Situation 1: Ian Larson wanted to help preserve the Passamaquoddy language from extinction.
After looking at these two options for a little while, I can’t say that I am particularly drawn to either of them, based on the definitions of the various terms earlier on that page (one-to-one, one-to-many, etc.) It says that for something to be many-to-many, the content needs to have a certain level of reciprocal control, which I don’t see much of in Solution B, because everyone would get the same content experience from viewing the videos. On the other hand, Solution A offers users a unique experience based on what words they feel like searching and hearing the pronunciation of. The flaw with Solution A is that only a select group of people is compiling this dictionary and presenting it to a bunch of people, so it barely seems like many-to-many, but rather like a few-to-many.
Were I forced to make a decision however, I would choose Solution B, because the number of people included in the creation of the content is much higher, and users do have an option of making their experiences different by use of the tag cloud.
Situation 2: Evan Habeeb wanted to make people aware of the beauty of abandoned buildings.
In this situation, Solution B is clearly the only one that offers a many-to-many experience. Situation A is more of one person broadcasting to a select group of people that may be interested in the DVD he creates. Solution B offers the opportunity for anyone interested to get involved, contribute (reciprocal control), and share.
Situation 3: Ryan Schaller and Jason Walker wanted to help people understand the many layers required to create a computer-animated film, including wireframe, textures, and light effects. As a case study, they created an animation depicting a cartoon archeologist digging for ancient artifacts.
Again, Solution B is the best one. A offers an interesting view of the layers of the animation, but nothing more, and nothing varied. In Solution B, users can use this application (which would be available to a much broader audience) to look at exactly which parts of the process they want to know about, and even to explore further by following links to other sites about animation.
Situation 4: Danielle Gagner wanted to renovate the waterfall fountain under the skylight in the middle of the University Union, which had fallen into disrepair.
In the final situation, Solution A is better because it actually provides interactive experiences that will be different for everyone. Solution B is simply an installation that is meant to look interesting but provides little else, and it will be the same for everyone. In Solution A, other people get to collaborate and contribute to the garden that would be growing there and then anyone can take plants and vegetables from it when they are grown.