Wikipedia 1, Microsoft 0

01-04-2009

by Ralph Averbuch

Microsoft finally falls to the inevitable march of Wiki wunderkids.

There's no question that the first time the CD-ROM became an established means of distributing large amounts of data, one of the most compelling uses was the digital encyclopedia. In the early days the first generation CDs gave a glimpse of just how powerful a tool the computer could be... way beyond the narrow tasks of writing, spreadsheets and databases. But it didn't take long for Microsoft to take note of this trend and quickly kill any competition, when it launched Encarta. That's not to say that Encarta was a lesser product. In fact it was an excellent digital recreation of a print encyclopedia with the added bells and whistles of video, diagrams, audio, et cetera. But Microsoft was already well-established, had a strong distribution network and was effectively able to choke off any competition, in much the same fashion as it had already done with Office apps. So it's sobering to see such a powerful company now reporting that Microsoft will drop Encarta and close its supporting web sites. In doing so Microsoft is acknowledging it can't compete with the free collaborative Wikipedia project that's become the leading encyclopedia on the web. It's an effective illustration of how, when correctly applied, the power of a bunch of volunteers can lay low the mighty Microsoft. Still, pre-Wikipedia who would have predicted that one day a website mostly administered by a bunch of amateur enthusiasts would be able to do battle with Microsoft and win? And the sting in the tail? In a matter of hours after Microsoft reported its decision to shut up shop, the news was already included in the Encarta entry on Wikipedia.

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