As anticipated in a previous article on FIRSTonline.info, Christie's has auctioned two items related to Wikipedia history directly from Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of the non-profit online encyclopedia.
The online sale titled The Birth of Wikipedia consisted of two lots: an NFT of the first edit of Wikipedia, sold for $750.000, and a Strawberry iMac used by Wales at the time, which totaled $187.500.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale will help support Wales' alternative social media network WT.Social pilot project, an attempt to find a healthier, non-toxic alternative to existing social media platforms with an ad-free, donation-only model as well as to help support a variety of charities working in the world of free culture. The Strawberry iMac was Wales' personal computer, which he used for development and research upon the website's launch on January 15, 2001, monitoring the site's early development, protecting it from vandals, and marveling at its rapid growth. When the computer became obsolete, it was relegated to his young daughter's room, who used it to play video games. It was later placed in its original box, which will be included in the sale.
An NFT of the first Wikipedia edit: “Hello, World!” (sold for $187.500) made by Wales on Wikipedia launch day, it would be the first in a long line of changes that would produce “the largest and most widely read reference work in history”. (Wikipedia) and NFT preserve the layout of the Wikipedia homepage in 2001, based on the earliest existing source code. The NFT also has a dynamic feature, which allows the owner to change the page, which can be reset with a timer to return to its original state.
