Official Google Blog: Encouraging people to contribute knowledge Google is currently working on something like Wikipedia. Right now its an invitation only thing, but they plan on opening it up to the public. There is also a sample page at the bottom of the article, and my hopes are they make it a little bit more reputable than wikipedia's pages are. That said, they are also including authors with each article, which will help credibility.
It's not another wikipedia, by the looks of the example the aim is to create reliable articles which can be used by everyone, not just understood by the experts in the field. Wikipedia sometimes has articles which are too technical, while Knol seems to be a article/howto site.
I saw this on the Guardian website the other day. I think Wiki needs the competition. I like the idea of the "peer reviews" part. There have been a few times ive read something on Wiki and not entirely agreed with it or have thought it hasnt been concise but not to the extent where it needs changing. The peer reviews gives you the opportunity to blow your fog horn when need be!
