Encyclopedia Britannica Will Stop Publishing Print

[darksurfer]

I just read that the Encyclopedia Britannica will soon be ceasing publishing its work in print form, and will only be doing it electronically.

 http://www.dailywritingtips.com/the-end-of...ritannica/ 

With internet, mp3, Kindles, etc., I guess it was inevitable that this would occur. 244 years is a long time to be doing publishing.



When I was a kid, the encyclopedias in our house were World Books--but we, or at least we, were always aware of the Big Brit books.

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica 

This signals to me as how the world constantly changes, even when things sometimes go slowly--or at least seem so.
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[pete]

"the world constantly changes", and a free wikipedia.....Is probably why.
Every print encyclopedia, I ever used, contained obsolete information.

[kelticwizard]

I can remember when encyclopedia ads were all over the TV when I was a kid. The one I remember most was not the Britannica, but the World Book. As I recall, it went like this:

Youngster: Dad, why is the sky blue?

Father, (muttering in puzzlement): I don't know.....why is the sky blue?

Then the announcer would come on and even though he didn't actually say, "Don't look a jerk in front of your kid like this doofus", that was pretty much the idea.

My parents never fell for the pitch, and I used to have to alter my walk home from school to use the public library's encyclopedia when I was in elementary school and junior high.

[bruce bailey •]

Print media once outdated is just that. When I was in school in the 50s, we had a set that was published around 1930. Look up Adolf Hitler and it said a "political person in Germany". That didn't help much in history class....

[Deborah]

My family bought them from a door to door salesman sometime in the early 1950s.

I suppose the library is next.

[curious john]

Wow, encyclopedia salesmen, that was long time ago. After seeing movie called Secondhand Lions several years ago, kept wondering why I couldnt have grown up in Texas as shooting at annoying door to door salesmen seems like it would been great sport.... Ok I know it was attempt at humor and probably didnt actually get to do that unless you were local sheriffs brother in law...

Anybody remember when PCs gained some popularity around win95 era, and Microsoft and others were selling encyclopedias on cd?

[curious john]

darksurfer wrote:

When I was a kid, the encyclopedias in our house were World Books--but we, or at least we, were always aware of the Big Brit books.

My parents didnt buy set encyclopedias either. At school, we had World Book, Comptons, and Britannica. Think those were big three. Know there were others as they'd show up at cheap used book sales. Unless you wanted them as a decoration, the info was hopelessly outdated.

Oh and the schools rather than buying new current version of encyclopedia would buy the yearly "update" volumes. Those were royal pain to use and usually a total waste of time. So you would have some ancient set encyclopedia and like 15 annual update volumes....

[Deborah]

they looked cool in the bookcase

[bruce bailey •]

And we looked cool sitting at a desk with the book open!

[Boz]

bruce bailey wrote:

And we looked cool sitting at a desk with the book open!

By golly, then it MIGHT be worth $1,400 (+tax) for one of the last sets! ...or maybe not...
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[Temmu]

yes, encyclopedias are outdated upon publishing, but we go the yearbook annually.

yes, libraries are next. in the late 80's "big brother" started pulling physics, chemistry, agriculture and other "dangerous" books off the shelf. indeed the libraries will soon be closed.

fahrenheit 451, anyone?