Posted by Matt 

It was disturbing enough to hear that Apple Computers CEO Steve Jobs lashed out at public school teachers a few days ago, calling them “what's wrong with our schools.”  But it was also disappointing to read this:

During the panel discussion Friday, Jobs also lobbied for a textbook-free future . . . Textbooks could be replaced with a free, always-updated online information resource, somewhat like the Internet encyclopedia Wikipedia. “I think we’d get some of the best minds in the country contributing,” Jobs said.

Most teachers are supportive of using online resources when and where appropriate, but if Wikipedia is what Jobs has in mind, we should all think twice.  Wikipedia is a nonprofit, open-source, online encyclopedia, and it is written and edited by thousands of volunteers who aren’t paid for their work.

Relying on volunteers, as Wikipedia does, means that the information it presents is vulnerable to pranksters and others who might deliberately or unintentionally submit inaccurate or misleading information. In 2005, Norway’s prime minister discovered that his Wikipedia biography contained a number of libelous statements.  A former MTV video-jockey admitted that he edited a Wikipedia entry to inflate his own role in the early days of podcasting.

Even U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Richard Posner--who says he enjoys surfing Wikipedia’s site--has said that he wouldn’t rely on what Wikipedia had to say “in a critical issue.”  Posner was reminded of Wikipedia’s shortcomings when he recently learned that the online encyclopedia erroneously listed conservative commentator Ann Coulter as his former clerk.

There are many wonderful things about open-source technology, but--as Jobs should know--an open-source, online encyclopedia that anyone can edit increases the potential for inaccurate or self-serving information to be accepted as fact or valid history.

Jobs said “some of the best minds in the country” would contribute to the free Wikipedia-like site he envisioned, and their contributions might address concerns about the quality and accuracy of text.  But how would Jobs (or anyone else) be able to offer such a service for free?  I can’t imagine scholars researching and writing thousands of pages of text for this kind of site unless they are paid.

This is only one example that reminds us of why Americans must exercise caution when a high-powered, well-connected person who has little or no experience with public schools starts dispensing his advice.