Wikipedia was there first.


The International Astronomical Union's decision of two years ago to demote Pluto from the status of a full-fledged planet to that of a dwarf planet was noted on Wikipedia only minutes after the decision was reached. There's something very impressive about such an achievement, yet at the same time there's good reason to wonder just how important it really is. Pluto, after all, remained Pluto, keeping to its long-established orbit. The fact that new information was available to whoever might be searching for it was no doubt significant, but that same information was available from other sources - from the IAU itself, for instance, and a Google search on updated information about Pluto, or something similar, would have brought up that new information. (And let's not forget that old information has very impressive staying power.) I wouldn't be surprised if the vast majority of people who actually turned to Wikipedia for new information about Pluto in the moments after the IAU decision already knew of the change in status before searching, and did so simply to see whether Wikipedia had already updated its page.

Any pupil who, required to submit a paper about Pluto, turned to Wikipedia and found the latest (and most accurate) information would perhaps have gotten a good grade on his or her paper (if, of course, the teacher accepted Wikipedia as a source, or didn't rely on the information he or she had grown up with that Pluto truly was the ninth planet), but other than such a case, it's hard to think of an example in which being first with this information might have actually benefitted someone.



Go to: Actually, I could have waited.