Knol: a unit of knowledge
Well, Google has taken on every other web service, why not challenge wiki, the arguably best/worst general reference site on the net? Wiki is great. Wiki is evil. Wiki is the source every academic knows they should avoid at all costs, yet it’s usually the top hit on any search. Just one easy click— it’s irresistable. Sometimes it’s legit and helpful, sometimes it’s even comprehensive. Other times it leaves me shaking my head in fear and derision.
So what about it’s new competitor? I took knol for a quick spin and it scared me seenseless. I had just read an article about the advent of USB 3.0 so I had the technology on the brain. It seemed like a fairly general topic, so I searched it. The top result was the only one with any real pertience, and it was a poorly written, poorly spelled how-to piece on ridding one’s “pen drive” of viruses using Windows. The second hit I have to paste because I can’t even summarize: “Installing a Ubuntu Hardy Heron Java Development Environment on a USB flash drive”. Um. Okay, sure. Another helpful how-to for the 3 people who could use this information. So is the entire thing built for the technology literate? No…. the other hits included a topic on Ringo Star, Diamond Bar High School, and 3 articles that weren’t in English so I can’t really attest to their relevance. On the bright side, the featured entry on Bruxism (grinding of the teeth) was complete and contributed by a “verified” dentist. One dentist; it hasn’t yet been “peer reviewed” as advertised.
Needles to say, I had flashbacks to cuil. Knol is still in Beta, but then again, so was Gmail for about 5 years. I guess in the meantime we’re stuck with Wiki.
