QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
I actually think that if he is doing it for free, or for a small fee that doesn't make him rich, then he is amazing.
Before you take off your hat, recall that Jimbo is no socialist. And not a particularly nice person either.
QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
How much money do Yahoo and Google people make? Or Craigslist? Why should Wikipedia be free?
First, it is a good idea. It was a combination of Sanger's idea, with Sanger-Wale's discovery that a real encyclopedi (Nupedia) would tank. Wikipedia was an accidental discovery/idea.
More importantly, it is a huge TAX BREAK. Because it is public domain educational material, the IRS considers donations to it (which first came from Jimbo himself) were tax-free, meaning he probably saved tons of money by "donating" to it. In other words, it has already made him money.
QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
They should put ads in there, or something.
This was the basis of the Sanger-Wales "divorce". Wales refused to put ads in. Which considering he wants to keep this as a charity, isn't a bad idea.
If Wales really gave a damn about the encyclopedia, he probably would have put ads in. But he doesn't. He wants to siphon the money off into a profit-based enterprise, that he owns, and controls. And that is far less of a legal risk.
QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
How much money do others make from Wikipedia thanks to scraping? And how much do they give back?
Jimbo is more concerned about "scraping" venture capital than information. He's been there and done that with Bomis.
QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
I actually feel sorry for Jimbo, seriously, to be that popular and not making a mountain of money. I bet you that Britanica and the like are making bucketloads.
Jimbo as victim? (bangs head on desk). I don't feel sorry for Jimbo. He's laughing all the way to the bank, and got a free "get out of the IRS free" card, courtesy of Wikipedia, and 4 million cheerful happy volunteers.
I don't mind him making money, but the environment in there is just too depressing and unethical.
QUOTE(blissyu2 @ Sun 15th July 2007, 10:38am)
I actually think that if he is doing it for free, or for a small fee that doesn't make him rich, then he is amazing. How much money do Yahoo and Google people make? Or Craigslist? Why should Wikipedia be free? They should put ads in there, or something. LiveJournal was free for a long time, but they introduced paid accounts, and it quickly made a lot of people very rich. Wikipedia can't have paid accounts (for obvious reasons) but they can have ads. Put an ad on every page, and then scraping looks the same as the pages themselves. How much money do others make from Wikipedia thanks to scraping? And how much do they give back?
I actually feel sorry for Jimbo, seriously, to be that popular and not making a mountain of money. I bet you that Britanica and the like are making bucketloads.
Bliss,
If Wales could get as rich as the google-guys, he would. He's not as smart as them - they were computer science PhD genius guys. He's a finance guy (also a dropped PhD, but he's no genius - just a good promotor).
He's trying, in his own fashion, to get as-rich as the google guys.....while soaking up as much of the glamorous life as he can sink his teeth into.
I don't mind him making money off Wikipedia (indirectly) or Wikia (directly). I do mind that the environment of Wikipedia is so unethical and brutal, and the fact that it lacks moral authority is completely his fault. You almost can't blame Florence for anything. It would be like blaming a cow.
QUOTE(GlassBeadGame @ Sun 15th July 2007, 8:00am)
You make interesting posts DL. I think the reason for our slow response is found here:
The difficulty derives from the open parenthesis "(" where a close parenthesis ")" would be expected. WR is known to be very intolerant of minor syntax errors. Somey recently misplaced a bracket "[" and everyone ignored the entire forum for a week. Don't let it get under your skin.
Thanks! And in the future, I'll close my parens and not-forget the semicolons, to prevent you all from infinite-looping in anticipation.
QUOTE(GlassBeadGame @ Sun 15th July 2007, 8:00am)
The 4 M seems a modest level of investment given the resource of some of the investors.
Sure. But it's about 5-6 times the annual budget of the WMF, so it is all relative. And easy for ultra rich entrepreneurial types to get involved, with their "pocket money".
QUOTE(GlassBeadGame @ Sun 15th July 2007, 8:00am)
To illustrate where WPs "good faith" and branding come in, note the VentueBeat article indicates that Wikia has 30,000 registered users. I think en.wp has 2 million. Notice the name is "Wikia" not "Bomis Cities."
I don't get the joke here. Bomis Cities? I thought that Wikia was originally Wikicities, or something. But I think he's sweeping his his former
Penis (oops, I mean) Bomis business under the rung.
QUOTE(GlassBeadGame @ Sun 15th July 2007, 8:00am)
This is the best information we have had on Wikia financing so far. We should continue to keep an eye on this.
Wow - I think that with a critique site, "where the money goes" is the first place you should look. But thanks for the compliment. Hope this was helpful.