Google's Knol Edge?

Google has a new little experiment:

At the heart, a knol is just a web page; we use the word "knol" as the name of the project and as an instance of an article interchangeably. It is well-organized, nicely presented, and has a distinct look and feel, but it is still just a web page. Google will provide easy-to-use tools for writing, editing, and so on, and it will provide free hosting of the content. Writers only need to write; we'll do the rest

Google is hoping to attract experts to write succinctly about what they know, thereby creating a knowledgebase.

It's one part Squidoo, one part Wikipedia. My prediction is that while it is a closed beta it will flounder, and when the public are let in it'll become a shallow venue for people trying to make a quick buck.