Matthew C. Clarke examines the balance of power inherent in building successful enterprise wiki, and comments on the future for wikis. This is an excellent, and very detailed case study:

Nevertheless, I predict that Wikis will disappear over the next 5 to 10 years. This is not because they will fail but precisely because they will succeed. The best technologies disappear from view because they become so common-place that nobody notices them.

Wiki-style functionality will become embedded within other software – within portals, web design tools, word processors, and content management systems. Our children may not learn the word “Wiki,” but they will be surprised when we tell them that there was a time when you couldn’t just edit a web page to build the content collaboratively.

To put it another way: wikis are on the way to becoming as ever-present as email. The success of email is that we don’t talk about it all that much; we just use it constantly.

(Via Matt Wiseley)