It can't cost "that much" for someone to download Wikipedia pages. And if so, you can still buy a Wikipedia snapshot CD/DVD.
- But if Wikipedia is "too much" bandwidth (1) then what CAN you access on the internet? Why would you expect any utility from the internet at all, if a mostly text page is too much?
- Unlike Wikipedia taking on the world itself, Wikipedia should be LOBBYING people with even more money to do it for them. You know... building internet infrastructures. Think how bad our internet would be today if in 2005 they said, "Let's work on minimizing the bandwidth usage instead of complaining that our ISPs need to get faster." It's like someone who wants to get out of poverty by spending less. Yeah, that's great. But you want an easier way to get out of poverty? Make more money. Trust me, I know. We should be elevating internet quality (and incomes) around the world, not minimizing usage for one of the already tiniest bandwidth websites on the planet.
(1) BTW, there's also bandwidth reducing plugins for Chrome that have a 3rd-party convert them to black-and-white/low-res.
[edit] There's even an official Google plugin! (If you're okay having them basically store the contents every site you visit...)
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/data-saver/pfmgfdl...
I don't recall the 3rd party one I used but it definitely worked when I tested it out. It might be this one, Bandwidth Hero:
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/bandwidth-hero-liv...
(Basically search "Bandwidth saver" in extensions.)