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The revolution I have in mind is to have the internet be an information source, not a marketing source. If Mr. Wales and his group can provide a search engine that returns information sources instead of purchasing sources I'll be among the enthusiastic users.
Google runs on a fault tolerant massively meshed network comprised of thousands upon thousands of cheap commodity server boxes underneath a custom built and esoteric file system to support the search data and the massive index and meta index spaces above it. "Google" as a domain is one of the 10 highest hit domains on the entire internet.
I have noticed over the last couple of years that it is getting harder and harder to get what I need from a search engine, Google seems the best but far too often returns nothing relevant, and far too often even if it appears relevant it turns out it was written 5 or 10 years ago. No matter how much I try to edit the search parameters this has been the case. I fear we have lost out, once again, to the same people that co-opted the radio and the TV and now the internet. It was ever thus I suppose.
When Wikipedia first came out, I had great doubts about how good or comprehensive it could be. I figured that it would sputter out with few entries and lots of arguments on "facts". However, I am now a regular user and it is now one of the first sources I consult. I may not 100% trust its accuracy, but I am finding fewer reasons to continue my doubt.
Jim Wales has proven to be able to take a very complex project and guide it with just enough oversight to get it to work. If I was Google, I'd be worried.
