In 1998, the National Science Foundation initiated a effort known as Knowledge and Distributed Intelligence (KDI). It focused on knowledge networking; learning and intelligent systems, and new computational challenges. Our Distributed Knowledge project ("Can Knowledge Be Distributed? The Dynamics of Knowledge in Interdisciplinary Alliances") was part of the KDI initiative. We chose to study the Alliance, a consortium of 50+ universities, research insitutes, companies, etc. which promoted new ways of doing science in distributed teams. We found successes, but also problems with the distributed knowledge vision. An important insight was to see technology is an end, as well as a means for inquiry (pragmatic technology).