I have to agree with the “hippie notion” that was brought up in class.  Any sort of knowledge that for the most part, betters the person who is obtaining it, should be available to all anywhere.  The internet is the medium with which we can now obtain information about just about any topic that we can imagine.  If a person is skilled enough with computers, he/she could most likely even get to some information that is not intended for their eyes.  The internet is full of exponentially growing information, and unless there is some unexplained loss of all electricity, it will continue to grow.  With the growth of all of this technology and outlets to put such information, it leads to things like wiki’s for specific things such as television shows, book, movies, actors, or just general controversial topics.  Two huge and most likely still growing wiki’s I know of are the one for Harry Potter, which I have visited numerous times, and the one for Lost.  Both of these stories are so complex that they are more than suitable for a wiki that goes on to explain things that might not have been so thoroughly explained in the TV show or the book/movie.  Wiki’s are really just the product of the super fans who know virtually everything there is to know about a certain show/book/movie/musical artist.  Wikipedia on the other hand is looking more to inform and educate in some respects.  Most people do typically just use Wikipedia for general information because basically all school classes do not allow it to be used as a credible source because of how often is vandalized or just plain mistaken.  Wikipedia is becoming more and more efficient at having the correct information, and I would not be surprised if it eventually becomes available to be used as a credible source in research paper classes in the future.