Comments on: One of my favorite Web sites: WalkerTracker http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/one-of-my-favorite-web-sites-walkertracker/ Out of the crooked timber of humanity, no straight thing was ever made Sat, 21 Nov 2009 09:06:52 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: John Quiggin http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/one-of-my-favorite-web-sites-walkertracker/comment-page-1/#comment-253179 John Quiggin Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:36:33 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7851#comment-253179 Partly the vast amount of stuff you can get just by wandering from one article to another. It's like the first days of the Web except that the information on Wikipedia is much more reliable and better sourced than in the wild old days. But even more it's being a part of the project as a whole. It's one place where the utopian vision of the Web has actually been realised in large measure. Of course, the people involved are no different from anyone else, so in that sense it's not utopian at all, but utopia for me was never about fundamentally transforming people. Partly the vast amount of stuff you can get just by wandering from one article to another. It’s like the first days of the Web except that the information on Wikipedia is much more reliable and better sourced than in the wild old days.

But even more it’s being a part of the project as a whole. It’s one place where the utopian vision of the Web has actually been realised in large measure. Of course, the people involved are no different from anyone else, so in that sense it’s not utopian at all, but utopia for me was never about fundamentally transforming people.

]]> By: Eszter Hargittai http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/one-of-my-favorite-web-sites-walkertracker/comment-page-1/#comment-253049 Eszter Hargittai Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:31:11 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7851#comment-253049 Thanks, John. I'd be curious to hear more about this. Is this because of the ease of access to information you would seek anyway or more because you stumble upon bits and pieces of info that you wouldn't encounter otherwise, or some entirely different reason? Thanks, John. I’d be curious to hear more about this. Is this because of the ease of access to information you would seek anyway or more because you stumble upon bits and pieces of info that you wouldn’t encounter otherwise, or some entirely different reason?

]]> By: John Quiggin http://crookedtimber.org/2008/09/22/one-of-my-favorite-web-sites-walkertracker/comment-page-1/#comment-253020 John Quiggin Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:51:12 +0000 http://crookedtimber.org/?p=7851#comment-253020 It's unoriginal, I know, but Wikipedia has had more of an impact on me than anything else on the web (except CT, of course!). It’s unoriginal, I know, but Wikipedia has had more of an impact on me than anything else on the web (except CT, of course!).

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