Credited with creating Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales , 43, is the archetypal Internet entrepreneur and celebrity. Intensely curious even as a child, Wales spent hours poring over the Britannicas and World Book Encyclopedias. Wikipedia is the outcome of Wales’ vision that every single person on the planet is given full access to the sum of all human knowledge. Before becoming an Internet entrepreneur, he worked at a futures and options firm in Chicago where he earned his fortune. Wales is the president of Wikia Inc. and chairman of the Wikimedia Foundation.
The knowledge-sharing we take for granted in English — we just assume we have easy access to any information we want — has not been true for many other languages.
(This story appears in the 04 June, 2010 issue of Forbes India. To visit our Archives, click here.)
Considering Jimmy Wales' inability to be truthful, I wonder why Forbes India would even allow him this space. http://jm.ly/XKFkRP
on Jun 11, 2010Jimmy wales deserves all accolades for his revolutionary online encyclopedia, Wikipedia. He is right, English language has globalized and bridged the gap between nations and its citizens. Its the lingua franca of the world and the world wide web too. The computers and the Internet have truly changed the way people communicate and access information in the 21st century world. There is information explosion no doubt but we welcome this technological wonder. Moreover it has democratized the knowledge industry in a country like India where the doors of education were literally closed for the Dalits and lower castes for centuries. <br /> Now with computers and broadband connectivity becoming cheaper day by day even a common man is getting connected with the wider world and making use of the internet in having his say and keeping abreast with the happenings of the world etc. Now I read some of the best minds on internet thanks to fast broadband connectivity. <br /> I not only browse my local and national papers but i also get to read many of my favorite international magazines and periodicals everyday. All this has truly turned our world into a global village.
on Jun 5, 2010