Volume 10, No. 1, Spring 2005

Click here to download pdf file (5.5 MB)

Shenehon Online

By Scot A. Torkelson, Vice President

Now that the 'tech bubble' can be seen in the rearview mirror, there is one innovation of the internet that will likely always be with us: universal, free, and immediate access to global information. Millions of interested individuals now contribute to collective web building endeavors. Their efforts are variously called open source, freeware, or net communities, but the curious fact is that all of the information is free. There is no charge to contribute information and no charge to use the system.

It is precisely this aspect of open source endeavors that allows them to thrive even as internet scheme after internet scheme has crashed and burned under the weight of mounting costs and scant revenues. When you work for free, you have no overhead and no need of revenues-aside from donations in some cases. Some of these open source systems have truly become global in reach and have the potential to unseat even Microsoft from its lofty perch (Linux). Some are considered illegal in certain countries (Grokster file sharing). Some have found ways to harness the open source spirit to create a successful business model (Ebay). Some, like Wikipedia, fall into all of these categories.

Wikipedia is a phenomenon among the freeware endeavors and a potential resource for the business valuation community. It is the essence of open source, written in eight languages and available via the internet, free of charge, around the world-no membership required. Wikipedia is the largest collective assemblage of knowledge in the world. It is, at its simplest, nothing more than an online encyclopedia, but its breadth and scope make it so much more. Today, the Wikipedia site (www.wikipedia.com) has 500,000 articles. Including all language versions, it has well over 1.5 million entries. These articles have been written, assembled, corrected, and revised by over 20,000 contributors. Some of these resources are truly amazing. Among those of special interest to members of the appraisal community are:

• Counties and Cities in the United States
  Derek Ramsey, one of Wikipedia's most active contributors, created "rambot," a Java program that creates and maintains current articles on American counties and cities throughout the United States.
• Detailed Discussions of Cities
  The real strength of Wikipedia is in the area of detail for anything you might think of in a city. Type in, for example, Minneapolis, Minnesota. There are lengthy discussions of the Hiawatha Light Rail Line, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, and area neighborhoods, to name a few.
• Industry Information
  Wikipedia's industry offerings are hit and miss at this point. The interest of contributors is decidedly more esoteric: focusing on photography and astronomy. Industry professionals are becoming more involved, however. Their contributions in the areas of finance, business management, and the business sectors will continue to improve this site's usefulness.

In addition to "taking" from the Wikipedia offerings, anyone with access to the site (which is everyone) can also "give" to the site. One can submit information at anytime, in any area of expertise, and the finished product will be posted in a matter of seconds for the entire world to see. Are you willing to tackle lack of marketability discounts? Wikipedia already has one of the simplest and best discussions of present value that I have ever seen.