« The Future of Editing? | Main | Are Watches Dangerous? »

September 29, 2005

The New Cliche: "It's the Wikipedia of..."

You know something has arrived when it’s used to describe a phenomenon. Or what people hope will be a phenomenon. Here’s a sampling:

  • Laptops This from Nicholas Negroponte, describing his $100 laptop for the developing world (via Andy Carvin's Waste of Bandwidth): "It's the Wikipedia equivalent (of hardware)," he said, describing the spirit of the laptop initiative.
  • Gasbuddy  Poster at ezboard: “It's the Wikipedia of Gas pumps. I use it whenever I need gas. I can't believe I forgot about it until now.”
  • New York Times — This from a Xanga blogger: “It's the Wikipedia of newspapers: great resource with plenty of interesting but useless content. For goodness' sake, it's a newspaper, not Cosmo Girl.”
  • The UK Good Food/Good Pub guide, described on Wikipedia chat as It's the wikipedia of food guides”
  • Urban Dictionary — described by this blogger as “the Wikipedia of the streets beyach!”
  • Sushi World Guideit seems the community is still growing. It is the 'Wikipedia of Sushi'.
  • Pure Energy Systems We will be the Wikipedia of alternate energy technology.”
  • Wondirhailed on the unofficial google blog as “the Wikipedia of answer sites”
  • Dermatlasdescribed here as the Wikipedia of dermatology atlases“
  • Math World — described here as “the wikipedia of math”
  • GuitarWikidescribed by a visitor as possibly becoming “the Wikipedia of the guitar world“

TrackBack

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/10988/3273463

Listed below are links to weblogs that reference The New Cliche: "It's the Wikipedia of...":

» The New Cliche: "It's the Wikipedia of..." from Venture Chronicles by Jeff Nolan
folks, we have a new long tail... Link via Techdirt: loose wire: The New Cliche: It's the Wikipedia of.... The New Cliche: It's the Wikipedia of... [Read More]

» Between Lawyers - Is it the Wikipedia of Legal Blogging? from Between Lawyers
I greatly enjoyed Jeremy Wagstaff's carefully annotated and hyperlinked post called "The New Cliche: "It's the Wikipedia of . . ." and wanted to join in the cliche-creating game. For Wikipedia fans, I do realize that this blog and Wikipedia... [Read More]

Comments

What is sad is that they mean it in a positive way. However, Wikipedia is chock full of errors and, while it certainly has its place, it's hardly something to compare a quality product to.

It reminds me of one that was around for a long time, and still pops up -- "It's like (some existing technology) on steroids!"

Though I confess, I have occasionally used this as a PR rep. Looking back, it was a lazy description, and at least I did move on to better ones.

Maybe the problem isn't that people are referring to things as "the Wikipedia of..." but that they stop there; they don't come up with other comparisons. Are people lazy, or are they in such a rush to do more in less time that they latch on to the first metaphor that comes to mind?

Post a comment

If you have a TypeKey or TypePad account, please Sign In

Subscribe in one go

  • Subscribe to RSS Feed
My Photo

Adsense


Google reader

Software worth checking out

  • 1st TurboRun
    Fast access to files and programs
  • ActiveWords
    Do everything without leaving the keyboard
  • Anagram
    Translates copied text into Contact, Calendar, Task, and Note items for Outlook, Palm etc
  • BlogJet
    Weblog client for Windows that allows you to manage your blog without opening a browser.
  • Courier Email
    Great email program
  • DtSearch
    Text Retrieval / Full Text Search Engine
  • ExplorerPlus
    Organize and manage all your system files and folders
  • Google Deskbar
    Search with Google from any application without lifting your fingers from the keyboard.
  • Google Earth
  • Jot+
    store all of your notes and information in an easy-to-use outline
  • Local Cooling
  • MSGTAG - MessageTag
    Email receipt alert
  • Mindjet
  • MyInfo
    free-form information organizer
  • Natara Bonsai
  • NoteStudio
  • NoteTab
    Great text and HTML editor
  • Omea Reader
    Good RSS feedreader
  • Process Explorer
    Not too geeky way to figure out what software is slowing down your computer. Just keep it running for a while and the culprit will become obvious.
  • SpaceMonger
    Keep track of the free space on your computer via treemaps
  • Stick
    Post-It note-like tabs to store text, folders etc that cling to the edge of your screen
  • TaskTracker
    Lists recent documents by type for easy access
  • Text Monkey
    Easily clean copied text
  • TheBrain
    Worth spending time on mastering
  • Trillian IM Clients
    Gathers all your instant messaging accounts in one window
  • UltraMon
    Increase productivity and unlock the full potential of multiple monitors.
  • Vyooh DiskView
    Visually see disk space usage in Windows Explorer