'Birth of Wikipedia' NFT Auction Listing is Underway at Christie's | The Computer that Created the Internet Encyclopedia

Joseph Henry, Tech Times 10 December 2021, 02:12 am

The "Birth of Wikipedia" NFT auction is now happening at Christie's wherein a lucky buyer could purchase a computer where the internet encyclopedia was created.

In addition, co-founder Jimmy Wales is also selling the first-ever edit on the platform beside his old Apple iMac where it all began.

First-Ever Wikipedia Edit as NFT

Before going to the auction as a non-fungible token, the first Wikipedia edit "Hello World" made its grand entrance to the platform in January 2001 thanks to Jimmy Wales. Now, collectors could buy this token at Christie's auction house starting on Dec. 3 to Dec. 15, according to Slate.

Besides the first words typed in Wikipedia, Walers will also offer the computer where it originated. In fact, he would be selling the old Apple iMac that he used in the past.

According to the report, Christie's will include the code of Wikipedia's first moments through the earliest available backup.

The era for NFTs has boomed unexpectedly this year. The "Birth of Wikipedia" NFT auction listing not only triggers nostalgic memories of the golden days of the internet. This would also tour people to embrace the simplicity of the homepage ages ago.

Jimmy Wales' NFT listing is somewhat similar to Sir Tim Berners-Lee's source code which was sold for more than $5 million in July.

Wikipedia Editors on NFT Listing

In the same report by Slate, it was found out that Wales' Wikipedia NFT has the potential to reach millions of dollars in value. However, it does not sound good to some Wikipedians.

According to one commenter, Wikipedia is the opposite of profit and the attempt to "create an artificial scarcity." Some said that what the founder did was contradicting the ethos of the site being a free encyclopedia to all.

Amid these comments, another interesting piece of news about Wikipedia has surfaced online. The controversy tackled the "real" first words typed in it. There have been 10,000 contributions that were written in 2010 by Northeastern University professor Joseph Reagle. In fact, Tim Starling lost the first edits 11 years ago only to be rediscovered by another person.

According to Reagle, "Hello, World" is not the first Wikipedia edit that came out. Instead, the computer linked to "office.bomis.com" suggested that the very first words were "This is the new WikiPedia!"

Wikipedia Computer Specs

After knowing the first edits that were created on Wikipedia, it's time to know more about the computer where it all started. According to another article written by Screen Rant, Wales' strawberry iMac has the following specs.