Christmas is just around the corner, and those who celebrate it will likely have told their family and friends what they want. Whether via a written list, an open discussion, or subtle hints whispered strategically in the ears of loved ones.
This week’s poll is very straightforward, as we want to know which gadget is at the top of your wishlist. And if you don’t celebrate Christmas, please don’t feel excluded, as you can simply vote for the gadget you currently desire more than any others.
To answer this week’s question please scroll down the page until you see the poll staring back at you. But first, we need to look at the results from last week, when we asked, “Do You Trust Wikipedia?”
Out of a total of 439 votes, 65.2% chose Yes, Mostly, 11.6% chose I Neither Trust or Distrust Wikipedia, 10% chose Yes, Always, 9.3% chose No, Mostly, 3% chose No, Never, and 0.9% chose What Is Wikipedia?
If we combine the Yes votes together we discover that over 75 percent of our readers trust Wikipedia. In comparison, just 12 percent don’t trust Wikipedia, with the remainder staying neutral. A result with which Wikipedia should be very pleased.
It’s inevitable that some Wikipedia pages will contain biases or inaccurate information. However, this will be down to individual editors citing particular sources rather than Wikipedia as a whole. We also suspect these elements cancel each other out overall, leaving Wikipedia as a source that can be trusted more often than not.
We received a lot of great comments, including those from Kelsey Tidwell, Bob Lucore, and Paul. Comment of the Week goes to UrsusNurse, who earns our admiration and affection for this comment:
I’m a registered nurse and have found that there is much propaganda, disinformation, misinformation and biased material on many topics, especially pharmaceuticals (read the obvious biases in pages on psychiatric meds, for instance).
In addition, way back when I several times tried to make some edits to a page due to grammatical issues, clarity issues/sentence structure, spelling and punctuation (I used to work in print advertising production as a typographer/editor/copywriter), so my command of English is pretty formidable. I was informed by hostile-toned that further attempts to edit pages by my account would cause me to be banned from editing Wikipedia pages completely. So, the authors/”owners” of pages (even though they’re supposed to be collective) use threats even when you’ve tried to make their material more professional! Needless to say, every year when I get the email asking for funding for Wikipedia, I just refuse on this basis.
Wikipedia is proof that crowdsourcing information isn’t always a great idea. “Common knowledge” is the new term for stupidity and ignorance, and brazen stupidity is in. Even vetting is uneven, because it depends on the dependability of the source. I often look at the citations for articles, only to find that statements are often taken out of context or are of clearly dubious origin.
I think the dependability of Wikipedia is wildly variable, and one must therefore take everything that appears there with more than one grain of salt. In regards to advice I give patients for online health research, I always strongly advise them to ignore Wikipedia.
We chose this comment because it offers a strong rebuttal of the majority view. While most people trust Wikipedia, this reader suggests we shouldn’t, and for very specific reasons. It should be noted that using the Internet to research health problems probably isn’t a good idea under any circumstances, whether it’s Wikipedia or not.
We want to know which gadget you want above all others. With Christmas less than a week away, we have tied it into that holiday, as this is the time of year when people spend far too much money on things other people want but probably don’t need. However, if you don’t celebrate Christmas, that’s fine too, as you can still vote for the one gadget you want above all others right now.
As this is a poll, we only have a limited number of gadgets to offer up as answers. However, we think we have included the gadgets likely to be the most popular at the moment, and we just need you to add some details in the comments below. If your first choice isn’t there then simply select “Something Else” and tell us exactly what it is in the comments below.
Once you have voted in the poll above, please explain in the comments section below why you voted that way. We want to know more about the gadget on top of your Christmas list. What particular make and model is it? Are you loyal to that brand? What made you choose that gadget?
The more information you can provide with your comment, the more accurate our conclusions can be based on the results. The best comment of the week will win our everlasting admiration and affection. At least until we all meet back here again this time next week with a new question.
Image Credits: Frankieleon via Flickr
