meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read”, according to Udi Manber, a Vice President of Engineering at Google. Sounds like what Google was originally meant to be until the Internet got clogged by meaningless crap. Unlike Wikipedia entries that are written by several anonymous authors, Knol pages are written by a single author and may be edited by contributors, but only if the author allows.

Personally I don’t think I’ll use Knol. Though Wikipedia’s information is a lot less reliable than Knol’s due to its collaborative nature, Knol will be more academic in nature, while Wikipedia is more general. Google could also boost Knol pages in search results, causing Wikipedia and other competition to suffer. And knols may include ads, if the author allows of course. Ads that the author will profit from, motivating authors to write more knols. This, along with the recognition, will lead to more pages, but may lead to less substance. In my opinion, Knol is just a monetized version of Scholarpedia. But with Google’s power over the Internet, no one will question it.

7 Responses on “My thoughts on…Google’s Knol”

1. 
   Roxy Says:
   July 28th, 2008 at 11:39 am

   I seriously think all Google services comes with ads. Yup I agree with you. No one will ever question Google, as it’s…. GOOGLE.

2. 
   The Seeker Says:
   July 28th, 2008 at 1:36 pm

   All Hail GOOGLE! Overlord of the internet!
   All others must be crushed!

3. 
   Stunner Says:
   July 28th, 2008 at 1:54 pm

   Google just seem to be growing and growing and…

   Well, I’ll welcome Knol, it will be a great addition to Wikipedia.

   Stunners last blog post..Passenger’s Log, Air ‘Always Delayed’

4. 
   kami Says:
   July 28th, 2008 at 6:44 pm

   Google for ever

5. 
   Mighty Afroditee Says:
   July 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm

   Thanks for the info. As I am always slow, I will prolly not use it until 2 years from now, when they have worked out all the kinks.

6. 
   blueyes Says:
   July 29th, 2008 at 8:24 pm

   You know, I gotta say I have never really used wiki hardly at all unless I have been looking for something so obscure that is the only thing that has anything that might be relative. I’m not that big a fan of it personally.

   blueyess last blog post..IT Degrees

7. 
   jdid Says:
   July 31st, 2008 at 10:43 am

   everyone wants a piece of the pie

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