(2004-04-01) Turnbull On Wiki

Giles Turnbill on Wiki. Like most articles it focuses on the public-discussion variant, but hints at wider pastures: Lion Kimbro (says) "It is publicly adjustable. It consolidates thinking, organises people, and is Self Organizing. Wiki is the document facility of the Public Web." A wiki's strength is that it is a form of communication based on documents, rather than messages. Since it is document-based, it becomes much easier to maintain a discussion between a group of people, and to edit and re-edit the page until it becomes coherent and helpful to all. Like Lion Kimbro, some members of the wider wiki community believe there's a good argument for expand ing the use of wikis, so they become as widespread as EMail. Ward Cunningham also has confidence in wiki's future. "I think wiki is a miniature version of science. Science is a process for organising and explaining nature. Wiki is a process for organising and explaining experience. I ask people to tell me their stories, and people like to tell stories. It's a natural, social thing. Wiki provides the machinery for weaving together those stories."

Update: here are Giles' lengthier shorthand notes from the conversation with Ward Cunningham.