The Knol - experts blogging?

Since I have spent so much time on Google lately, I clicked on the words The Knol and read the following description:

The Knol site has one goal: to help you share what you know.
The Knol project is a site that hosts many knols — units of knowledge — written about various subjects. The authors of the knols can take credit for their writing, provide credentials, and elicit reviews and comments. Users can provide feedback, comments, and related information. So the Knol project is a platform for sharing information, with multiple cues that help you evaluate the quality and veracity of information.Knols are indexed by the big search engines, of course. And well-written knols become popular the same as regular web pages. The Knol site allows anyone to write and manage knols through a browser on any computer.

So what subjects can I write on?
(Almost) anything you like. You pick the subject and write it the way you see fit. We don't edit knols nor do we try to enforce any particular viewpoint – your knol should be written as you want it to be written. Of course, knols are subject to Terms of Service and Content Policy to ensure a good experience for all users and compliance with applicable laws.

Here is the link where I copied this info from: http://knol.google.com/k

The knol sounds like a blog entry rather than a wiki entry. Alleged experts write about a topic they know, but their readers can only make comments and links to their entry, and not make changes to the original text like people on wikis can do.

I am not certain the purpose for the knol. Is the desired goal to have a searchable encyclopedia written by supposed experts? Is the knol competition for wikipedia? Does the knol appeal to legitimate authors because they are given credit for their writing? I am wondering if the knol will become the next 8 track tape - a new technology that does not have sustainability.