Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2010/01/24/Digital_Life_Design_2010_Disruptive
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales reveals that only 30 staffers power Wikipedia, one of the most visited websites on the Internet. While Wales jokes that he is “a really fast typist,” he reminds us that “the actual production of the encyclopedia is done by the community.”
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In a high-level session, four disruptive entrepreneurs discuss what disruption is all about: Mitchell Baker (Mozilla), Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia), Niklas Zennstrom (Atomico) and – also moderating the discussion – Yossi Vardi (DLD Co-Chairman) all have created organizations or products that disrupted their industries.
It turns out there are a few things all of them have in common: Serving a huge user base with a very small organization; getting the users actively involved in the main business of your company; and an open mind to collaboration and partnership over competition. – DLD
Jimmy Donal “Jimbo” Wales (born August 7, 1966 in Huntsville, Alabama) is the founder, board member and Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, a non-profit corporation that operates the Wikipedia project, and several other wiki projects, including Wiktionary and Wikinews. He is also the co-founder, along with Angela Beesley, of the for-profit company Wikia, Inc.
Duration : 0:1:49
[youtube aOz6Au5NuG0]
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Thank God for …
Thank God for wikipedia.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
If the position …
If the position opens I would like to be nominated for Wikipedia Reader in Chief.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
I only use wiki as …
I only use wiki as a door to more reputable and legitimate sources. If there’s one thing I can credit wikipedia with its at least growing more conscious of citing when source material is questionable and being able to check the source is extremely useful.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
i use wiki every …
i use wiki every day!
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
And this in an …
And this in an article on Jackson Pollack:
“Pollack’s iconic 1949 masterpiece ‘Blue Poles’ was painted with groundbreaking technique that Pollack himself had just pioneered: He affixed a brush to the tail of one of the horses on his Colorado ranch and held his canvas in the path of its errant swipes. It is a fascinating technique whose ingenuity has rightly been much celebrated.:.”
Both were expunged almost immediately.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
As a test I once …
As a test I once placed the following in an article on the physics of light:
“In 1702, Newton demonstrated that the speed of light -on Earth- to be just over 146 feet per second (fps)
However he was laboring at the dawn of the eighteenth century and had no way of knowing that the speed of light varies relative to the force exerted upon by gravity.
For example, the speed of light at surface level on mars is 256.097 fps.
On Jupiter it is a comparatively sluggish 62.017 fps…
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Of course the flip …
Of course the flip side of this is that there are many, many horror stories about the volunteer staff for Wikipedia going on power trips, reverting legitimate edits, and generally acting like pricks. And with so few staff the people who do this are almost never caught.
Don’t get me wrong, I like and use Wikipedia. But they are paying a price for having so few employees.
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Good that Skype …
Good that Skype doesn’t have only 30 though. Customer service phone would be a pain
March 15th, 2010 at 11:08 am
Thank You Wiki!
Thank You Wiki!