After years of successful topics and entries that everyone has had the ability to contribe to, the online free encyclopedia is finally going offline. Ok, so it's not going offline in the traditional sense of shutting down, Wikipedia has created a DVD version of Wikipedia, with close to 2,000 hand picked articles from a group of academics and Wikipedia staff.
The CD is selling for $13.99, which seems like a rather high price for something that can be accessed for free online. But hey, if you don't have internet access this is the next best option. The Wikipedia Foundation DVD is first available in English format, with a French format as well as other launguages in development.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-19-2007 @ 4:02PM
James said...
Chances of this being a popular add-on item for OLPC: very, very high.
Does it actually fit on just one disc?
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4-19-2007 @ 4:15PM
Sven Schoene said...
Wait a second: Just 2000 articles for $14? Wikipedia consists of "1 731 000+" articles. This is a really awesome idea but very very badly executed. I know that I won't buy this one.
Sven Schoene,
http://www.SvenSchoene.de
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4-19-2007 @ 5:20PM
DownloadSquad said...
The problem I have with this is that it completely ignores the true value of Wikipedia. I rarely consult Wikipedia for very factual-based research articles, simply because they dont hold much credence as references in any type of paper. Encyclopedia Britannica or Encarta are much better for this, usually.
Instead, I find Wikipedia's true value to be the articles on obscure, culturally relevant or related to recent news. I somehow doubt that this CD would have an article like the one about the VA Tech tragedy (RIP all) or something just random like the one about the Freestyle Friday segment of 106&Park, a show on BET. That's where Wikipedia, and its vast base of "human" editors, come into play.
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4-19-2007 @ 7:54PM
Ankher said...
Can't you put Wikipedia on your iPod already w/iPodlinux?
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4-19-2007 @ 9:21PM
orig_club_soda said...
I think the price reflects the labor and materials necessary to make the CD. Labor is not cheap in the US.
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4-20-2007 @ 9:41AM
Mark said...
2000 stories sounds a little low considering the amount of information available on the site. Also does it really need to be on a DVD? Are they include tons of photos or something?
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4-20-2007 @ 5:14PM
Fred Fry said...
So, "The Free Encyclopedia" costs $13.99.
Actually, it sounds like a good idea. At least those entries included in the disk will be stable.
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4-21-2007 @ 8:02AM
BillyG said...
You played dirty with that title :-), scared the heck out of me!
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