Epic, Googlezon, and Knol
Today during a professional development session with our school administrators, I shared this video called Epic 2015, and we had a discussion that followed. I asked what the technology depicted felt like to them, and then questions about what today’s children who would be living during that time (and perhaps graduating) should be prepared for.
One of the things depicted in the video that “forecasts” what’s happening in the future (some of it funny, some of it true) is something called “The Google GRID.” Among other things, it offers a space to share your knowledge.
Today (for real), Google releases what some are calling a competitor to the Wikipedia: Knol. What’s different is, authorship of an article is maintained. The article is by someone.
I thought it funny, since the make believe “GRID” was so much like today’s real “Knol.” And worse yet, many of the “2015″ technologies are already here today (albeit in some less mature forms). Combine Twittervision with iPhone 3G with an online aggregator service like NetVibes, and you have all the movie’s predictions… 7 years early (save for the court cases and the fall of the NY Times).
About Knol specifically, I like the model at Wikipedia better; I like the concept of crowdsourcing and the crunchy-granola flavor of the wiki. While Knol promises collaboration, it is more traditional in its approach.
And that’s why Google likely did it: it’s not just “another” place to dump content. They’re going for the more “trusted,” traditional route as a competitor. Who wants to write some Knol articles?